NCJ Number
111816
Journal
Dispute Resolution Forum Dated: (April 1988) Pages: 3,11-15
Date Published
1988
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The computer is increasingly being used as a beneficial new tool available to mediators, arbitrators, and negotiators for settling major, complex disputes and routine conflicts.
Abstract
Computer-based simulation models allow negotiators to ask 'what-if' questions and determine the effects of changes in negotiation factors on outcomes for one or both parties in a dispute. Such models were used to resolve differences about how profits from deep ocean mining beyond national waters should be allocated. A computer model also permits decision-tree analyses that provide graphic representations of expected costs and rewards of possible decisionmaking options and the multiple probabilities of chance variables. This technique is particularly useful in analyzing how decisions are affected by changes in assumptions about probability and expected value. Another area of computer modeling, case analysis, has been used to settle mass tort litigation by calculating the most likely court awards. Optimization-related analysis is used to examine the possible outcomes of negotiation, seeking those that most fully fit previously identified decision and solution criteria. Computer models also provide a method for teaching negotiation and dispute resolution techniques. As use of such models increases, research is needed to examine the impact of models on bargaining styles, perceptions of bargaining during various negotiation stages, the role of synthesis in negotiation, and obstacles to the use of models. 14 references.