Support of Complex Electronic Negotiations

In recent years, business negotiations have increasingly been conducted using electronic systems. Such negotiation systems need to provide an added value other than the mere application of information technology to enable complex negotiations via electronic means (see the chapter by Kersten and Lai, this volume). Negotiation support systems aim at this goal but are usually focused either on communication support, on decision support, or on contract management. It will be argued that only an integrative approach can support complex electronic negotiations. The approach implemented in the Negoisst system will be discussed. Various experiments have been conducted with Negoisst to determine its usefulness and benefits compared to traditional negotiation settings (see the chapter by Etezadi, this volume). In particular, the sophisticated communication support has been analysed (see the chapter by Koeszegi and Vetschera, this volume) and the various types of decision support have been evaluated. It will be shown in this chapter that the system offers sophisticated support that can be applied to any industry and product.