A Green Victory Against Great Odds, But Was It Too Little Too Late?

SUMMARY:
This case study provides an intimate view into the fierce battle among major US nonprofit environmental groups, Members of Congress, and industry over energy policy in 2007. The resulting law slashed pollution by raising car efficiency regulations for the first time in three decades. For negotiators and advocates, this case provides important lessons about cultivating champions, neutralizing opponents, organizing the masses, and using the right message at the right time.

This case is based on the actual negotiations and offers lessons for business, law and government students and professionals in multiple subject areas. They include negotiation, climate change, sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and more.

Q&A
We recently asked author Gina Coplon–Newfield to discuss her case study. Here’s what she had to say:

Q. Tell us about your case study “A Green Victory Against Great Odds” and why should teachers and trainers consider adding it to their curriculum?

A. This case showcases an exciting battle in Congress for major energy policies that have slashed pollution and provided new opportunities for clean energy solutions. I wrote this case, in part, to show that it’s not just corporate and government leaders who make change in the world, but nonprofit and community advocates too. The path to an imperfect victory that I describe in this case provide important lessons for people of all political persuasions trying to understand how we create meaningful public policies and improve lives in the United States.

Q. What type of class is it best suited for?

A. I think students of policy, government, negotiation, environmental studies, grassroots organizing, and non-profit leadership will learn a lot from this case.

Q. What are the major lessons?

A. Find your champions and keep them champions. Frame your issue and your message in the right way. Organize people to speak up to policymakers; it’s a key ingredient to success.

Q. What distinguishes “A Green Victory Against Great Odds” from other case studies that might appear to be similar?

A. When researching this case, I interviewed people who had put their hearts and souls and intense strategic thinking into campaigning for energy solutions. I think you’ll find that their passion and the surprising lessons they learned shine through when you read the case.

Q What qualities do the most effective environmental policy-makers/advocates posses?

A. Depending on the moment, patience and impatience. Also, strong attention to building and keeping relationships.

Q. What are you most excited about in the ever-evolving movement toward cleaner energy?

A. We already possess most of the solutions we need to protect our health and our planet and to lead us to a strong clean energy economy. Our exciting challenge is to catalyze government, private industry, and ordinary people to put these solutions into practice. Plug-in electric vehicles, for example, meet the needs of many people in our society. They are fast, fun, technologically exciting, cheaper to fuel, and lower in emissions. We just need the right government policies, corporate commitment, and public education to make them an exciting choice for people.

This case study includes the following:

  • Detailed Case Study
  • Case Timeline
  • Case Study Discussion Questions

Abraham Path: A Thousand Miles on Foot

The Abraham Path Initiative (API) is an international NGO which plans to sponsor and co-organize a 1,000+ mile journey on foot across the Middle East to raise publicity, money, and to celebrate its achievements in helping to develop local walking trails across the region. Apart from the adventure filmmaker that it sponsors, API has partnered with four local partner organizations, each of which have their own interests at stake in the final design for the walk. Before the walk can move forward, the parties must deal with two main issues:

  1. The Route – what the route will be and which of the four national trails will be included.
  2. Branding & Communication – what the brand of the thru-hike event will be and how substance will be communicated to global and local audiences.

The negotiation takes place in two phases:

  • Phase 1: the pre-meeting phase of the negotiation. In this phase, only two participants (API and the Adventurer) may initiate contact with other participants and only bilaterally.
  • Phase 2: the in-person meeting phase, where all parties negotiate at the World Trail Conference.

Major lessons in this simulation include:

  • Coalition formation and spoilers in multiparty negotiations. How do parties in negotiation deal with spoilers and develop an effective spoiler management strategy?
  • The role of values in negotiation. How do parties negotiate core values?
  • How public perceptions can impact the positions parties take at the negotiation table.

This simulation is based on the real negotiations surrounding the development of the Abraham Path. To learn more about the real Abraham Path, please read the Abraham Path Archives.

Ad Sales, Inc.

SCENARIO:

Ad Sales, Inc., a firm that sells advertising space in business publications, has a new management team that will negotiate its first contract with the union representing its employees. Tension has been building, and both sides have been maneuvering for strategic advantage. Some issues to be addressed are salary, vacation time, pensions, sub-contracting, compensation, and work assignments.

 

MECHANICS:

The two teams will meet separately for an hour to discuss their strategies and objectives. Then the two teams will meet and negotiate for two hours. The threat of a strike is motivation for progress in the negotiations.

