Requirements Analysis Using Grounded Theory: A Case Study in the Domain of Textual Negotiation Tools.

We present an approach to gathering requirements using grounded theory, applied to the domain of textual negotiations. Research into negotiation systems has primarily focused on those for e­cornrnerce and electronic markets, where quantitative values such as prices are key to what is being negotiated. There is a lack of research into tool support for complex real-life negotiations that contain large amounts of textual (qualitative) clauses. Examples of such negotiations are for international relations (treaties) and labor-management collective agreements. One of our objectives is to improve the state of the art in qualitative negotiation systems, so that they can be applied to negotiations of these real-life agreements. Using grounded theory, we conducted 10 semi­structured interviews of negotiators from Canada and Nigeria. We analyzed the transcripts and build a model of the domain ( a theory) that both characterizes the domain and serves as a basis for the requirements for such systems. Key observations are that existing negotiators eschew commercial negotiation tools, and primarily use Microsoft Word; yet they have no way to query history, easily compare competing proposed changes, and perform other information management tasks. In addition to being the basis for negotiation tools, our work demonstrates the use of grounded theory as a method to define system requirements.