Problem Structuring Support for Collaboration and Problem Solving
The paper proposes an approach to support the process of problem understanding and structuring in multi-agent cooperative decision making settings. The proposed approach fosters the identification of problem components including the dependencies and constraining relationships among them. It represents the evolving problem definition graphically and supports the decision making process including the generation of alternatives. The approach rests on identifying the qualitative elements of a problem and the relationships among them in attaining a mutually agreed upon definition of the problem. Similar to Shakun's (28) evolutionary approach to conflict resolution, the proposed approach emphasizes the importance of problem redefinitions and puts forward the role of qualitative problem elements in problem structuring and conflict resolution. The representation scheme for problem analysis employs a simple action-resource model, which extends and facilitates the evolutionary approach to problem structuring.