Approaches to suggest potential agreements: Perspectives of mediation with incomplete information

In bilateral Negotiation Analysis, the literature often co nsiders the case of complete information. In this context, since the negotiators know the value functions of both parties, it is not difficult to calculate the Pareto frontier and the Pareto efficient soluti ons for the negotiation. Thus rational negotiators can reach agreement on this frontier. However, these approaches are not applied in practice when the parties do not have complete information. The research question of our work is “It is possible to help negotiators achieving an efficient soluti on if they do not have complete information regarding the different parameters of the model?”. We propos e to obtain information regarding the preferences of negotiators during the negotiation process , in order to be able to propose alternatives close to the Pareto frontier. During this work we will presen t three approaches to help a mediator proposing a better solution than the compromise the negotia tors have reached or are close to reach

Information levels in additive group decision models under incomplete information: Bridging the cardinal ordinal gap

In the literature, several models for group decision making based on the additive aggregation of group members’ utility or value functions have been proposed (Keeney and Kirkwood 1975; Dyer and Sarin 1979; Keeney and Nau 2011). These group aggregation rules usually are based on systems of axioms very similar to those formulated by Arrow (1963) for the case of aggregating ordinal preferences. In contrast to aggregation of ordinal preferences, aggregation of cardinal alues is thus possible in groups. However, it requires group members to specify their preferences in cardinal form, by assigning utility scores to alternatives. This could be difficult for group members, in particular if this information should be provided exactly

The Effects of Culture in Computer-Mediated Negotiations

The paper explores the impact of culture on anonymous inter- and intracultural negotiations conducted via the Internet using a Web-based negotiation support system (NSS). In e-negotiations, technology acts as a moderator in the relationship between culture and negotiation behavior. This implies that patterns of cultural impact on negotiations can be different from face-to-face negotiations. Communication technology reduces the transmission of social cues and increases the importance of explicit communication. Thus, cultural dimensions such as power distance, which rely on social cues, are reduced in their impact, while the impact of communication-related dimensions of cultures such as high vs. low context is amplified by the system. The empirical analysis of these effects is based on a set of bilateral negotiations involving 1366 participants carried out with the Web-based NSS Inspire. It indicates a significant influence of culture, particularly regarding negotiators’ expectations. We also found significant cultural differences with regard to communication patterns emerging during the negotiation process and outcomes of negotiations. Our results also indicate that as the negotiation process progresses, individual differences between negotiators, including their approach to problem solving, become more important than their cultural characteristics

Decision making styles and the use of heuristics in decision making

Simple heuristics can be efficient ways of decision making and literature has shown that they are widely used in actual decision situations. Although many types of heuristics have been found and analyzed, there is only scarce research on factors that lead to the use of a particular heuristic. In the present paper, we describe an experiment to analyze whether the usage of a particular heuristic like recognition or take-the-best depends on individual decision making styles as identified by Scott and Bruce (Educ Psychol Meas 55(5):818–831, 1995). The experiment is based on a choice problem, in which different heuristics are likely to lead to different choices. Analyzing experimental data from two replications of the experiment in two different countries, we find some evidence that decision making styles influence the use of heuristics. However, considerable differences between the two experiments indicate that other, perhaps cultural, factors might also be important

The effects of culture in anonymous negotiations: Experiment in four countries

Abstrac

The effects of culture in anonymous negotiations: Experiment in four countries

Abstrac

Experimentation and Learning in Repeated Cooperation

We study an agency model, in which the principal has only incomplete information about the agent's preferences, in a dynamic setting. Through repeated interaction with the agent, the principal learns about the agent's preferences and can thus adjust the inventive system. In a dynamic computational model, we compare different learning strategies of the principal when facing different types of agents. The results indicate the importance of a correct specification of the agent's preferences. (author's abstract)Series: Working Papers SFB "Adaptive Information Systems and Modelling in Economics and Management Science

Strategic manipulation of preference information in multi-criteria group decision methods

When group decisions involve the allocation of resources to group members, the members might have an incentive to strategically distort any information they provide to increase their share of resources. The paper compares several simple multi-criteria group decision methods with respect to this problem. We show, using a computational model, that strategic manipulation of preference information is possible in all of the methods, although to a different extent. Furthermore, when the true solution generated by this methods is not Pareto-optimal, manipulation attempts might even improve the efficiency of outcomes. (author's abstract)Series: Working Papers SFB "Adaptive Information Systems and Modelling in Economics and Management Science