An Information Technology Tool to Support Negotiating Teams

Abstract

This paper discusses computer-supported large-scale negotiation, in particular, negotiation with advisers. It is claimed that better communication within negotiating teams should lead to longer, more productive sessions than the current ones. To this end, an information technology environment should be provided for the negotiation. The paper introduces SHINE, a collaborative software system developed at the University of Chile. This software has many features to allow rich interactions among advisers belonging to the same team, among negotiators and also between a negotiator and his advisers. Emphasis is placed on the design features to enable and ease these interactions. The facilities include WYSIWIS windows, enhanced electronic mail to send and receive text or video messages with several urgency levels, an evaluation procedure and various ways to state comments and ideas. SHINE has been implemented as a prototype on Sun Sparc workstations.