Dispute Resolution Research Center, Kellogg School of Management

This exercise can be used to illustrate decision biases in negotiations. The exercise uses data from the Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident. Students are asked to use those data to make a decision whether or not to enter an automobile race.

Preparation: 20 minutes
Negotiation: 30-50 minutes

Day Care Task Force
Author: Leigh Thompson
Source: KTAG

In this multiparty exercise, a task force comprised of six people—five members of an organization and one external (non-employee) member—decide whether to implement a day care facility within their organization. The exercise simulates a twelve month period in which members of the task force are given monthly reports of the success of the day care center. Each month, the group must decide whether to continue or to terminate the facility. The exercise is designed to illustrate the escalation of commitment phenomenon in groups.

Preparation: 30-45 minutes
Group discussion: 60-90 minutes

Endowed Chair
Author: Leigh Thompson
Source: KTAG

Endowed Chair is an exercise that is designed to expose students to a common group decision making situation in which relevant information is distributed differently among group members. The key challenge facing the group is to assemble all of the information and make the best choice possible.

Preparation: 30-35 minutes
Exercise: 45-60 minutes

Ozark River Bank
Author: Courtney Shelton Hunt
Source: DRRC

In this exercise, students take on the role of a general manager of the Ozark River Bank (ORB). The objective of the exercise is to have students select three individuals, from the five who are available, to work on a team to devise a restructuring plan for a local company that is anticipated to default on its loans.

The exercise works on two levels. First, it allows students to address the interpersonal and skill factors that contribute to/detract from team functioning. Second, it provides students with direct experience in individual and group decision making. There are some key differences when the exercise is used to reinforce concepts related to intragroup dynamics and when it is used in the context of decision making. Teaching notes are supplied to provide guidelines for using the exercise in a groups/teams context and in a decision making context.

Negotiation: 45-60 minutes
Debrief: 30-40 minutes

PB Technologies
Author: Randall Peterson
Source: DRRC

PB Technologies is a hidden profile task designed to teach the importance of, and strategies for, effective information sharing in teams. In this activity, the top management team of PB Technologies is asked to recommend to the CEO one of three finalists for the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO). For one candidate, the only common information is negative, and most groups eliminate her without discussion. If groups do discuss her and share information effectively, they discover that she has the most positive profile overall. The other two candidates each have significant unshared negative information. One candidate has a moderate amount of negative information. Most of unshared information for the other is negative.

Preparation: 30 minutes
Discussion: 20 minutes
Debrief: 45-60 minutes

Sound Manufacturing
Authors: Leigh Thompson, Linda Argote & Richard L. Moreland
Source: KTAG

In this exercise, the benefits of group training are illustrated, as well as transactive memory structures. Four-person groups assemble an AM radio and then, several days later, groups assemble the radio from memory.

Preparation: 30 minutes
Exercise: 120 minute training session
Assembly: 90 minutes

Threat Target
Author: Leigh Thompson & Mary P. Flammang
Source: KTAG

Threat Target is a hidden profile exercise in which four analysts, each with somewhat different information, need to determine which of three terrorists poses the greatest threat to the United States. The exercise does not require experience in intelligence, but it was developed with input from CIA analysts and thus is very realistic.

Preparation: 30-45 minutes
Negotiation: 30-45 minutes
Debrief: 45-50 minutes