$0.00 – $6.00
Lara SanPietro
Two party, multi-issue negotiation between the co-owners of the Daily Herald newspaper over how to resolve ongoing management issues and implement structural reforms in the face of high pressure circumstances.
SCENARIO:
Discord at the Daily Herald is a two party, internal negotiation between co-owners of a newspaper embroiled in management conflicts. J. Blanton and K. Logan are the co-owners of the Daily Herald newspaper. J. Blanton previously worked in the freight-shipping industry, while K. Logan worked in the Logan family media business. The co-owners have become embroiled in conflict over the direction of the paper’s future. As a result of this conflict, K. Logan has terminated the paper’s long-time editor in chief without consulting J. Blanton. K. Logan is seeking an overall shift to a digital-only publishing model in order to expand readership and return to profitability. J. Blanton wants to maintain a more print-based, traditional newspaper model to serve the community. Underlying this management discord are strained relationship dynamics been the owners and plummeting morale among the staff. J. Blanton feels that K. Logan does not take others’ input seriously, and K. Logan feels that J. Blanton is resistant to change and evolution. J. Blanton and K. Logan have also just been informed of a planned staff walkout in protest of management’s erratic leadership and they must now break their previous impasse on these issues to try to avert a crisis. Major lessons of this negotiation include:
- Importance of agenda setting in multi-issue negotiations.
- Breaking an impasse in a negotiation.
- Negotiating with very weak alternatives (BATNA) and under pressure of escalating consequences.
- Having difficult conversations in relationships with low trust.
MATERIALS:
- Teaching Notes
- Confidential Instructions for J. Blanton
- Confidential Role Instructions for K. Logan
- Outcome Form
Discord at the Daily Herald Attributes
Time required: | 2-3 hours |
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Numbers of participants: | 2 |
Scoreable: | No |
Teaching Notes Available: | Yes |
Neutral third party present: | No |