$0.00 – $6.50
Beth Doherty and Hal Movius
3-player, non-scoreable game designed to teach the benefits of managing communication and trust in the context of a technology negotiation.
Scenario:
Cremtech Corporation, considered for many years the industry leader in product and innovation, develops and manufactures leading edge glass and ceramic products, and generates profits of $50M. It also championed a collaborative approach to management that has brought steady profits and kept employee turnover low.
Over the last five years, however, faced with mounting competition, profits have slipped. Cremtech business leaders were advised to reduce products that generate the least profits. Technologies without significant markets or applications drain production capacity and require small, expensive runs to produce. Fewer products will mean less handling, shipping, and customer support costs.
Hexiglass is one of Cremtech’s materials that retains tremendous strength and flexibility at very thin diameters. Though Cremtech recognizes the drain on manufacturing floor time that it represents, a competitor offered to buy or license their Hexiglass technology. The offer expires in seven days.
The three Cremtech business leaders must decide to sell, license, or mothball Hexiglass while maintaining their collaborative leadership style and preserving their working relationships.
Logistics
Time:
- 5 minutes to set up
- 25-35 minutes to read all the instructions
- 20-25 minutes to prepare with others playing the same role
- 75 minutes to do the simulation
- 45 minutes to debrief
Major Lessons:
This game teaches the benefits of managing communication and trust in the context of a technology negotiation. Each participant has conflicting interests to manage. By working collaboratively to find mutual gains, participants see that building trust between parties can lead to increased gains, and that differences in the valuation of certain issues is often what makes it possible to reach an acceptable agreement for all parties.
There can be trade-offs between short and long-term gains.
Parties often have “second tables” or “internal stakeholders.”
Convincing standards or criteria are important when seeking to divide potential gains.
Effective negotiation often involves:
• Addressing multiple issues together rather than singularly
• Disclosing or discovering sufficient information to find mutually beneficial options
• Creating value before claiming it
Materials Included:
For all parties:
General Instructions
Memo from Legal
Settlement Worksheet
Role-specific instructions for:
P. Riley Confidential and Grid for ranking (Product Line Manager for Specialty Ceramics at Cremtech)
J. Lee Confidential and Grid for ranking (Vice President of Research and Development who invented Hexiglass)
T. Weston Confidential and Grid for ranking (Plant Manager where Hexiglass was developed and is still manufactured)
What To Do With Hexiglass? Attributes
| Time required: | 2 hours |
|---|---|
| Teams involved: | No |
| Agent present: | No |
| Neutral third party present: | No |
| Scoreable: | No |
| Teaching notes available: | Yes |
| Author: | Beth Doherty and Hal Movius |
