Assignment 2: Electronic negotiations

(1) Sign up for e-negotiation session ASAP; (2) Report due 11:59 pm on Monday March 30 by e-mail

This assignment is designed to give you hands-on experience with an actual group decision support system: an electronic negotiation system. The system that you will use will be introduced in class on Wednesday March 4. This assignment consists of two things that you will have to do:

1. Sign up for and participate in one of the e-negotiation sessions (80% of assignment grade). The session will last around 2 hours. You must first register online for a session, and then attend the session you signed up for:
   1. Sign up at http://invite.concordia.ca/echen/inspire_reg1/index.php?reg=single&case=inspire&mode=createname. The available times are:
      • Friday, March 13th 13h-15h
      • Friday, March 13th 15h-17h
      • Tuesday, March 17th 8h-10h
      • Tuesday, March 17th 10h-12h
      • Saturday, March 21st 13h-15h
   2. Attend the session for which you signed up. Attending and completing the session will give you 40% of the assignment grade. The remaining 40% depends on how well you perform in the negotiation. Detailed instructions of what you will actually do will be given to you when you go to the session.
2. Write a report (only one or two typed pages) in which you answer the following two questions (20% of the assignment grade):
   1. You are hired as a consultant for a new mobile service provider. The new company, Realtime, wants to implement an electronic negotiation system that allows customers to create their own plan and even bargain over how much they will pay for such a plan. Name four distinct issues (other than price) that are important for customers in the negotiation with Realtime. Describe these issues and why they would be important to negotiations.
   2. In their negotiations with customers, Realtime needs to decide if the firm should adopt a competitive approach (meaning that the firm’s primary goal is to make the most profit at each transaction) or a collaborative approach (meaning that the firm is trying to reach agreements that are beneficial for both the customer and itself). From Realtime’s perspective (not the customers’ perspective), name two advantages and two disadvantages for each approach.

Submission

To submit the assignment, do the following:

• Put your full name on the top of your Word document. Do not use a cover sheet. Name the file:
  "FirstName LastName Assignment 2".
• E-mail the document to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it no later than 11:59 pm on Monday March 30. For any late e-mails, the late penalty applies.
• This assignment counts as 8% of your course grade.