Relational accommodation in negotiation: Effects of egalitarianism and gender on economic efficiency and relational capital

Highly relational contexts can have costs as well as benefits. Researchers theorize that negotiating dyads in which both parties hold highly relational goals or views of themselves are prone to relational accommodation, a dynamic resulting in inefficient economic outcomes yet high levels of relational capital. Previous research has provided only indirect empirical support for this theory. The present study fills this gap by demonstrating the divergent effects of egalitarianism on economic efficiency and relational capital in negotiation. Dyads engaged in a simulated employment negotiation among strangers within a company that was described as either egalitarian or hierarchical. As hypothesized, dyads assigned to the egalitarian condition reached less efficient economic outcomes yet had higher relational capital than dyads assigned to the hierarchical condition. Negotiations occurring between females resulted in lower joint economic outcomes than negotiations occurring between males. Results are consistent with the theory of relational self-construal in negotiation.     

Economically organized hierarchies in WordNet and the Oxford English Dictionary

Good definitions consist of words that are more basic than the defined word. There are, however, many ways of satisfying this desideratum. For example, at one extreme, there could be a small set of atomic words that are used to define all other words; i.e., there would be just two hierarchical levels. Alternatively, there could be many hierarchical levels, where a small set of atomic words is used to define a larger set of words, and these are, in turn, used to define the next hierarchically higher set of words, and so on to the top-level of very specific, complex words. Importantly, some possible organizations are more economical than others in the amount of space required to record all the definitions. Here I ask, How economical are dictionaries? I present a simple model for an optimal set of definitions, predicting on the order of seven hierarchical levels. I test the model via measurements from WordNet and the Oxford English Dictionary, and find that the organization of each possesses the signature features expected for an economical dictionary.     

A multiple-attribute decision-making approach to assess the disability of visually impaired workers

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has redefined employability and disability. The measurement and evaluation of the disabled worker's residual capabilities, in terms of worker strengths and weaknesses, job requirements and work environment, is the first step to comply with the ADA. This study presents an application of multiple-attribute decision-making procedures. The task is to develop a single index for use in assessing the disability of visually impaired workers through a consideration of factors defined by the U.S. Employment Service for successful job performance. The index can also be used to identify and prioritize the need for reasonable accommodation and to match visually impaired workers to appropriate employment.     

An Adaptive Algorithm for Pairwise Comparison‐based Preference Measurement

The Pairwise Comparison‐based Preference Measurement (PCPM) approach has been proposed for products featuring a large number of attributes. In the PCPM framework, a static two‐cyclic design is used to reduce the number of pairwise comparisons. However, adaptive questioning routines that maximize the information gained from pairwise comparisons promise to further increase the efficiency of this approach. This paper introduces a new adaptive algorithm for PCPM, which accounts for several response errors. The suggested approach is compared with an adaptive algorithm that was proposed for the Analytic Hierarchy Process as well as a random selection of pairwise comparisons. By means of Monte Carlo simulations, we quantify the extent to which the adaptive selection of pairwise comparisons increases the efficiency of the respective approach. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multi‐Criteria Ratios: What is the Unit?

When Analytic Hierarchy Process ratios are normalized to sum to unity, the unit of measure becomes obscure. This paper investigates this obscurity and whether ratio measurement is possible when there is no prior knowledge of the measurement unit. Initially, we look at ratio scales of tangible attributes of objects with well‐known measures. Then, ratio scales of unknown intangible attributes of objects are analysed. We discover that natural zero and a specific unit of measure are not necessarily used explicitly in deriving ratio scale measures. Nevertheless, the derived scale does have a derived unit of measurement. We conclude that although composite multi‐criteria answers are possible in ratio form, it is important to know that a unit of measure exists if ambiguities are to be avoided. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.