 

TEACHING MATERIALS:

For all parties:

  • General Information
  • Supplementary Information and Stated Positions

 

Role Specific:

Confidential Instructions for:

  • Lawyer on Management Team
  • Regional Sales Manager
  • Vice President for Sales
  • Vice President of AFL-CIO Local 1502
  • Representative of the International Advertising Workers Federation
  • President of Local 1502
  • Supplementary Instructions for all of the above roles

 

Teacher's Package (24 pages total):

  • All of the above

 

MAJOR LESSONS:

  • Interval team conflicts must be ironed out before union-management negotiation can proceed smoothly.
  • This case encourages parties to trade across issues and within issues. Players must decide what their BATNA's are and the differences in values of issues will determine the amount of trading.
  • This is a good exercise for people in actual contract negotiations.
  • This game allows the players to explore the influence of threats and promises on the behavior of other parties. These must be handled carefully.
  • The problems of power imbalance, typical of employee relations, are highlighted. This is probably a good case for a mutual gains approach, but useful objective criteria may be hard to come by.

 

SIMILAR SIMULATIONS:

 

PROCESS THEMES:

Agenda Control; Anchoring; BATNA; Bluffing; Caucusing; Coalitions; Communication; Consensus Building; Currently perceived choice analysis; Drafting; Emotions; Fairness; Financial analysis; Interest analysis; Interests, quantifying; Joint gains; meaning of "success"; Offers, first; Partisan perceptions; Precedents; Pressure tactics; Risk perception; Threats

Allies in Alexia

SCENARIO:

The American Cancer Society (ACS) receives substantial funding from United Way. To reduce the risks of destructive competition for corporate donations and to cement the ties between ACS and United Way, ACS national offices have developed special guidelines for allocating United Way funds within ACS. Several arrangements guaranteeing ACS chapters an annual dollar amount have been in place for years.

Recently, United Way has experienced difficulties, which has led to changes in funding policy. Representatives from three ACS chapters, the United Way, a state utility, and a local nonprofit organization are now meeting to discuss the future of their relationships regarding charitable funding.

 

MAJOR LESSONS:

  • This simulation provides an opportunity to discuss the difficulties facing charitable concerns in their fundraising efforts.
  • The dichotomy between personal morals and professional concerns is especially clear in a negotiation about charitable giving.
  • While most of these people have the negotiations have the same long term goals (helping people fight cancer), they have very different short-term goals.
  • Learning how to work together despite previous disagreements is a major factor in this game.

 

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

This simulation was developed for the staff and volunteers of the American Cancer Society in order to assist them in handling the competitive relationships that have developed in the context of fundraising.

 

TEACHING MATERIALS:

For all parties:

  • General Instructions

 

Role Specific:

Confidential Instructions for the Negotiator for:

  • ACS Renville Unit Board Member
  • ACS Belton Unit Staff Member
  • ACS division EVP for Alexia
  • United Way of Renville Board member (CEO of Granite)
  • United Way of Belton Staff director
  • Lifeline Executive Director
  • Alexia Power and Light CEO

 

Teacher's Package (77 pages total):

  • All of the above

 

 

KEYWORDS/THEMES:

Not-for-profit management; multiparty negotiating; managing conflict inside the organization; fund-raising

 

SIMILAR SIMULATIONS:

 

Amending Approval for the Storyville Pulp and Paper Mill

SCENARIO:

Inter-Continental Paper, Ltd (IC) is looking to upgrade and expand its pulp and paper mill in Storyville. By doing so, it hopes to increase the production and efficiency of the mill and also claims that it will develop more environmentally friendly techniques for bleaching paper. The local Department for Environmental Protection (DEP) approved and publicly endorsed this application.

Shortly after this approval was announced, the Storyville Community Coalition (the Coalition) filed an appeal against the decision of the DEP. The Coalition is concerned that the DEP's approval was made without due regard to the environmental impact that the approved changes will have on Storyville. The Coalition is galvanizing the locals with its claims that the IC's 'upgrades' will in fact result in the release of carcinogenic materials into the local environment.

The Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) will allow the Coalition to appeal the matter. The EAB determined that this Issue might be settled through a mediated negotiation. DEP, IC, and the Coalition have agreed. Though EAB is anxious to use mediation to resolve this claim. It will proceed to a traditional hearing process in the case of an impasse. The mediation will include an EAB official who will act as mediator and representatives from the three parties; the IC Storyville plant manger, the president of the Coalition, and the director of Air and Water Approvals from DEP.

