A co-evolutionary approach to strategy design for decision makers in complex negotiation situations

The literature on automated techniques suggests that such techniques might be useful for complex decision-making where other approaches have proven limited. We present a genetic technique that assists decision makers in developing strategies for decision-making in complex, multi-objective and multi-person negotiation situations. Strategies are evolved with significant input from decision makers to enhance the acceptability of solutions in real-world applications. The preferences of all decision makers are integrated into the search so that solutions are consistent with the needs of all participants in the negotiation situation and further ensure the implementability of solutions in practice. The results show that the outcomes achieved by all parties involved in the negotiation are improved significantly when the genetic search is used to help devise strategies for the negotiation participants.