Perspectives on Representation and Analysis of Negotiation: Towards Cognitive Support Systems * Gregory E. Kersten & David Cray Centre for Computer Assisted Management Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario, Canada {gregory, dcray}@dal.carleton.ca Abstract. The rapid expansion of Decision and Negotiation Support Systems has been built mainly on decision theoretic approaches. This has resulted in the decision maker being viewed through the lens of the problem. In this paper the focus is on the decision maker's view of the problem. Three levels of problem articulation are described. Special emphasis is placed on the needs level and the implications it carries for the cognitive and instrumental levels. The three levels of articulation, the organizational model of making decision in social settings and the three basic approaches to decision making form the basis for computer support focused on understanding and change rather than preferences and outcomes. We argue that in the dynamic, interactive context characteristic of negotiations, a cognitive support system based on restructurable modelling provides a richer basis for support. Keywords: Decision making, Negotiations, Rationality, Conflict resolution, Restructurable modelling, Decision support, Negotiation support, Cognitive support 1. Introduction Investigations into the practice of supporting group decisions and negotiation have grown and matured remarkably in the past decade. Software has developed from a few limited algorithms to a range of commercially available packages (Bui, 1994; Fang, Hipel and Kilgour, 1993; Friend, 1989; Vogel, 1994; Lewis and Shakun, 1994; Thiessen and Loucks, 1994). Conclusions concerning the effects of support utilization have evolved from primitive single-case studies to sophisticated experiments and numerous field observations (Eliasberg et al., 1992; Connolly et * We wish to thank Darren Meister, Sunil Noronha and Stan Szpakowicz and two anonymous referess for their comments and suggestions. We dedicate this paper to the memory of Zbig Koperczak, friend, co- author and co-developer of the Negoplan system. This work has been supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.