Abstract The modeling and analysis of multilateral negotiations are studied under the assumption that reaching an agreement is the main objective of the negotiators. A new methodology and associated definitions are proposed to predict the outcomes of such negotiations. The general objective of the new methodology is to study movements from one state to another in multilateral negotiations, to predict stable agreements, and to study their properties. The assumptions that the set of possible agreements is discrete and specified in advance make the negotiation problems considered here distinctive. Each decision maker has two concerns: first, achieving an alternative that is as preferable as possible; second, building support for this alternative among the other decision makers. In summary, this research consists of a systematic investigation of multilateral negotiations with the following general characteristics: • Decision makers in the negotiation seek a resolution that is not only feasible but also stable (enduring). Of course, each negotiator tries to attain the most preferable agreement for himself or herself. • If an agreement is reached, it must be an alternative from a pre-specified list, and all of the decision makers must accept the agreement. • Decision makers can possess different levels of power (or legitimacy) in support of an agreement, so the negotiation is not necessarily symmetric. Moreover, the analysis makes use of the decision makers’ preference orders over the proposed alternatives only, and does not require cardinal representations of their preferences. New concepts including State, Acceptability, Feasibility, Stability, and Fallback Distance are defined to pave the way for the proposed methodology. It is based on four types of movements, from unstable states toward stable ones, including preferential improvement, agglomeration, disloyalty move, and strategic disimprovement. Some criteria and algorithms are proposed to measure the likelihood of different moves and different outcomes. An important theorem shows that all four types of movement are mutually exclusive. The evolution of a negotiation from its status quo to the most likely outcomes is illustrated, using a tree. Several applications demonstrate that the proposed methodology can be applied to identify the most likely outcomes of a multilateral negotiation. Sensitivity analyses can be applied in several different ways to assess whether sudden or unforeseen changes in the model affect the conclusions. Several methods can be used from the literature for predicting the outcome of a negotiation. Social Choice Rules, Fallback Bargaining Procedures, and Bankruptcy Solutions are applied to the current negotiations over the legal status of the Caspian Sea to predict or recommend the most appropriate resolution among the proposed alternatives. In addition, the applicability of Graph Model for Conflict Resolution and its associated decision support system (DSS), GMCR II, are briefly discussed. Reasons why these methods are not appropriate when reaching an agreement is the main objective of decision makers (DMs) are then put forward. Based on the conceptual model for multilateral negotiations proposed in this thesis, a practical Negotiation Support System (NSS) is designed and implemented in Microsoft Access using Microsoft Visual Basic. This NSS increases the speed and accuracy of calculations. In the output of this NSS, all movements from initial states to subsequent states and their associated likelihoods are clearly illustrated, and all stable agreements are distinguished. Two real-world multilateral negotiations, over the legal status of the Caspian Sea and over the Epton site brownfield redevelopment project in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, are modeled and analyzed using the proposed methodology. To measure DMs’ weights quantitatively in the Caspian Sea negotiations, eleven criteria that can be considered to be important determinants of countries’ capabilities are discussed, evaluated, and integrated using a Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis model. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method is employed to find the most favourable set of relative importance of different criteria for each country. Applying the proposed methodology indicates that unanimous agreements over the division of the Caspian Sea, either based on the International Law of the Seas or based on Soviet maps, are most likely as the enduring legal status of the Caspian Sea. The objective of applying the proposed methodology to actual negotiations over the redevelopment of a brownfield project is to ensure that the new methodology is flexible enough to model more real-world cases. Moreover, we wanted to test how well the actual outcomes of the real world negotiations match the most likely outcomes identified by the methodology. The results show that the decisions on the use of the Epton site followed the most likely path described and predicted by the model. This thesis is multidisciplinary in nature. It utilizes different branches of knowledge, including applied mathematics (game theory), computer science and programming, international relations, and environmental management. However, negotiation modeling and analysis in this thesis is developed from a systems engineering perspective.

An innovative negotiation framework for resolving complex construction conflicts and disputes has been developed in this research. The unique feature of the proposed negotiation framework is that it takes into account the attitudes of the decision makers, which is an important human factor in construction negotiation at both the strategic and tactical levels of decision making. At the strategic level, the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution (GMCR) technique has been systematically employed as a method of determining the most beneficial strategic agreement that is possible, given the competing interests and attitudes of the decision makers. At the tactical level, a previously agreed-upon strategic decision has been analyzed in depth using utility functions in order to determine the trade-offs or concessions needed for the decision makers to reach a mutually acceptable resolution of the negotiation issues. A real-life case study of a brownfield construction negotiation has been used to illustrate how the proposed methodology can be applied and to demonstrate the importance and benefits of incorporating the attitudes of the decision makers into the negotiation process to better identify the most feasible resolutions. The proposed attitude-based negotiation framework constitutes a new systems engineering methodology that will assist managers in tackling real-world controversies, particularly in the construction industry. The negotiation framework has been implemented into a convenient negotiation decision support system that automates the proposed negotiation methodology. The research is expected to improve negotiation methodologies for construction disputes, thereby saving significant amounts of time and resources. The proposed methodology may also assist decision makers in overcoming the challenges of conventional negotiation processes because the incorporation of the attitudes of the decision makers results in a more accurate identification of tradeoffs, greater recognition of the level of satisfaction of the decision makers, and enhanced generation of optimum solutions.

