A Meta-model for e-Contract Template Variable Dependencies Facilitating e-Negotiation

Contracts are important for attaining business process interoperability and enforcing their proper enactment. An e-Contract is the computerized facilitation or automation of a contract in a cross-organizational business process. In this paper, motivated by a lease template example, we propose a meta-model for e-Contract templates and template variables. Furthermore, we discover different types of relationships, such as partial order and indivisibility, among template variables. In addition, negotiators can logroll among template variables, focusing on tradeoffs among these instead of arguing about single variables. Based on these relationships, we present an algorithm to determine a negotiation plan of an e-Contract. Furthermore, we propose a model for e-Negotiation of contracts based on contract templates and workflow management technologies. As a result, the process of contract e-Negotiation can be streamlined.

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