 

MAJOR LESSONS:

  • Many participants may be unaccustomed to a process in which the mediator knows very little about the case prior to the face-to-face mediation.
  • The mediator must be able to keep the discussion focused on the 'issues' and allow the parties to vent 'hard' feelings while managing disagreements about past behavior so they do not sidetrack the dialogue.
  • The mediator must help the parties avoid spending too much time on any one issue, given time constraints, so that all key issues can be considered. Helping establish a constructive agenda and keeping the parties on track are two important responsibilities of the mediator, especially within a time limited situation.
  • The mediator must try to help the parties develop a “package” which will satisfy all groups. The exploration of options, including those not explicit in the players’ instructions, will increase the chances of building a consensus.
  • The mediator can help the stakeholders "create value" by encouraging them to think about packages (rather than single issues), future relationships, joint statements, contingent commitments, dispute handling mechanisms for the future, and determining whether one or more parties might bring additional resources to the table.
  • Moving from broad discussion to specific written agreements is often a challenge because of misunderstandings among the parties.
  • The mediator can use a "single text" to focus the parties on a shared draft, working either in a group or separately with each party to revise the text to all parties' satisfaction.

 

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

This role play is designed to help administrative board members improve their mediation skills.

The simulation is divided into two parts. In the first half, the parties explore areas of agreement and disagreement. In the second half, the parties strive to draft a written agreement capturing their tentative verbal understandings.

The room for the exercise should have space for 4 parties, and at least one private breakout room. It is also recommended that at least one flipchart be present so that the mediator can make use of the ‘one-text’ procedure of mediating.

 

MECHANICS:

This is a mediation among three parties. The mediator may choose to keep the parties together or speak with them separately. Each side should take 20 minutes to read their role and prepare. The negotiation will take 1 hour minimum. Debrief should last at least 30 minutes.

 

TEACHING MATERIALS:

For all parties:

  • General Information
  • Technology Information
  • Press Release

 

Role Specific: Confidential Instructions to

  • Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Air and Water
  • Storyville Community Coalition (the Coalition)
  • Inter-Continental Paper, Ltd (IC)
  • Environmental Appeals Board Mediator

 

Teacher's Package (32 pages total):

  • All of the above
  • Teaching Note

 

KEYWORDS/THEMES:

Multiparty negotiation, mediation, regulatory negotiation, Environmental dispute resolution.

 

SIMILAR SIMULATIONS:

 

Armenia/Azerbaijan/Nagorno Karabakh

SCENARIO:

This case is based on the ethnic conflict between the ex-Soviet Transcaucasian states of Armenia and Azerbaijan over the predominantly Armenian enclave of Nagorno Karabakh, located within Azerbaijan. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at war with each other since the late 1980s, although animosities go back many centuries. This study brings together influential private citizens from both sides of the conflict and attempts to involve them in an interactive dialogue intended to change relationships among the participants. It is based on the assumption that, although governments are the official bodies responsible for making peace agreements, citizens have a critical role in peace-making, as they are best equipped to address the non-negotiable human issues in ethnic conflicts. The case study is based on real-life efforts undertaken by several U.S.-based non-governmental organizations to bring together influential individuals from countries entangled in bitter ethnic wars.

Each party in this negotiation has experienced more or less directly the war that has engulfed the region. Not only do the participants have fresh memories of the wrongdoings by the other side, but they also carry with them a sense of historical injustice for the real or exaggerated harms perpetrated by the other nation. Each group does not realize, however, that the other one carries a different and incompatible view of the history of the region. These different views are a product of diverging versions of history perpetrated through the educational system and word-of-mouth learning.

The parties must deal with the issues of fairness, historical injustice, historical blaming and, if possible, the power of apologizing. They have to grapple with the difficulty of moving beyond the circle of hate, which they have been conditioned to nurture. They have to face the decision of whether to acknowledge the pain and suffering on the other side and whether to end the blaming game, becoming able to make plans for the future with the perceived "enemy." Finally, they must engage in the process of building coalitions not only within their own group but perhaps also with the other.

 

MECHANICS:

This is a 13-participant, two-team facilitated role simulation. It may be played without a facilitator if necessary. Both teams should meet privately before the official negotiation begins. The intra-team preparation time should take at least 1 hour, and the actual negotiation time ranges between 4 and 6 hours. Debriefing may be run at another time and should last at least 1 hour.

 

TEACHING MATERIALS:

For all parties:

  • International Daily New Article
  • Public Peace Process Policy
  • Soviet Nationalities Policy

 

For each team:

  • Armenian history(for Armenian team)
  • Azerbaijani history (for Azerbaijani Team)

 

Role specific:

  • Fuad
  • Irana
  • Maral
  • Yosef
  • Marif
  • Adrineh
  • Anoush
  • Armen
  • Haig
  • Levon
  • Narmina
  • Facilitator

 

Teacher's Package (46 pages total):

  • All of the above
  • Facilitator's guide
  • Teaching Note

 

MAJOR LESSONS:

  • The importance of understanding the human dimension in ethnic conflicts and the difficulty of proposing solutions without grasping the complexity of the relationship.
  • The application and study of the major negotiation techniques in settings that do not involve negotiating, e.g., active listening.
  • The role of partisan perceptions, prejudices, and blaming in ethnic conflicts, and ways to move beyond them.