Negotiation poses a unique challenge in the modern workplace which is likely to be especially difficult for socially anxious individuals. Previous research has shown that externally focused attention strategies are useful at alleviating social anxiety symptoms and in helping improve negotiation outcomes; however this intervention has never been examined amongst socially anxious negotiators. This study examined the effect of external- and self-focused attention manipulations on anxiety, perspective (observer-field), and monetary negotiation outcomes. Thirty-eight high social anxiety (HSA) and 52 low social anxiety (LSA) female participants completed a dyadic negotiation simulation with a partner. The external-focus manipulation was successful at increasing attention focus in the desired direction, while the self-focus manipulation was not and, thus, was discarded from subsequent analyses. Results demonstrated that externally focused attention resulted in significant decreases in state anxiety during the negotiation and a significant shift in perspective from observer to field, for participants in both the HSA and LSA groups. However, these changes did not translate into better objective negotiation performance, as measured by the total commission (i.e., money) earned. The implications of the results for social anxiety and the development of workplace intervention programs are discussed.

The number of companies operating internationally is growing constantly. The world is opening up for foreign firms and new destinations in the company´ business are increasing. Because of high competition the companies operating abroad are faced with a much larger task then before. When going international the challenges the company must handle are new and unfamiliar. Obstacles the firm never faced before are becoming crucial in the every day work. Culture is one of these obstacles and can affect the entire co-operation. Culture can influence the business in different ways. Language problems, pricing difficulties and culture collisions are not uncommon, especially in the beginning. The company must be able to handle these difficulties in a way that is satisfying also for the other part. Mistakes can be difficult to correct and disrespect for the foreign culture can destroy the entire operation. There are some general advices the company always must have in mind before and during a co-operation on the international market. It is important, even before entering the foreign country, to inform the personal about the manners and customs in that new culture. If the first impression becomes negative, this can be hard to shake. Foreign cultures have different ways of doing business, for example when it comes to planning ahead and keeping delivery times. Culture can be both a positive and negative influence and many companies are struggling in the new and foreign environment. The important thing to always have in mind is that the foreign culture is not as we are used to at home and to be prepared before starting the new foreign operation. Respecting and understanding the new culture without forcing our own beliefs on people, are things that can be extremely helpful to consider. By learning the host country’s language, can respect and trust more easily be won, and competitive advantages can arise.

Negotiation is applied to many fields, which are included in politics, business and even in daily life. An outstanding negotiator is not congenital, but it can be trained to be an excellent one. The type of negotiator what the person will be is affected by his personality. Negotiation is affected by many factors, and we will discuss the personality in this research. We focus on Machiavellianism and self-monitoring which are the two major variables in this research. And we use Ethical Decision Making Model to establish the hypothesis in this research. The questionnaire survey is the main method to collect the data, and we investigate the relationship among negotiator¡¦s p personality, attitude toward negotiation tactics and negotiation intention by descriptive statistics, T-test, Analysis of Variance and Regression Analysis. The results are follows: (1) Different backgrounds significantly influence the ethical attitude toward negotiation tactics, for example, the negotiator¡¦s sex and level of education. (2) Machiavellianism significantly influence s the ethical attitude toward negotiation tactics, for example, the negotiators have higher level of Machiavellianism and their ethic attitudes are weaker in ¡§salami-tactics¡¨ , ¡§shock them with your opening offer¡¨ and ¡§advance man¡¨. (3) The degree of self-monitoring of the negotiators significantly influences the relationship between ethical attitude toward negotiation and negotiation intention. Keywords: Negotiation tactic, ethical decision making, Machiavellianism, self-monitoring.

