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Negotiation Exercises
Dispute Resolution

At Your Service
Authors: Jeanne M. Brett & Michele Gelfand
Source: DRRC
 


This is an exercise that can be used to teach integrative negotaition skills in the context of deal making or dispute resolution. The exercise was intended for undergraduates; however, it may be used with more advanced students especially to illustrate: 1) the differences between negotiating deals versus disputes, and 2) negotiating as a solo versus negotiating as a team in the deal making/dispute resolution context. It can also be used to illustrate how culture interacts with negotiation context.

Preparation: 15-20 minutes
Negotiation: 30 minutes
Debrief: 60 minutes


Brookside Hospital vs. Black Computer Systems, Inc.
Authors: Stephen B. Goldberg & Jeanne M. Brett
Source: DRRC

This is a dispute between a hospital and a software and hardware supplier. It is similar in structure to Rapid versus Scott. It can also be used by management or law students alone or working in teams. It can be used to teach interests, rights, and power approaches to dispute resolution as well as advanced dispute resolution concepts like linked BATNAs and redirection of negotiations from rights or power to interests.

Preparation: 60 minutes or more
Negotiation: 75-90 minutes


Chestnut Drive
Authors: Mark N. Gordon & Bruce M. Patton
Source: Harvard’s Program on Negotiation (PON), DRRC version

DRRC's version of Chestnut Drive is a dispute between a group of neighbors and the company that is building a condominium development at the end of their street. The exercise provides a good opportunity to introduce dispute resolution concepts of interests, rights, and power. It is also a vehicle for discussing credible threats.

Preparation: 60 minutes
Negotiation: 60 minutes


Club West
Authors: Craig R. Fox & Alan C. Fox; teaching notes by Stephen B. Goldberg & Jeanne M. Brett
Source: DRRC, adapted by Stephen B. Goldberg & Jeanne M. Brett

Club West is a lawsuit. Club West illustrates setting reservation prices in legal disputes, egocentric bias and reactive devaluation.

Preparation: 30-60 minutes
Negotiation: 30 minutes


College Town Apartments
Author: Leigh Thompson
Source: DRRC

This is a qualitative dispute resolution exercise between two college roommates. The dispute concerns the timely payment of rent; the exercise has a large variety and range of mutually acceptable outcomes. It involves perceptual differences regarding one's own behavior as well as the other party's. Since the two parties live together and share common interests, relational, emotional and social issues also factor into the dispute.

Preparation: 45 minutes
Negotiation: 60 minutes


Date Printer
Author: Leonard Greenhalgh
Source: Public domain (no charge), DRRC version

This is a qualitative dispute resolution negotiation between a party who had a printer repaired and a party who repaired the printer. Although the technology referred to in the exercise makes it dated, it can be used to discuss issues of interest, rights, power, and fairness in the context of the resolution of disputes.

Preparation: 30 minutes
Negotiation: 60 minutes


Eazy’s Garage
Authors: Bruce M. Patton
Source: Harvard Program on Negotiation (PON), DRRC version

DRRC's version of Eazy's Garage is a two-party, qualitative, dispute resolution exercise with some limited opportunities for integrative potential. The parties are a dentist and a garage station owner and the dispute is over a repair bill. It can be used to teach concepts of interests, rights, and power, but the teaching notes do not present that approach.

Preparation: 10 minutes
Negotiation: 60 minutes


Prosando
Authors: Cathy Cronin-Harris & Stephen B. Goldberg
Source: DRRC


This exercise was developed from CPR's Mediation in Action: Resolving a Complex Business Dispute (1994) video and was designed to teach the dispute resolution concepts of interests, rights and power, as well as some of the more subtle aspects of dispute resolution negotiations, like how to turn rights-oriented or power-oriented negotiators toward interests. The exercise was also designed so that there is no zone of agreement unless the negotiators learn each other's interests and make appropriate tradeoffs. It can be used in conjunction with the CPR video or on its own.

CLICK HERE for information about the Mediation in Action DVD that accompanies this exercise.

Negotiation: 60 minutes
Debrief: 60-90 minutes


Rapid Printing vs. Scott Computers, Inc.
Authors: Stephen B. Goldberg & Jeanne M. Brett
Source: DRRC

This is a contract dispute negotiation. It is very good for teaching interests, rights, and power approaches to resolving disputes and introducing ADR concepts to management students. There are three different versions of the exercise: CEO only, CEO with lawyers, and Mediation. The CEO only version is for two management students. The CEO with lawyers version is for a joint law, management class, and the Mediation version is for two managers plus a neutral mediator.

Preparation: 60 minutes
Negotiation: 90 minutes


Rooftop Deck
Authors: Vanessa and Jason Seiden
Source: DRRC

This is a decision that must be made jointly between three interdependent condominium owners. It can be used to teach interests, rights, and power. As not all parties have the same information, it is also useful to teach the value of searching for unique information.

Preparation: 60 minutes
Negotiation: 60 minutes


Viking Investments
Authors: Leonard Greenhalgh
Source: Creative Consensus, Inc., DRRC version

This complex multi-issue, two-party negotiation of a dispute between a real estate developer and a sub-contractor emphasizes escalation of commitment, and the effects of focusing on rights or interests in dispute resolution.

Preparation: 60 minutes
Negotiation: 60 minutes

©2002 Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University