Multi-agent simulation of purchasing activities in organizations

Mark Ebben, L. de Boer, C.E. Sitar-Pop

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

    4 Citations (Scopus)
    163 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    In this paper we present a multi-agent simulation model to investigate purchasing activities in an organizational environment. The starting point is the observation that the majority of purchasing activities in organizations are usually performed without any involvement of the organization's purchasing department. The purpose of the experiments is to investigate if and how certain factors determine the degree to which purchasing professionals become involved in the purchasing of non-product related (NPR) items and services. Among the factors investigated are: corporate purchasing policies, available information, and the nature of the various purchasing activities. Preliminary results show that the behavior of the multi-agent simulation model is an acceptable representation of reality. Furthermore, the results show the limits of a purchasing department's added value and the important role of organizational learning in that respect. The paper provides directions for further research.
    Original languageUndefined
    Title of host publicationProceedings of the 2002 Winter Simulation Conference, 8-11 December 2002, San Diego, California, USA
    EditorsE. Yucesan, C.H. Chen, J.L. Snowdon, J.M. Charnes
    PublisherIEEE
    Pages1337-1344
    Number of pages8
    ISBN (Print)0-7803-7615-3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2002
    Event2002 Winter Simulation Conference - San Diego, United States
    Duration: 8 Dec 200211 Dec 2002

    Publication series

    Name
    PublisherIEEE
    Volume2

    Conference

    Conference2002 Winter Simulation Conference
    Abbreviated titleWSC 2002
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    CitySan Diego
    Period8/12/0211/12/02

    Keywords

    • METIS-207275
    • IR-43731

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