Intervention Strategy Analysis

Intervention Strategy Analysis

Introduction

Team C has chosen to use the arbitration/mediation intervention with the Newtown School District Case. This paper will show the interests of the stakeholders that are involved in the dispute, making sure that everyone's interests are being handled properly is very important. Team C with the use of the chosen method of arbitration/mediation intervention will show you how to handle the situation, and the findings for this intervention.

Stakeholders Interests and Various Positions

Stakeholders are the persons, groups, or organizations that affect or are affected by another organization. In the case of the Newtown school dispute, the stakeholders are the Newtown Teachers' Association, Newtown School District, the Board of Education, parents, and students. It is the beginning of the school year and the Board of Education and Teachers' Association have yet to finalize a contract. The teachers threatened a strike but because of the pressure from the parents the leadership of the Teachers' Association agreed to keep the schools operating. The interests and positions are to increase taxes to cover budgetary increases, personnel cuts, and the productivity (workload) of the teachers increased. The Teachers' Association is committed to improving its membership, and the board is committed to keeping costs down. The board wants to satisfy pressure groups but at the same time keep the teachers employed. The board's primary issue is to cut costs and retain as many programs as possible. The board wants to negotiate a three-year stabilized contract, whereas the Teachers' Association wants only to obtain a one-year flexibility contract. The board realizes that if they do not respond appropriately for the communities' pressure for cost reductions, it can be removed.

Best Intervention Strategy

In the case of the Newtown School dispute Team C will use the arbitration/ mediation intervention. The parties involved need a third party to intervene because both parties have failed to grow, build relationships, or adept in managing their interdependence. This particular intervention allows parties to maintain control over the outcome, but the third party manages their interaction keeping them on track. Third party intervention is tricky; extreme precaution should be used because it can have strong negative consequences if not properly used. These consequences are decreasing the parties' ability to negotiation effectively making them more dependent on the third party. The third party must use moderation by intervening only when it is absolutely necessary; this allows the parties to find resolution. Arbitration is straightforward and to the point. Arbitration is used widely to resolve organizational, management, and labor disputes. This type of intervention has become an accepted practice for resolving global commercial disputes (Lewicki, Saunders, & Barry (2006).

Team C's Findings

Team C determined that it is in the best interests of all the stakeholders to have a quick resolution to this dispute. The stakeholders want a deal so they can continue with the school year with the least amount of distractions for the students. The stakeholders in this