Holistic Multi-Criteria Decision Aid for Negotiation

The book explores the potential of holistic multi-criteria decision support to facilitate negotiations, including those conducted through electronic negotiation systems. It critically examines classical decision analysis approaches, highlighting their limitations due to negotiators' cognitive limitations. Drawing on findings from international experiments, the book demonstrates how these limitations lead to errors in preference definition, resulting in imprecise assessment models and unreliable decision support at the bargaining and post-negotiation stages. To address these challenges, the book introduces holistic preference analysis methods that overcome cognitive barriers, including the MARS and unMAGIC approaches. Because they are based on holistic decision support principles, these methods provide a more cognitively accessible alternative to traditional decision analysis tools, enabling more accurate preference modeling in negotiation contexts. The final section integrates these methods into electronic negotiation support systems, showcasing the eNego platform as an advanced decision support environment. The design and implementation of a hybrid iterative support mechanism in eNego, combining UTA, MARS, and direct rating, are detailed. Empirical results from negotiation experiments confirm the effectiveness of the resulting holistic decision support in improving preference analysis, negotiation quality, and user evaluations of use and usefulness. Offering a unique blend of theoretical insight and empirical validation, this book is an essential resource for researchers, practitioners, and system designers seeking to enhance negotiation processes through cognitively informed decision support methods.