Governmental Role-Play:

Negotiating with the Ministry of Health

$0.00$6.50

Larry Susskind (MIT), Ona Ferguson, and Meredith Sciarrio

Two, separate, two-person, non-scorable negotiations: one between Technical Co-chairs from the Center for Disease Control and USAID; the other between a CDC Technical Co-Chair and the Minister of Health in the imaginary host country of Sabada.

Quantity

Please note: you must order a copy (a.k.a. license/usage fee) for every person participating in the simulation in your course. This simulation has multiple roles, so you will be unable to complete your purchase without meeting the minimum quantity requirement of copies per role.

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OVERVIEW:

This negotiation training module includes two separate two-person, non-scorable negotiation simulations focused on efforts to combat HIV/AIDs.  The first is a negotiation entitled “Negotiating with Another Federal Agency” between a Center for Disease Control (CDC) Technical Co-Chair and a USAID Technical Co-Chair.  The second is entitled “Negotiating with the Ministry of Health” and is between a CDC Technical Co-Chair and the Minister of Health in Sabada, the (imaginary) host country.  The focus is on cross-cultural and political perspectives on public health initiatives.

The simulation highlights the challenges faced by public health personnel when working with their political counterparts in host countries.  The game is designed to help CDC-type personnel practice negotiation techniques in order to effectively collaborate with personnel from other US federal agencies and with government officials in a host country.  The negotiation scenarios involve elements that CDC personnel often face in the field: ill-defined negotiating protocols, funding constraints, preference for evidence-based programming, inter-agency competition, tensions around headquarter authority, political considerations, time constraints, difficult personalities, and in particular, competing public health priorities.  The game emphasizes the importance of preparation; in particular, thinking about one’s own interests before entering negotiations.

The CDC and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and are working with Sabada’s Ministry of Health to address the country’s significant HIV/AIDS challenge. Parties must come to agreement about 1) how the prevention and treatment funds will be shared between the two agencies, and 2) how to allocate $55 million among four HIV/AIDS relief programs in a limited timeframe.

 

LOGISTICS:

The simulations are designed to be played sequentially. Each simulation requires two people, and two hours to play for each exercise: 15 minute introduction, 30 minute role preparation, 30 minute negotiation, 45 minute debrief

 

TEACHER’S PACKAGE INCLUDES:

Teaching Notes

General Instructions (2 sets)

Confidential Instructions for:

USAID, CDC Technical Co-Chair, MIH, CDC Technical Expert

 

TOPICS COVERED:

Back Tables, BATNA, Communication, Creating Joint Gains, Cross-Cultural Communication Interest analysis, Options, Packaging, Preparation, Role Simulations, Quantifying Interests, Relationships, Sharing Interests, Trading across issues

 

MAJOR LESSONS:

• negotiation preparation is an organizational not just an individual task

•internal disagreements impact external negotiations

• arguments based on quantitative assessments of results won’t be convincing unless they also take account of the other side’s interests

Negotiating with the Ministry of Health Attributes

Time required: 4 hours (total, for both simulations)
Number of participants: 2
Teams involved: No
Agent present: No
Neutral third party present: No
Scoreable: No
Teaching notes available: Yes
Author: Larry Susskind (MIT), Ona Ferguson, and Meredith Sciarrio