Siva R. Sankaran’s research while affiliated with California State University System and other places

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Publications (13)


An organizational model for transitional negotiations: Concepts, design and applications
  • Article

March 2008

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23 Reads

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6 Citations

Group Decision and Negotiation

Siva Sankaran

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Negotiations generally tend to focus efforts on attaining optimality in single-problem contexts that are ad hoc, disparate and temporary in nature. Once negotiators reach agreement, the process usually attains closure and the long-term impact of the outcome is rarely considered. In organizational settings, decisions involving quid pro quos are, however, made on a continuous basis. Since organizational environments are constantly in flux, negotiated solutions that appeared successful on a given problem at first might no longer work out to be effective in the long run. We postulate that organizations evolve from one state to another and negotiations play an important part in these transitions. From this perspective, decision-making in organizations or between them can be modeled using sequential Markov chains that converge on homeostasis. This leads to a prescriptive approach for transitional negotiations that allow for assessment of the long-term impact of decisions and suggest acceptance of possible short-term losses in favor of the better payoffs that are to come. We provide a hydraulic dam example to illustrate the transitional aspect of decision-making over time. Based on earlier successful GDSS, we also suggest a software architecture that would allow the proposed theoretical model to be implemented as an organization negotiation support system with practical benefits.


Figure 1. Path Model for Effective ERS  
Figure 2. Structure of a ERS (based on Andriole, 1996)  
Figure 3. An Illustration of Agencies involved in the Global Information Network (GIN) for ERS  
Foundations for Designing Global Emergency Response Systems (ERS)
  • Article
  • Full-text available

January 2006

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125 Reads

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6 Citations

Works on Emergency Response Systems (ERS) tend to set aside – or discuss peripherally – the global nature of catastrophes and the unique conditions under which these systems have to operate. Major disasters either affect more than one country or require the help of more than one nation. Designing ERS to manage global crisis situations pose great challenges due to incompatible technologies, language and cultural differences, variations in knowledge-level and management styles of decision makers, and resource limitations in individual countries. In this paper, we outline theoretical foundations for designing global ERS. We develop a path model that identifies the elements and their interactions needed to ensure quality of outcomes and processes of emergency response. We also prescribe a Global Information Network (GIN) architecture to provide decision-makers with timely response to crises involving global intervention.

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A Prescriptive Organizational Model for Transitional Negotiations.

January 2006

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20 Reads

Customary organizational negotiations tend to focus efforts to attaining optimality in single-problem contexts that are both disparate and temporary in nature. Once the negotiations are settled, the process usually attains closure and the long-term impact of the outcome is rarely considered. In reality, however, decisions involving quid pro quos are made on a continuous basis. Since organizational environments are constantly in flux, negotiated solutions that appeared successful on a given problem at first no longer work out to be effective in the long run. We postulate that organizations evolve from one state to another and with it new negotiations are initiated on a continual basis, one negotiation transitioning into another. From this perspective, organizations can be modeled using sequential Markov chains that converge on homeostasis, leading to a prescriptive approach for transitional negotiations that suggest acceptance of short term losses in favor of the better payoffs that are to come.


A Stochastic Negotiation Model for Organizational Choice.

January 2004

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19 Reads

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3 Citations

Traditional group negotiation has focused largely on human conduct with regard to large and generally isolated problems such as procurement and claim settlements. Once the negotiation is accomplished, the process usually attains closure and is quickly forgotten or the long-term impacts of the outcome are often ignored. In organizations, however, decisions involving gives and takes are also made on a continuous basis in that there is a ripple effect in the sequential nature of decision making. When lengthy periods are involved, the organizational contexts can change significantly. Hence, methods useful to a "one-shot" bargaining strategy may neither be applicable nor effective. Furthermore, when organizations face consequences of their own past decisions as well as that of external random events, it is hard to predict where the organization will be at a future time. In this research, we postulate that organizations evolve from one state to another following a probabilistic transition pattern than totally random. Considered this way, organizations can be modeled using sequential Markov chains having a tendency to achieve homeostasis. Understanding organizational behavior in this perspective can be greatly beneficial to negotiators by enabling them to accept short term losses in favor of the larger and better payoffs that are to come.


A framework for measuring national e-readiness

January 2003

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5,138 Reads

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162 Citations

International Journal of Electronic Business

Technology and societal changes are moving the global market rapidly towards a new economic order rooted in e-commerce. Hence, assessing and monitoring the e-readiness of a nation has become an increasing challenge. This paper proposes a framework to evaluate the e-readiness of a nation based on eight factors: digital infrastructure, macro economy, ability to invest, knowledgeable citizens, competitiveness, access to skilled workforce, culture, and cost of living and pricing. We identify 52 surrogate measures that can be used to quantify these factors and describe an algorithm to calculate an overall e-readiness index for a country. Using data published by different world organisations on these measures for ten East Asian, USA and G7 countries, we illustrate how the proposed framework can be used in providing e-readiness assessments and in making national strategic decisions on infrastructure that is conducive to the new economy.


A Multi-Attribute Negotiation Support System with Market Signaling for Electronic Markets

November 2001

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26 Reads

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53 Citations

Group Decision and Negotiation

Despite the rapid growth of technology and Internet-based markets, many of the current systems limit themselves to price as the single dimension variable and offer, if at all, only minimal negotiation support to the consumer. In the real world, commercial transactions take into account many other parameters both quantitative and qualitative such as product quality, speed, reputation, after sales service, etc. This paper discusses how these multiple attributes can be captured to augment standard negotiation processes in order to support electronic market transactions. Using a combination of utility theory and multicriteria decision-making, we propose heuristic algorithms to discover potential trades. In addition, the approach is included within a larger framework that incorporates market-signaling mechanisms. This not only allows for the systematic evolution of negotiation positions among buyers and sellers but can ultimately lead towards improving both market transparency and efficiency. To illustrate the multiple criteria model coupled with the dynamic market signaling framework, we report in this paper the implementation of a Web-based clearinghouse that serves the real estate market.


Design considerations for a virtual information center for humanitarian assistance/disaster relief using workflow modeling

June 2001

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59 Reads

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51 Citations

Decision Support Systems

There are innumerable human and organizational circumstances when free flowing information is essential for effective decision-making. In a closed system with limited boundary scanning, information handling is a fairly manageable task [School Library Journal, 39 (1993) 146]. However, where sources of data and/or decisions are high volume encompass a large geographic area and cover a gamut of organizational entities, information gathering and fusing can be daunting [FEMA, Publication No. 229 (4) (1995)]. This paper analyzes the workflow typical in a disaster scenario and discusses the design considerations for a virtual information center (VIC) that can both efficiently and effectively coordinate and process a large number of information requests for disaster preparation/management/recovery teams. The proposed design is domain independent, uses a net-centric approach and can be readily exported to many other governmental and organizational decision environments. The prototype version of the system uses the object-oriented model in connecting to multiple databases across the Internet and has all the essential features that can readily be cloned to enlarge the system's scope.


Impact of learning strategies and motivation on performance: A study in Web-based instruction

January 2001

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3,783 Reads

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163 Citations

This study investigates how learning strategics and motivation influence performance in Web and lecture settings of a business information systems course. These were measured using a survey instrument: learning performance by test score . Finding suggest that using either deep or surface learning strategy leads to comparable positive performances. but undirected strategy affects performance negatively. While motivation is significantly correlated lo performance in both Web and lecture the relationship is stronger in the Web setting. High motivation is associated with the use of deep learning strategy. and low motivation with undirected strategy. Pre-post test analysis shows that learning strategies and motivation are also correlated with gains in incremental scores. The results have implications for course design and instruction by taking individual differences into account.


Relevant issues for the recruitment and retention of women in the technological sciences

April 2000

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11 Reads

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1 Citation

Sharon N. Vest

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[...]

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Margaret Thomas

The U.S. economy is experiencing a shortage of information technology (IT) workers. All forecasts indicate the problem will increase more dramatically in the next two decades. A report conducted by the Computing Research Association in May 1999 describes two types of demands, episodic and long-term. [2] The episodic demand has been generated by the Y2K problem and will drop off dramatically in the next year. The long-term demand is created by the changes in our society brought about by the integration of technology and will continue to increase. In searching for solutions to the shortage problem, focusing on the underrepresented groups in American society, women, Hispanics, African Americans and Native Americans presents one solution. The panel will discuss several current programs designed to address the needs of women and minorities in an attempt to recruit and retain these underrepresented groups in the technological sciences.


A Framework for Designing a Global Information Network for Multinational Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief

April 2000

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147 Reads

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120 Citations

Large-scale Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief (HA/DR) operations, particularly in developing countries, require the intervention and aid of various agencies from all over the world in a concerted and timely manner. As a result, HA/DR operations involve dynamic information exchange, planning, coordination and above all negotiation. Although a number of studies have reported the benefits of using information and communication technologies to support negotiation activities, it remains unclear how such technologies could be adapted to large-scale HA/DR operations. This paper examines negotiational issues involved in a multinational HA/DR environment and presents a framework that would help in developing a Global Information Network (GIN). The proposed framework can be used to assess and characterize individual disaster situations so that the GIN functional and design requirements can be accurately identified early. Future implications to GIN architecture are also discussed.


Citations (12)


... However, this increase has a small effect size and, although increased, the attitudes toward online education were still negative. This is not surprising as the students in the present sample chose to study at a conventional university in which on-campus teaching and learning is the norm instead of an open or distance university in which all courses are offered online or in hybrid form (Sankaran et al., 2000;Benson, 2005;Garcia et al., 2013;Fidalgo et al., 2020). ...

Reference:

Study-related wellbeing, behavior, and attitudes of university students in the Netherlands during emergency remote teaching in the context of COVID-19: A longitudinal study
Effect of student attitude to course format on learning performance: An empirical study in web vs. lecture instruction
  • Citing Article
  • January 2000

... Menager-Beeley (2004) study reported that online students who were persistent in their program were those with high motivation to use computers and the internet. Higher grades were recorded for students with high motivation to study online than those with low motivation (Sankaran & Bui 2001). Studies have shown that students' interest was a motivating factor that enhanced students' engagement in learning, which gave rise to the efficacy of the blended instruction climate (Green et al.,2006). ...

Impact of learning strategies and motivation on performance: A study in Web-based instruction

... (2) On-line scheme which provides real-time consultation in terms of sampling medical data and consulting patients. Telemedicine are being developed all over the world, and are applied at different medical sub-disciplines, such as home monitoring for elder [6], home monitoring for shoulder replacement surgery patient [7], cooperative consultation for stomatological patient [8], emergency care for critically patient [9], assessment for sleep apnea patient [10], and health care for prison [11]. In [13], [14], [15], Based on large numbers of experiments, the authors address telemedicine based on digital images can provide accurate and reliable consultation for retinopathy patient, and concludes that telemedicine is acceptable. ...

A Web-based correctional telemedicine system with distributed expertise

... The preference assessment is divided into three phases: first, the user evaluates the relative importance of the issues to be negotiated; then he/she evaluates the relative importance of the options of each issue; and finally the user makes a comparative evaluation of several complete packages selected by the system, in order to make adjustments to the utility function. Similar approaches based on the assessment of multiattribute value functions were implemented in Bui et al. (2001), Jonker et al. (2016, Shyur and Shih (2015) and Górecka et al. (2016). ...

A Multi-Attribute Negotiation Support System with Market Signaling for Electronic Markets
  • Citing Article
  • November 2001

Group Decision and Negotiation

... Given the enormity of differences in opinion at the start, both facilitators and observers were pessimistic about the probability of the emotional commitment created during the meeting continuing into the future -"will it last" (Sankaran and Bui 2008). There remained some concern about the position and power base of the outlierhowever, this particular person was regarded as an outlier in normal work situations, and so there was a view from the observers that his behavior may not have serious consequences for that of the rest of the group. ...

An organizational model for transitional negotiations: Concepts, design and applications
  • Citing Article
  • March 2008

Group Decision and Negotiation

... Fedra (1999) developed a decision-support system (DSS) using high performance and networking technologies to improve the planning and operational decision-making process where the requirements are timeliness, accurate, directly understandable, usable and easily obtained. A similar network approach was also adopted by Bui and Sankaran (2001) taking advantage of the ICT specifically Internet, inter-platform connectivity software, group decision theoretical progress where large number of data can be processed, facilitating faster decision-making and high level of objectivity in decisions made. They proposed the concept of virtual information centre with a web centric management system. ...

Design considerations for a virtual information center for humanitarian assistance/disaster relief using workflow modeling
  • Citing Article
  • June 2001

Decision Support Systems

... , [3], blood pressure, glucose concentration and many more. Many home monitoring systems have been built and various issues have been reviewed in depth [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9] Besides the monitoring of various biomedical parameters, there has been increasing effort on fall detection, inactivity detection and automatic recognition of changes in daily activity patterns [10], [11], [12], [13], [14]. ...

Group Decision and Negotiation Support in Telemedicine: An Application of Intelligent Mobile Agents as Non-Human Teleworkers.
  • Citing Conference Paper
  • January 1997

... In[35]Sankaran and Bui also address the evolution of organizations according to choices taken by the different participants. But they focus on the negotiation aspect between the 'real' human participants – an item which we have touched only slightly for our simulated network participants yet. ...

A Stochastic Negotiation Model for Organizational Choice.
  • Citing Conference Paper
  • January 2004

... In 1996, approximately 27% of the bachelors and masters degrees were earned by women while only 15% of Ph.D. degrees were earned by women. It is crucial to learn more about why the percentage of women in IT is so low and why the numbers have in fact been declining since 1986 (10). ...

Relevant issues for the recruitment and retention of women in the technological sciences
  • Citing Conference Paper
  • April 2000