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Business and Commercial Role-Play:
Alplaus Supply Company
$0.00 – $6.50
Duncan MacLaren
Two-party negotiation between a company field representative and a large corporate customer over a possible product return
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SCENARIO:
The senior field representative for Alplaus Supply Company is meeting with the General Manager of a company that prints and distributes many kinds of documents. The general manager recently bought a machine that performed simple folding and envelope-stuffing tasks. The machine was a good deal, but now the company is having some problems with it. The general manager wants to return the machine. The field representative knows that Alplaus has already gone over their returns budget for this month. This negotiation is based on The Blender by Bruce Patton.
MECHANICS:
This is a simple two party that may be done with teams or individually.
TEACHING MATERIALS:
Role Specific:
General Manager
Field Representative for Alplaus Supply Company
Teacher's Package:
All of the above
MAJOR LESSONS:
The scenario makes it easy to slip into a negative, reactive mode, with unsatisfactory outcomes usually resulting.
Those parties willing to consider the perceptions and interests of the other party relevant can usually engage effectively in mutually beneficial joint problem solving.
The perception of who is in power in this negotiation and how that affected the results of the negotiation can be explored by comparing different groups.
In this negotiation, unlike in The Blender, the two parties have a previous relationship, and may have one in the future. The values involved are also much larger.
Prof. Susskind’s Top 5 Environmental Negotiation Teaching Materials
From time to time, the Teaching Negotiation Resource Center asks PON-affiliated faculty to nominate their top five books, top five teaching videos or top five role-play simulations in certain fields or teaching settings. These change periodically.