Arms Control on Cobia

SCENARIO:

The negotiation is set on the fictitious continent of Cobia, composed of eight countries. A race has developed on this continent between the two major countries, Algo and Omne, as well as Algo's smaller ally, Utro, for the development of a new chemical weapon, PS-182M. Furthermore, both major powers are racing to develop means to deliver this chemical weapon against the other by air, to overcome a natural barrier between them in the Smokey Mountains. There is great concern on the continent both about the dangers of conflict between the opposing alliances using this weapon, as well as about the environmental consequences of its use for the three nonaligned states on the continent. Therefore, the International Arms Control Conference has been called in St. Anton, capital of nonaligned Ingo, to try to negotiate a ban on this weapon, or at least its testing, as well as other related issues. During the course of the negotiations "news bulletins" may be issued changing the international environment within which the negotiations are taking place, either by the outbreak of a major crisis among the participants or by the attainment of a major agreement resolving other outstanding disputes only indirectly related to the content of this negotiation.

 

MECHANICS:

This issue is negotiated in one conference room where all eight countries (and perhaps a Secretary-General) are seated around a single table. If possible record the negotiations. In addition, the negotiators need to be able to consult with their Foreign Minister (normally played by the instructor or teaching assistants) in a nearby consultation room. The negotiation normally lasts three hours, and it is desirable to have at least a half-hour for preparation prior to the actual opening of the negotiation and another half-hour for debriefing. Therefore, it is best run in a block of four hours, though this can be modified by one hour in either direction without serious consequences.

 

TEACHING MATERIALS:

For all parties:

  • Description of the issues under negotiation
  • Description of each of the countries of Cobia
  • General Instructions
  • Joint Memorandum
  • Map of Cobia
  • New Bulletins

 

Role specific:

  • Representatives of the Republic of Ingo
  • Representative of the Kingdom of Exton
  • Representative of the Kingdom of Carta
  • Representative of the Republic of Omne
  • Representative of the Principality of Sarto
  • Representative of the Kingdom of Algo
  • Representative of the Republic of Utro
  • Representative of the Federated States of Bata
  • Secretary-General

 

Teacher's package (48 pages total):

  • All of the above
  • Teaching Note
  • Suggested Readings

 

MAJOR LESSONS

  • This is a complex, multi-issue, multi-party negotiation that requires considerable problem-solving for the negotiators to arrive at agreement. Since some issues turn out to be non-negotiable, the negotiator's ability to disaggregate (or fractionate) the issues is critical to their success.
  • In order to avoid unnecessary frustration at trying to reach agreement on non-negotiable issues, clear commitments by the major parties about their BATNA's tends to facilitate negotiating success.
  • The existence of the Foreign Minister who issues negotiating instructions means that all negotiators must be responsible to a domestic constituency, which places limits on their latitude to negotiate freely. Negotiators must thus learn to negotiate in a constrained environment, and to negotiate equally effectively with the Foreign Minister as well as with the other parties to the negotiation.
  • The assumption by the nonaligned states of active roles as mediators between the two competing alliances tends to contribute to an ability to reach successful agreements. Furthermore, the ability of the nonaligned to maintain a position of perceived neutrality is crucial to their playing this mediating role effectively.
  • Implications for several "real world" international analogues may be discussed by the instructor as part of the debriefing; suggestions along this line are contained in the Instructor's Manual.

 

SIMILAR SIMULATIONS:

 

PROCESS THEMES:

Agenda control; BATNA; Caucusing; Coalitions; Commitments; Communication; Competition v. Cooperation; Currently perceived choice analysis; Enforcement and verification of agreement; Formula-detail negotiation; Fractionation; Group process; Integrative bargaining; Issue control; Joint gains; Managing uncertainty; Mediation; Political constraints (dealing with); Power imbalance; Pressure tactics; Risk perception; Systems of negotiation; Trust; Yesable propositions

Ballet’s Me Too

SCENARIO:

When a reinterpretation of West Side Story opened on Broadway, picketing and #MeToo demonstrations preceded and followed the opening. The protest publicized the sexual abuse and hostile work environment a female dancer suffered two years earlier when she worked with Amar Ramasar, one of the leads in the West Side Story production; a principal dancer and one of the first dancers of color at the New York City Ballet.

