An Application Architecture for Supporting Interactive Bilateral Electronic Negotiations

Abstract. We develop an application architecture for interactive, bilateral, semi-structured, multi-attribute electronic negotiations in business-to-business environments. We analyze the information and the process flow for this type of negotiations. We introduce the 'Negotiation Engine ' as the core component of the application and discuss its functionality. We analyze relevant application scenarios and use a reference example from the oil industry to demonstrate the practical benefit of the application.