GENIE: A decision support system for crisis negotiations

Decision support systems can play a role in improving the ability of decision makers to act as utility maximizers in crisis situations. This paper demonstrates the ability of one such decision support system, GENIE, to help decision makers maximize their objectives in a crisis negotiation. GENIE is described in detail, followed by the presentation of preliminary experimental results evaluating its effectiveness in crisis management and abatement. The experimental results show that GENIE users, as compared to non-users, are more likely to identify utility maximization as their primary objective and to achieve high utility scores. Experiments in which GENIE users participate are also more likely to end in agreement among the parties, rather than in an outcome in which one of the parties opts out of the negotiation.