Conversational Programmer

Status completed

Project begin 01.03.2009

Project end 31.12.2012

Sponsor mark Austrian Research Fund (FWF) Projektnummer: P21062-G14

Description

Status Quo: In the last decade e-business has gained momentum in many domains and its importance is still growing. While in many B2B and B2C markets electronic support tools are widely applied, the task of negotiating the final contract remained unsupported and negotiations are still conducted via e-mail. Electronic negotiation support systems (eNS) have not yet experienced their forecast break-through.

State of the Art: Based on different support approaches, system designers implement different features. These features influence the negotiation process, which in turn shapes the final negotiation outcome. However, current eNS are missing facet of actual negotiation processes or influence negotiations in a way that is perceived by users as disturbance rather than as support.

Research Objectives: First, the impact of different support features of eNS on negotiation processes and outcomes has to be investigated. Building on the evidence from literature and the results of additional experiments we strive to develop design guidelines for effective eNS, considering socio-emotional, analytical, and technological aspects. The final objective is to create a design for a new and adaptive 'best-of' system by further developing existing systems based on our findings.

Method: eNS following different support philosophies (e.g. Negoisst and Negotiator Assistant) will be integrated and examined in empircal experiments. These studies focus on the influence of support features on negotiation processes and outcomes along various dimensions.