e-Nego-motion

Although e-business has gained momentum in many markets, empirical studies find a lack of support for the conduct of negotiations in electronic markets. This is surprising given the fact that the concept of electronic Negotiation (Support) Systems (eNS) has already been developed in the 1980ies by researchers from various disciplines. Although prototypical systems have been implemented even before the notion of electronic commerce emerged, eNS have not yet experienced the foreseen breakthrough in practice and companies are currently leaving substantial amounts of money on the electronic bargaining tables. The apparent lack of practical relevance of electronic negotiation support in its present form seems to indicate that either current systems are missing important facets of actual negotiation processes or they are influencing them in a way which is perceived by negotiators as disturbance rather than as support. In order to provide the foundation for the development of improved eNS, we need to develop an understanding of how various characteristics of such systems influence the negotiation process. For this task, it is important to have a broad perspective on negotiations since potential benefits of eNS are closely related to their effectiveness in orchestrating the interplay of: the specific support approach or philosophy (system), its actual implementation in support features (technology), and the particular characteristics of users, i.e. their cognitive restrictions, their socio- emotional states and their preferences and goals (human). Besides integrating these three dimensions, eNS research has to develop a comprehensive classification of the different types of support and their relation to various goals that might motivate the use of a specific system. Existing eNS differ considerably in their support approach. Implemented features are typically selected to improve a certain aspect of the outcome without paying too much attention to other dimensions. For a comprehensive understanding of negotiation support, the effects of alternative support approaches and features on all outcome dimensions need to be studied simultaneously. Therefore, the aim of this project is twofold: We systematically study the specific impact of different forms of electronic support on negotiation processes and outcomes considering particular features of eNS and taking into account a broad spectrum of effects. Based on these findings, we develop a comprehensive set of requirements and design guidelines for effective eNS built on solid theoretical foundations concerning their socio-emotional, analytical and technological aspects.

The development of negotiation support systems (NSS) started in the 1980s with the aim to facilitate negotiations. Early systems had their roots in support systems for individual decision making, which were then adapted to the interpersonal aspect of negotiations. Later, the rise of the Internet enabled the development of new web-based NSS that support negotiations between parties that are geographically scattered.However, this development neglected collective decision support. While in individual decision support, a support system assists a decision maker to better achieve his or her objectives, collective decision support aims at supporting all parties to achieve higher level goals like efficiency or fairness. In the latter case, the system takes the role of a neutral third party, in the former case, it serves as an advisor to one party. Since negotiations by definition require consensus to reach an agreement, supporting parties to find a mutually acceptable solution, and breaking deadlocks at the collective level of negotiations should be equally important goals of negotiation support. Modern negotiation theory emphasizes the fact that individual and collective level goals are not necessarily in conflict but require different types of interventions. Reaching an agreement can be supported by improving the quality of communication between parties, thus, communication support beyond just providing a communication channel, is an important topic in NSS. Methods from individual decision support can be applied and extended to enable negotiators to reach efficient and fair outcomes, while behavioral interventions can help parties to overcome deadlocks and improve their relationship in order to better cooperate in the implementation of an agreement. In this context, the e-Nego-motion research project accomplished pioneer work in systematically analyzing the effects of different support approaches on electronic negotiation processes and outcomes by experiments. We compared analytic decision support, behavioral decision support and communication support with integrated NSS and common negotiation problems. Furthermore, we have chosen a comprehensive perspective by looking at tangible (individual negotiation outcomes, joint utility, contract balance, etc.) as well as intangible (e.g. relationship between parties, satisfaction with agreement, etc.) outcomes of negotiations. The findings of the project are building blocks for a comprehensive set of requirements and design guidelines for effective NSS contributing to the improvement of systems. For example supported users where found to have problems deciding that and when they need the help of NSS which calls for permanent measurement and control of, and if necessary interventions in, the negotiation process by proactive NSS.