In IEEE 802.16j MMR (Mobile Multi-hop Relay) networks, bandwidth is divided into two zones, access zone to mobile stations and relay zone to relay stations. To satisfy the requirements of Quality of Services (QoS) for different types of traffic between access zone and relay zone, we propose Bandwidth-Negotiation Scheduling (BNS) for BS and RS to adequately allocate bandwidth. For the purpose of satisfying higher-priority rtPS traffic, BNS can negotiate bandwidth between two zones if the allocated bandwidth is insufficient to meet its QoS requirement. Besides, BNS can satisfy bandwidth requirement for nrtPS as much as possible and it will also do negotiation to allocate at least minimum bandwidth if resource is not sufficient. At last, BNS may reduce the allocated bandwidth for nrtPS if PLR (Packet Loss Ratio) of BE is too high. Therefore, the starvation probability of BE can be decreased by earning this extra bandwidth from nrtPS. In short, the proposed BNS can adjust the boundary between access zone and relay zone dynamically and it can improve bandwidth utilization effectively. Through Markov-chain model, we evaluated the performance of BNS and compared its performance to a mechanism with fixed-boundary. Analytical results have shown that BNS can decrease the probability of exceeding delay constraint for rtPS, increase the throughput, and decrease the PLR for nrtPS when rtPS delay constraint is increased. Moreover, BNS can significantly reduce the possibility of starvation for BE traffic.

This qualitative study explored conflict resolutions in everyday setting by applying grounded theory method to data on real-life conflict experiences. The data represent 53 graduate students (27 male and 26 female) of 20 different nationalities. After careful coding, we found seven categories. By applying a dimensional analysis model, we not only identified that ¢wpreparation for resolving conflict¡ü is the central phenomenon but also explored how conflict origins, casual condition, contextual condition, intervening condition, resolution strategies and consequences are related to the central phenomenon and the dynamics among themselves. This helped in developing a grounded formal theory that provide a detailed picture of the complex process of conflict resolution in everyday setting by covering its origins, dynamics, resolution strategies, consequences, and effects in different contexts. Detailed explanations with ample examples from the data were provided. Implications for future researchers and practical implications are discussed.

This study investigates the use of authentic subtitled similar task videos (ASSTVs) and their relationship to second language negotiation of meaning and language production among non-native speakers of English in an online task-based language learning (TBLL) environment. Over the course of two weeks, twenty intermediate nonnative speakers (NNSs) of English from the English Language Institute at Texas A&M University engaged in four communicative tasks in pairs using an online TBLL environment designed specifically for this study, and a chat tool in WebCT Vista, a course management system provided by the university. ASSTVs were videotaped and integrated into the online TBLL environment. Participants were divided into two groups, each of which consisted of five dyads, to test the effects of ASSTVs. Five dyads were provided with the ASSTVs and the remaining five dyads were not provided with them before the task completion process. The first section of this study examines the effects of ASSTVs on negotiation of meaning, and the second section examines the effects on language production. The amount of negotiation of meaning was calculated through the negotiation of meaning sequences model developed by Gass and Varonis and revised for online communication by Smith. Language production was investigated in terms of fluency and complexity with regard to lexical and syntactic complexity. A detailed analysis of the data from the chat-scripts showed that NNSs engage in more negotiation of meaning and produce more fluent and lexically diverse language when provided with the ASSTVs than NNSs who were not provided with them. Based on these findings, this study concludes that using ASSTVs in an online TBLL environment is a viable and effective tool for promoting negotiation of meaning and language production in terms of fluency and lexical complexity.

Abstract¡G With the rapid development of electronic marketplace, buyers and sellers can trade more easily without the limitations of time and distance. Internet trading is benefited to both sides in many ways. However, the matching mechanism between buyers and sellers in the electronic marketplace is not explored deeply. Consequently, the purpose of this research is to study the screening and negotiation in the process of matching. In this research, four screening models and related flow charts have been proposed. A negotiation model is also proposed to deal with the bargaining process. Finally, a prototype based on development method is built to demonstrate how the screening models and negotiation models work.

Today people already accustom to do businesses on the Internet. The electronic negotiation also becomes popular because of its advantages. Furthermore more and more females get high positions in their company and often engage important activities such as electronic negotiation for their company. If negotiators could understand the differences of males and females on their behavioral sequence and response strategy, they could have a better interaction during negotiation no matter what their counterpart s gender is. This study explores the relation of different gender compositions and response strategy in E-Negotiation. We design an algorithm to find significant sequential patterns and then group them into three kinds of response strategies. Lastly we use Chi-Square Independence Test to see the correlation and Column Comparison to see which gender composition has significant higher proportion on three types of response strategies. The result suggests gender compositions and response strategies are interrelated. Negotiators in inter-gender dyad are more likely to response with reciprocal strategy and negotiators in intra-gender dyad are more likely to response with structural strategy. Moreover female-only dyad is more likely to response with all kinds of strategies compared to male-only dyad. Finally female would response to male with more reciprocal strategies and to female with more complementary and structural strategies. On the other hand, male would response to female counterpart with more reciprocal strategies and to male counterpart with more structural strategies.