Design and implementation of a negotiation support system
Bruce C. Herniter · UA Campus Repository (The University of Arizona) · 1991
A Negotiation Support System (NSS) is a system consisting of hardware, software, people, and procedures that assists the individual negotiator, mediator, or researcher; and provides a solution or facilitates the process of negotiation. NSS have previously been designed around modeling and simulation, expert systems, and other techniques. However, negotiation can be considered a group process involving two or more teams with communication routed through the group leaders. Electronic Meeting Systems (EMS) provide a model for the use of computers during group processes. EMS provides a research model and a framework for the development of software tools. The framework specifies that a computer-based meeting system consists of the group, the task, and the context and finally the EMS itself. MEDIANSS and its successor GroupSystems/Mediation (GS/M) were tested in two contract negotiations totaling almost 90 hours over 23 sessions. The negotiators generally approved of the GS/M tools and used them: the negotiators spent 19% to 24% of their time using computers. Both negotiations concluded successfully. The major accomplishment of GS/M was its assistance in the secretarial function of the talks. The drafts of the contracts were finalized faster than typically expected.