Learning Business Negotiations with Web-based Systems: The Case of IIMB

Access to, and the ability to use computer and communication technologies varies widely between countries. It is often lack of proficiency rather than access that creates the barriers between developed and developing countries. The interNeg Web site and its online system INSPIRE and INSS, aim at overcoming these barriers by educating people around the world about decision and negotiation analysis and providing them with an opportunity to use decision support techniques. The systems allow one to conduct simulated negotiations with people from different cultures and solve realistic managerial decision problems. In this paper we present and discuss the limitations of the prevailing methods for teaching decision making and negotiation and present a technological solution that is Internet-based. We present our experiences with using our Web-based decision and negotiation support systems in executive training programs at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB). The discussion of extension to the presented methods and their use in higher education in developing countries concludes the paper.

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