EFFECTIVENESS OF ELECTRONIC NEGOTIATION STYLES USING THE THOMAS-KILMANN MODEL

With the emergence of the Internet, the dynamics of the negotiation process change. This paper investigates the effects of the five Thomas-Kilmann (TK) negotiation styles (competing, collaborating, accommodating, compromising, and avoiding) on qualitative and quantitative negotiation outcomes in the situation when the negotiations take place over the Internet. A new variable is introduced that measures the difference between the opponents rating of the deal and that of the main negotiator: Individual Outcome Difference (IOD). Multivariate correlation analysis is used first to determine any relationships that may exist between the outcomes and the TK negotiation styles. Since the negotiators often use a combination of the five styles during the negotiation process, exploratory data analysis was done, which allowed us to investigate the simultaneous impact of all the five styles on the negotiation outcome. The methodological approach and the results of tests performed using the INSPIRE system are presented and discussed.