The lead producer of West Side Story and other investors are negotiating with the Salt Lake City Ballet West Board of Directors to perform in Salt Lake City for a run of at least four months.  The SLC Ballet West Board is concerned that the picketing and demonstrations will follow the show from New York, embarrass the Board and the community, and cause a drop off in ticket sales during the run.  The SLC Ballet West Board is seeking indemnification (and protection) if civil disruption occurs.

Major lessons in this exercise include:

  • How should concerns around sensitive issues like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter be taken into account in the design and management of negotiations?
  • The role of ethics and values in distinguishing between positions and interests in this type of situation.
  • How do relationships benefit or impede negotiations, especially when the parties will likely need to carry on working relationships long after the conclusion of the negotiation?
  • The role of the mediator, and what, if any, value added they provide in the dispute resolution process.

There are two versions of this simulation. Version A includes only the counsel for the parties, whereas Version B includes Waterbury and Ramasar appearing pro se.

Bankruptcy Multiparty Negotiation Simulation

SCENARIO:

This exercise is a six-party simulation of multiparty negotiations in a bankruptcy (reorganization) and mass torts context. The simulation represents a version of such negotiations which take place in the shadow of the Bankruptcy Code, with roles, interests and issues that have been stylized for educational purposes. In this exercise, a genetically-modified food producer has been sued by multiple consumers of its food products and is forced to file for bankruptcy protection in order to automatically stay (i.e., suspend) the flood of tort (i.e., personal injury) claims brought against the company, as well as those claims of the company’s secured and unsecured creditors. The company’s assets are “wasting” assets (i.e., they are deteriorating in quality, and therefore in value, rapidly). This means that the parties will have to reach an agreement quickly, if enough value is to be preserved to meet their diverse interests.

The simulation is primarily intended for use in a course on multiparty negotiations, though it also may be used in a bankruptcy course. It implicates such concepts as blocking and winning coalitions, BATNAs (Best Alternatives to A Negotiated Agreement), risk forecasting, and conflicting and compatible interests (the emotionally-charged and hard to reconcile interests of different kinds of creditors and a debtor).

This simulation requires at least ninety minutes to conduct: a ten-minute bankruptcy law background presentation (handout provided), ten minutes for individuals to read the general and confidential instructions and plan their strategies, five minutes of same-role strategic brainstorming, up to forty-five minutes of multiparty negotiation, and twenty minutes of in-class debriefing and discussion.

 

Participant Materials include:

For all participants:

  • General Instructions
  • Student Handout: Negotiating in the Shadow of Bankruptcy
  • Negotiation Summary Sheet

 

Confidential Instructions for:

  • NoDrink, Inc.
  • Secured Creditors
  • Unsecured Creditors
  • Severely Harmed Tort Claimants
  • Slightly Harmed Tort Claimants
  • Possible Future Tort Claimants

Bepo Dam Plan, The

The Bepo Dam Plan exercise presents the kinds of challenges decision makers are expected to face in the near future in light of climate change based on trends already seen, predictions of what may come and plans already under development. This exercise is loosely based on the situation in Ghana, and was first run there. Ghana depends on hydroelectricity for much of its power supply and climate change poses a very real threat.  Two-dozen people were interviewed in the preparation of this exercise and an extensive literature review was conducted. The details have, however, been modified and this scenario is placed in the fictitious country of Suna. Ultimately, the setting is not so important – while other countries will not face the exact same challenges, planning for a changing climate is increasingly recognized as necessary around the world and this exercise can help decision makers to think about how to make choices in the face of substantial uncertainty. Many countries are, in fact, facing similar questions around hydroelectric dams, but the questions raised are generalizable to situations beyond this particular issue.

This exercise will help participants to think about:

  • How to deal with data that could have serious implications but are highly uncertain and dynamic;
  • How and at what stage climate change should be factored into planning and decision-making;
  • How to consider risk in decision-making; and
  • How different stakeholders can work together to make these challenging decisions.


SCENARIO:

The country of Suna is planning to construct a new dam – called the Bepo – to meet its rapidly growing electricity needs and current supply deficit. Suna has traditionally depended upon hydroelectricity and sees it as an inexpensive way to produce electricity that is not vulnerable to spikes in global fuel prices. The proposed site for the Bepo is one of the last large unexploited opportunities for hydro in Suna, with an expected installed capacity of 425 megawatts. The projected cost amortized out over the life of the project is only 7.9 cents per kWh, making it relatively inexpensive.

