NCJ Number
108722
Journal
Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1987) Pages: 187-221
Date Published
1987
Length
35 pages
Annotation
A computer program, Policy/Goal Percentaging (PGP), has recently been developed to aid in dispute resolution by allowing disputants to see the results of alternative proposals based on the criteria of their respective positions.
Abstract
The program facilitates maximizing compromises even above the ideal positions. The title comes from the program's ability to relate policies to goals using either part or whole percent determining to measure outcomes where goals are of different dimensions. PCP processes the goals to be achieved, alternatives for achieving them, and relations between goals and alternatives. The program is a form of expert-systems software that seeks to include the logic possessed by successful decisionmakers and mediators. The use of the program is illustrated in an example involving microcomputer-facilitated negotiation and mediation in a dispute involving the provision of legal services to the underprivileged. The example elucidates (1) how to determine initial alternatives, criteria, and relations, (2) how to attempt to resolve deadlocks by weighting the criteria and averaging the alternatives, (3) how to determine what is necessary to convince the other side, (4) how to resolve deadlocks by adding alternatives, (5) how to identify the concept of optimizing compromise as a goal, and (6) how various other means can be used to achieve optimizing compromises. Tables and 28 footnotes.