Beyond Interest Based Bargaining - Incorporating Interests and Fairness in the Development of Negotiation Support Systems

One of the major concerns raised by people using negotiation processes is about the fairness of the process. Individuals undertake negotiation to derive better outcomes than could be obtained from conflict and litigation. Thus they often engage in interest based negotiation. But interest based negotiation focuses upon the interests of disputants rather than upon objective measures of fairness. For example in family law, parents might focus upon their own desires rather than the needs of the children. In employment law, individual bargaining between employers and employees might lead to basic needs (such as recreation leave and sick leave) being whittled away. It is thus vital to develop measures, or at the very least principles, for the development of fair negotiation support systems. In this paper, we suggest principles which when applied, will encourage fairness in the development of negotiation support systems. Such principles include transparency, bargaining in the shadow of the law and the need for discovery. We also illustrate the pitfalls of using such principles. We indicate how some of these principles can be applied in Australian Family Law.