Unfortunately, hydroelectricity is starting to seem less certain than it has been in the past. The Esono Basin, in which two existing dams are located and the Bepo is proposed, has experienced significant variations in average seasonal and annual flow in recent years. The reason for these hydrologic changes is hotly contested – some blame changes in land and water use upstream while others point to the effects of climatic change – but in either case, a recently released report suggests that things may get worse. The report acknowledges that there is growing uncertainty and presents three scenarios in light of continued climate change: A ‘rainy season’ scenario in which precipitation is concentrated in an intense wet season while the rest of the year is quite dry; a ‘desert’ scenario in which there is much less precipitation overall; and a ‘little change’ scenario in which the precipitation patterns remain much as they have traditionally.

The question is: What should the planners and decision-makers involved in advancing or permitting the Bepo project do in light of this new information? The growing need for electricity is significant, but, if either the ‘rainy season’ or (particularly) the ‘desert’ scenario were to play out, it would have serious negative impacts. Doing nothing is not an option, but a useless ‘white elephant’ of a dam would represent a major waste of precious resources and could leave the country without electricity. As noted previously, participants are challenged to think about how to deal with these significant but highly uncertain and dynamic forecasts; to consider how climate change can and should be factored into decision making; how to accommodate or live with risk; and how they might work together to make these challenging but ultimately important and necessary decisions.

TEACHING MATERIALS:

  • TEACHING NOTES
  • GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR PARTICIPANTS
  • NATIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION – Confidential Instructions
  • SUNA ENERGY CO. – Confidential Instructions
  • ENERGY AUTHORITY – Confidential Instructions
  • WATER AUTHORITY – Confidential Instructions
  • ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION OFFICE – Confidential Instructions
  • INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT BANK – Confidential Instructions
  • ENERGY FUTURES – Confidential Instructions
  • ASSOCIATION OF INDUSTRIES – Confidential Instructions

 

Billboards in Wyethville

SCENARIO:

Wyethville is a small and blossoming city, whose recent economic prosperity has prompted development of its waterfront. A new and highly controversial code proposes banning all billboard advertising along the waterfront so as to beautify the area and attract investment. Six members of the local business community and residents, with divergent interests, must present a final Billboard Proposal to their City Council. At least five of the six members must endorse the Proposal for it to be accepted by the City Council.

 

MAJOR LESSONS:

  • Land use decisions, particularly those involving aesthetics, can be more easily negotiated if the right forum is established.
  • Value creation is possible in land use negotiation by including additional (off site) issues.

 

TEACHING MATERIALS:

For all parties:

  • General instructions
  • Copy of the proposed amendments to the Wyethville Sign Ordinance

 

Role Specific:

Confidential Instructions for

  • P. Sondheim: President of the Wyethville Business Association + score sheet
  • C. Castillo: Wyethville Development commission + score sheet
  • B. Randall: Spokesperson for Scenic America + score sheet
  • Prof. Landon: Professor of Political Science at Wyethville Community College + score sheet
  • R. Waxman: Owner of the local Big Sleep Motel + score sheet
  • C. Toli: Council Member for Wyethville and potential Congressional candidate + score sheet

 

Additional Teaching Notes:

  • Teaching Matrix (charting various settlement options and the participants' preferences)

 

KEYWORDS/ THEMES:

Free speech; aesthetics in the public sector; land use planning; zoning; municipal decision-making; urban design

 

SIMILAR SIMULATIONS:

 

Boston Busing Role Play

The Boston Busing Role Play is a simulation from the Workable Peace Curriculum Series unit on Civil Rights and School Integration in the United States.

OVERVIEW OF THE BOSTON BUSING ROLEPLAY:

This role play is set in Boston, Massachusetts in the 1970s. The background instructions give a brief history of school segregation and desegregation in the U.S. and Boston through the early 1970s. Multiple efforts have been made to improve schools for blacks in Boston, including voluntary one-way busing (Operation Exodus), metropolitan busing (METCO), and state legislation (RIA). But the Boston School Committee has resisted all attempts to make substantive changes to integrate the schools, and has denied that the schools are deliberately segregated. In 1972, black parents and the NAACP turn to the federal courts for a remedy.

In late spring of 1974, Federal Judge W. Arthur Garrity handed down his opinion in Morgan v. Hennigan, ruling that the members of the Boston School Committee “have knowingly carried out a systematic program of segregation…Therefore, the entire school system of Boston is unconstitutionally segregated.” In hopes of remedying the situation, Judge Garrity recommends implementing a plan written earlier by Charles Glenn, of the State Board of Education.

Although a series of hearings and negotiations did occur at this time on the Massachusetts Education Department plan written by Charles Glenn, as well as a number of attempts to build consensus among those affected by the decision, the key stakeholders never convened in a formal or informal facilitated setting. It is at this point that the Boston Busing Role Play becomes counter-factual. Our simulation asks participants to imagine “what if” all the stakeholder groups had been brought together for negotiations before Phase I of school integration had been attempted (and failed).

Therefore, as our simulation begins, Mayor White has called a meeting of the major stakeholders to review the Glenn Plan for integrating the schools, and to discuss alternative strategies. The meeting is to be chaired by his representative. Invited to the meeting are representatives of the Boston School Committee, the NAACP, the State Board of Education, and white and black parents.

 

GOALS OF A WORKABLE PEACE ROLEPLAY:

The Boston Busing Role Play aims to:

  • Provide accurate historical and background information on school desegragation in the U.S., and in Boston in the 1970s.
  • Stimulate and motivate student learning through active participation, as well as reading, writing, class discussion, and other forms of analysis and expression.
  • Build students' negotiation and conflict management skills by asking them to take on the roles of participants seeking to resolve a conflict through negotiation, with support and feedback as they prepare, conduct, and debrief the role play.
  • Challenge students to find the links between the conflict presented in the role play and the conflict resolution steps presented in the Workable Peace Framework, and to apply them to other conflicts in history and in their own lives.

 

Teacher's Package Includes:

  • History and General Instructions
  • Confidential Instructions for the black parents' representative, the white parents' representative, and the representatives of the NAACP, the Boston City Schools, the Mayor's office, and the State Board of Education
  • Framework for a Workable Peace
  • Teaching Note

 

If you would like additional information about the Workable Peace framework and teaching materials, including information about teacher training and support, please contact Workable Peace Co-Directors David Fairman or Stacie Smith at:

The Consensus Building Institute, Inc. 238 Main Street, Suite 400 Cambridge, MA 02142 Tel: 617-492-1414 Fax: 617-492-1919 web: www.cbuilding.org Email: stacie@cbuilding.org

Carson Extension

SCENARIO:

Carson Rug Company is a middle-sized, family owned business located in Garth, along the Melrose River. Carson applied for an Army Corps of Engineers permit to construct a seawall extending into the Melrose River. After this application was denied, Caron's second application, specifying a considerable smaller extension, was approved. However, the actual modifications nearly doubled the size of the authorized seawall fill. Carson contends that the noncompliance was unintentional and blames the engineering firm for misinterpreting instructions.

Representatives from the Army Corps, Garth Town Council, Hills Engineering, an environmental group, and the president of Carson Rug must negotiate the removal of the seawall fill in a manner that is agreeable to all.

 

MAJOR LESSONS:

  • Multi-issue, multi-party negotiations tend to involve the formation of coalitions — especially blocking coalitions. This game provides an instructive context for exploring coalition strategies.
  • Parties that reveal their true interests do not necessarily do better than those who remain silent or bluff. The advantages and disadvantages of revealing all one's concerns are illustrated in this game.
  • The need for a neutral "process manager" of some sort is also illustrated, as the participants must structure their discussions.

 

Teacher's Package includes:

  • General instructions for all participants
  • Confidential instructions for:
  • Stuart Carson (owner of the Carson Rug Company)
  • Representative from Hills Engineering
  • Army Corps of Engineers Lawyer
  • Army Corps of Engineers Environmental Engineer
  • Representative from Garth Town Council
  • Local environmentalist from Massachusetts Chapter of Green Earth
  • No Teaching Note Currently Available

 

Also available: Carson Extension – Mediated Version

Carson Extension – Mediated Version

SCENARIO:

Carson Rug Company is a middle-sized, family owned business located in Garth, along the Melrose River. Carson applied for an Army Corps of Engineers permit to construct a seawall extending into the Melrose River. After this application was denied, Carson's second application, specifying a considerably smaller extension, was approved. However, the seawall that was actually built was nearly double the size of that authorized in the permit. Carson contends that the noncompliance with the permit was unintentional and blames the engineering firm for misinterpreting instructions.

Representatives from the Army Corps, Garth Town Council, Hills Engineering, an environmental group, and the president of Carson Rug have agreed to a mediation regarding the removal of the unauthorized seawall fill.

 

MAJOR LESSONS:

  • Multi-issue, multi-party negotiations tend to involve the formation of coalitions — especially blocking coalitions. This game provides an instructive context for exploring coalition strategies.
  • Parties that reveal their true interests do not necessarily do better than those who remain silent or bluff. The advantages and disadvantages of revealing all one's concerns are illustrated in this game.
  • The mediator can play a key role in defusing emotions and facilitating a solution.
  • This simulation is sometimes used in conjunction with the non-mediated version, in order to compare process and outcomes between groups with and without a mediator.

 

Teacher's Package includes:

  • General Instructions for all participants
  • Confidential Instructions for:
  • Stuart Carson (owner of Carson Rug Company)
  • Representative from Hills Engineering
  • Army Corps of Engineers Lawyer
  • Army Corps of Engineers Environmental Engineer
  • Representative from Garth Town Council
  • Local environmentalist from Massachusetts Chapter of Green Earth
  • Mediator
  • No teaching note currently available

Also available: Carson Extension (non-mediated version)

Case of the Puerile Printer

SCENARIO:

Six months ago, Liza Brown filed a grievance with Systech's Human Resource manager. She claims that every time she had to go into the back room of the print shop either to pick up or drop off documents she felt extremely uncomfortable because of the suggestive, and even pornographic, calendars hanging in the back room. Liza says that the printer also began to make suggestive comments and even brushed up against her unnecessarily. At that point Liza complained to the print shop manager who told her to keep out of the back room if it bothered her. The results of the grievance procedure that Liza filed were a reprimand in the printer's file and orders for Liza to avoid the print shop. Liza believes that she has been denied a promotion since her grievance procedure because this situation gave her a reputation as a trouble-maker. Since Liza is unhappy with the results of the grievance procedure she asked to enter a formal mediation with an outside mediator, which is allowed in Systech's policy manual.

 

MAJOR LESSONS:

  • This scenario makes it easy to slip into a negative, reactive mode, with unsatisfactory outcomes resulting.
  • Those parties willing to consider the perceptions and interests of the other party as relevant can usually engage effectively in mutually beneficial joint problem-solving.
  • Participants can discuss how partisan perceptions affected their acceptance of differing interpretations of the case, and how they tried to educate the other members of their group as to their perceptions.
  • Fairness and power imbalance questions are triggered by the issues of sexual harassment in the exercise. These two problems can be specifically addressed, or they can be broadened to serve as a base for a discussion of difference issues in negotiating.
  • Some of the managers have to decide how much information they wish to reveal. Where do their loyalties lie?

 

MECHANICS:

At least 7 players are required. This exercise takes 45-60 minutes to run it is suggested that the participants will need 20 minutes to prepare and 30-60 for debriefing.

 

PROCESS THEMES:

Agenda control; Anchoring; Coalitions; Consensus building; Grievance procedures; Meaning of "success"; Systems of negotiation

Changing Times for the Senior Center in Redwood Hills

SCENARIO:

Redwood Hills is a growing, rural community which is suffering from a shortage of public meeting facilities. The Town Council would like the Martha Gold Senior Center to allow access to their facility. The Senior Center Board has called a meeting with current and potential user groups to see whether an agreement is possible on issues including access, fees, financial issues, responsibility for maintenance and repairs, and the Center’s name. If agreement is reached, the Board will adopt the agreement as policy and the County will renew the 10-year property tax abatement arrangement.

This exercise provides an opportunity to examine closely the role of the facilitator and various facilitation techniques as well as the dynamics of multi-party negotiations.

 

MAJOR LESSONS:

  • The value of ground rules in helping to establish the facilitator's role in the process and in managing disruptive communication patterns.
  • The critical role of the facilitator in structuring the negotiation process to encourage interest-based negotiations.
  • Techniques in which the facilitator can address issues regarding the legitimacy of negotiating parties. Some parties will presume more "authority" in a negotiation than others. In actuality, all parties present at the table have equal legitimacy in the sense that their consent is valued. By reminding parties to consider their BATNAs, the facilitator can create legitimacy for all parties around the table as well as creating motivation for reaching agreement.
  • The value of visual aids and graphic displays of information. Graphics representation can be a pivotal tool for clarifying the resources under discussion. Included in this discussion can be an acknowledgment of the varied learning styles of individual negotiators and the facilitator's role in ensuring a common base knowledge.
  • The impact of varying assumptions about technical information on options considered and the ultimate agreement.
  • The potential difficulty of negotiating symbolic issues. A party may or may not be willing to trade economic compensation for an issue of symbolic value.

 

TEACHING MATERIALS:

For all parties:

  • General Information

 

Role Specific:

  • Confidential information for:
  • Senior Center Director W.B. Cutt
  • COHA Oregon Representative M. Furia
  • Coalition of Civic Organizations Representative D. Kline
  • Town Council Member S. Sherman
  • AAA Director N. Vie
  • Facilitator

 

Teacher's package (26 pages total):

  • All of the above
  • Teaching notes