Internet technologies are increasingly used in various forms of communication, including negotiations. This paper explores the cultural implications in anonymous inter-and intra-cultural electronic negotiations. The negotiations were conducted via Inspire, a Web-based negotiation support system, and involved 166 subjects from Austria, Ecuador, Finland, and Switzerland. Hypotheses are formulated concerning the influence of cultural differences on negotiators ex ante expectations concerning the negotiations and their outcomes, the negotiation atmosphere and the negotiation process. The results confirm considerable, cultural differences in both expectations and process, and only weak ones in atmosphere.

The impacts of various mediation platforms on negotiation outcomes and perceptions are compared in this article. The mediator platforms contrasted were a (teleoperated) Telenoid robot, a human, and a computer screen. All of these platforms used the same script for process diagnosis, analysis, and advice on how to resolve an impasse in a simulated high-tech company de-merger negotiation. A fourth experimental condition consisted of a no-mediation control. More agreements and more integrative agreements were attained by the robotic platform than by the other types of mediator platforms and the control. Mediation via the Telenoid robot also produced more non-structured agreements, which consisted of decisions made outside of the scenario options. Negotiators in this condition had more positive perceptions of the mediation experience, were more satisfied with the outcome, and thought that the mediator’s advice was more useful. Indirect analyses showed that the outcomes mediated the effects of the conditions on perceived satisfaction. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of responses to novelty, which include creative and divergent modes of thinking.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract