THE ART OF NEGOTIATING Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 24, 1997 THE ART OF NEGOTIATING Don M. McDonald, Troy University Montgomery ABSTRACT The purpose of this interaction is to help participants gain a better understanding of how negotiating involves clear objectives, creative give-and-take, and the value of not alienating ‘the other guys.” Applications include industrial relations, team building, and negotiating in any setting. Colored paper, glue, scissors and tape are provided for creation of a work of art, but A and B teams at have different lists of objectives to achieve in the picture. Do not expect beauty; do expect noise’ Interaction takes approximately 20 minutes. The interaction communicates not only the basics of collective bargaining, but also the need to look at the larger picture of the negotiating process. INTRODUCTION There must be at least 2 participants, but may reach 50. Twenty to 30 is optimal. Preparation The room must contain tables that seat two to eight each. More than one table is preferable, even if groups at each table remain no larger than two. An odd number at any table is acceptable. Each table is equipped with one sheet of ‘A’ instructions, face down; one sheet each of red, white, brown, green, and blue paper, approximately 8V2 by 11” each; one container of paper glue; one roll of adhesive tape, and one pair of scissors. In addition place an equal number of ‘B’ instructions in an adjacent room or other end of the same large room. Procedure Divide participants at each table into two approximately even teams. (One uneven member will not bias play.) Designate one team at each table as Team A and the other as Team B. Inform them that they will be getting written copies of instructions later, and read to them the following: 1. Assign point values to each blank on the left so that the total equals the figure at the bottom left. These are the values your team agrees to place on each corresponding feature. 2. Make a list of possible scenes that would give your team maximum points. 3. Together the two teams produce one picture that gives your participants the highest possible scores. Inform A teams that their instructions are face down on the table and to wait until B teams leave to discuss them. Dismiss or lead the B teams to their discussion location(s). Allow no more than four minutes. Inform teams when they have one minute left. Bring the B teams back and have all participants seated. Require that no action begin and inform them that all art materials must be in the center of the table before play can begin. Inform participants that at the end of eight minutes (exactly) the pictures must be hanging on a wall, any wall, ready for judging, "and I do not want glue running down these walls!” Ask for any procedural questions before beginning play. Signal play to begin: allow exactly eight minutes. Announce when half the time is lapsed, when one minute remains, and count down the last ten seconds. Stand out of the way of flying participants. Ask teams to swap score sheets with each other at the same table and add up the other team’s score. Now they negotiate whether certain points were achieved.) Refuse to get involved in judging points. Afterwards, ask each pair of teams to add their scores together and write the total in large numerals on the picture they produced. Compare scores. 90 Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Learning, Volume 24, 1997 Debrief Two basic questions can lead to joint learning. These are “What helped your team gain points?" and “What prevented teams from getting points?” In answer to the first, responses may include considering the other teams needs, stating your own desires, asking questions, willingness to give and take, and creative partnering (e.g., names can be written and then covered with other materials, thus fulfilling objectives on both teams). In answer to the second, expect responses such as holding out for low value items, not knowing how much the other team values items, suspicion, preconceived ideas on the solution, trying to keep the other team from getting points, not working together The second negotiation over whose points were valid, brings out the importance of establishing good rapport with the parties with whom we negotiate. We never know when we may negotiate with them again later. Adding the A and B scores emphasizes that they are a single team on the larger scale. Seeking to defeat the other team may not maximize your own score. Labor and management do this when they don’t see the bigger picture--they as a company (table) are fighting together for survival in the industry (room). Discussion Strong points of the simulation include that it communicates principles on the long term and larger scale of negotiating. It is also fun! It can be performed without complex technical support, but facilities must accommodate tables, movement, and taping materials to the walls. 91 Table of Contents Volume 24, 1997 Incorporating Computer Telephony into the MIS Course A Learner Oriented Infrastructure for videoconferencing Based Distance Education Courses The Identification of Temporally Related Structural Elements of the Experiential Component of Electronic Spreadsheet Tasks Does Involvement Influence Learning from Simulation Participation? Some Relationships with Helpfulness and Performance Outcomes Musings on Business Garne Performance Evaluation Performance on a TE Simulation: What does it represent? The Business Policy Game: An International Simulation - An Assessment Tool Students in Free Enterprise as Experiential Learning The Role of Computer Models in Wargames: A Practitioner's view Using Focus Groups as a Tool to Research Learning: A Demonstration and a Discussion Using Medical Simulations to Teach Multi-Cultural Diversity Using the World Game to Internationalize International Exchange Game Community Services Needs Assessment: An Innovative Approach Introducing Students to Potential Total Quality Management Ethical Dilemmas Privacy in the Workplace: A Situational Analysis Antecedents of Learning in Simulations Demonstrating the Learning Effectiveness of Simulation: Where we are and Where we need to go The Use of Computer Simulations as a Pedagogical Aid in Teaching Management Information Systems Evaluating Simulation Learning in a Distant Learning Instructional Model Financial Engineering of Global Investments The Labor History Game: Playing with the Past Perks Participation Assessing Negotiator's Proficiency with a Negotiation role-play The Art of Negotiating Enhancing Learning and Employee Development through the Assessment of Learning Pedagogy Preferences across selected Dimensions of Culture: A Preliminary Investigation Cooperative Learning: What are we Learning? Effective Use of Mastery Based Experiential learning in a Project Course to improve skills in system analysis and Design Simulations and Learning: Can we prove a relationship? (Seminar) Predicting and Reviewing NYSE Stock Prices by use of Basic Statistical Analysis and Logic Toy Car Depreciation Exercise ABSEL as Home Community: An Interactive Exploration Service Learning: Linking Academic Study to Community Development and Business Enhancement Ability of Efficient Evaluation of Knowledge-Based Management Strategies Corporate Ethics Training Programs Modeling Attributes in Demand Functions of Computerized Business Simulations: An Extension of Teach's Gravity Flow Algorithm Expert Systems Combined with Neutral Networks: Tools to Benefit the Marketing Researcher Computer Game Design: New Directions for Intercultural Simulation Game Designers Consistency in Simulation Performance over Time and Across Simulation Games The Impact of an Artificial Market Leader on Simulation Competitor's Strategies Business Plans, Case Studies, and Total Enterprise Simulations: A Natural Co-existence An Exploration into the Non-Use of Business Simulations The Market Game: Interactive Learning Through Market Simulation Plotting Brand Trajectories with the COMPLETE PPM package: A Market Segmentation Analysis and Positioning Tool Me and Mine Inc: An Exercise in Management Theory Learning to Differentiate Leadership from Managerial Position Business Ethics Survey: A Perspective from the Retail Industry Experiential Learning in Demand Analysis for an Agricultural Commodity Marketing on the Internet: A Pedagogical Exercise College Students Need Simple Computer Simulations, Especially for International Business Courses An Analysis of Student Attitudes, Performance, and Strategies in a Simulation Competition Based on a Controlled Product-Market-Entry Game Structure The Crystal Enterprise: Application of a Non-Computerized Simulation Model in a Process of Organizational Change Threshold: A Windows-Based Behaviorally Oriented Total Enterprise Simulation Coaching Business Game Teams Using a Decision Variable Optimizer Rock and Roll is here to Stay: Enhancing Experiential Pedagogy with Musical Exercises An Example of Business Process Analysis Simulation for Customer Software Support The Use of Business Gaming in Hong Kong Academic Institutions Using the Integrative International Simulation INTOPIA Mark 2000 in a Concentrated MBA Curriculum A Group Experience as an Integrated Part of the Core Management Course Empowered Learning in the Classroom The Inter-Group Interaction: An Innovative Approach to Cooperative Learning Courses that Utilize Student Team: An Approach to enhancing their Effectiveness Thoughts about the Measurement of Learning: The Case for Guided Learning and Associated Measurement Issues Measuring Student Learning Using Business Simulations: A Theory Based Perspective On the Use of PC Fingame in an Undergraduate Finance Course How Managers get Things Done: A Virtual Soundbite Internet Experiential learning in the Principals of Marketing Classroom: A Pedagogical Approach Current Student Perceptions Relative to Business Simulations Beyond Capitalism: Designing Business Policy and Social Justice The Use of Boards of Directors to Evaluate Reports and Presentations in an Undergraduate Business Policy Course Beacon Lumber: An Experiential Introduction to Financial Accounting The Application of Organizational Motivation Principles: The Experiential Business Simulation Motus Manufacturing Avoiding a Bogey: Grading Case Discussions Scientifically Communicating Consumer Behavior II: A Modified Exercise Using Personal Consumption Journals in Condensed Courses Designing Instruments for Assessing the Effectiveness of Simulations, (Seminar) 360º Performance Feedback: Appraisal vs. Assessment The Cafeteria Approach to Managing an Academic Career: Remaining Non-Perishable while Doing Your Own Thing An Experiential Exercise Related to Person-Organization Fit and it's Consequences For Today's Dynamic and Changing World, Business Simulations need to be expanded to encompass Much Greater Complexity: A Demonstration The Incident Process: A Case in Reverse Contextually-Anchored Business Simulations The Energy Factor: Building Motivation in the Simulation Gaming Environment The Design of an Internet Game