Towers Market

Towers Market Comment (I played the role of the Bakery owner)

1. My total points: 180

Group's combined total points: 640

Buy-in: 9

2. What transferrable lessons did I learn about negotiation from this simulation, classmates' results, the debriefing discussion, the readings, and the follow-up lecture?

First, I learned that it was very helpful to discuss issues as packages rather than individually. I found that nonlinear bargaining helped a lot during the discussion because it allowed us to understand each other's priorities and make tradeoffs. We realized that some issues meant more to certain people than to others and were able to maximize the points each person made by effectively identifying mutually helpful trades (and ensuring that everyone's top priorities were satisfied).

I also learned that the dynamic in a multiparty negotiation is very different from a two-party negotiation. It's important to intentionally listen to each person in turn not only to ensure that everyone is comfortable to voice their opinions, but also to improve the commitment of each party involved. During the negotiation, we went around the table multiple times to ensure that everyone was happy with their points. When people were not very happy, we discussed more potential trades.

In retrospect, I realized that having an agenda for the meeting was extremely helpful. The structured points table set up the negotiation and helped me understand my own objectives better. Through discussing with the others, I was able to learn about their priorities as well thus paving the path to making tradeoffs and thinking creatively.

Another lesson I learned was that it was important to regularly have someone summarize the discussion up to that point. A couple of people in my team moderated the discussion at different points. We started off by going around the table and everyone listing their top two outcomes for each issue under discussion. When we were all done with the first pass, one of us summarized everyone's top two outcomes for a specific issue and the importance they attached to the issue. It was at this point that we discussed tradeoffs and 'package deals'. I think the first pass helped us understand each other's priorities and the summarizing saved us a lot of time and confusion. In a negotiation involving more issues and/or more parties, I think it might be more helpful to have one designated person to moderate, take notes and summarize the discussion.

I learned from the lecture that the commitment of everyone in the group is extremely important and listening and commitment are very closely correlated. I feel that going around in turns to ensure everyone got a chance to speak as well as going around the