00:00
Hi and welcome to my
tea party negotiations.
00:04
In this lecture, we're going to
focus on dealing with complexity.
00:07
Some of our learning
outcomes will include
developing a differentiated
view of to party
and multi-party negotiations.
00:16
We will improve the
our negotiation skills
in larger groups,
and we'll be able to
adapt negotiation phases
to a multi-party situation.
00:25
Now the first thing we
need to ask ourselves is
what is a multilateral
negotiation?
Basically said a lot of
people, more than two,
but actually if we look deeper
into this type of negotiation,
we realize that it's not only
about three or more actors,
but it's also about coordinating
some types of principles.
00:47
For example,
how do we behave?
What kind of decisions can
be made in larger groups?
How do we decide on collective
action amongst so many people?
And how do we monitor that people will
do what they say they're going to do.
01:03
Now we know from history
that in traditional multilateral
negotiations people thought
if we all have a joint
interest in solving a problem,
we're going to solve it.
01:14
What we know now is
that even when we
have common interest
in a larger group coordination
is not always possible.
01:24
Now, let's see how a situation changes
were more parties are involved.
01:27
You can find a more detailed
version of the OR construction case
in the download
section of this course.
01:34
In the last few days a protest
outside the construction site
in orally and oval has erupted.
01:40
As residents learned
that a forgotten War Monument
was going to be removed
to make way for a new project.
01:47
This meant that their beloved
Park would no longer be a park
but more of a housing unit.
01:53
While the monument itself has largely
gone unnoticed and unmaintained
it is serving as the focal point
to gather people against
the construction site.
02:05
Let's look at some
of the basic dynamics
of the case.
02:09
The OR construction company is
a large company in the region.
02:13
It has a stellar reputation.
02:15
But at the same time
it's losing money.
02:18
It has invested in a
controversial property
and it needs a win to
regain its reputation.
02:25
The focus of the
construction company has been
Modern Urban Living.
02:30
At the same time, the protesters
come from the local community.
02:34
It's a more of a bottom-up
kind of movement.
02:38
They think the or
construction company
has actually mismanaged most
of the properties it's owned
and they fear gentrification.
02:46
Their goal is to prevent
the project at all cost
and to make sure
that whatever is built it has
a more traditional emphasis.
02:56
Now that would be a two person
or two party in negotiations.
03:00
The construction
company representatives
and the representatives
of the protesters,
but actually we
have a third party,
a group of owners who have
invested in the construction
of the new homes
and actually would like to
see the construction finished
so that they can move in.
03:18
These are regular
middle-class families
who seek to improve their living
standards have modern conveniences
and would like to move
in as quickly as possible
because they are either
renting somewhere else
or they might have
to pay a penalty
wherever they're living
for not moving out.
03:35
They are very insecure about
the safety of their families
are surrounding the new project.
03:41
Let's look a little bit at some
of the issues that are involved.
03:44
The OR Construction Company
would like to start
construction immediately.
03:49
Make sure that their team of
construction workers are safe.
03:53
They want an immediate
end of the protest
and they want cost neutrality.
03:58
The local community would like to have
an end to the construction completely
and they'd like more local
community things like kindergartens,
Road Improvement,
community centers,
most importantly they want
to see a decommercialization
of the entire community.
04:18
And thirdly if we look at the
owners, they also have some issues.
04:21
They want to make sure the
construction is finished on time.
04:25
Their homes are safe.
04:27
They're accepted in
the local community.
04:30
And at the same time they also are
interested in local infrastructure.
04:35
Now, let's use this case
to understand and unpack
multilateral negotiations.
04:41
Number one,
There is a certain air of
uncertainty given the number
of people involved.
04:47
There are many protesters,
there are several owners,
even within the
construction company.
04:53
We have several levels
of decision making.
04:55
It's unclear who
is making decisions
and who actually has the
authority to reach an agreement.
05:03
The uncertainty around the
negotiation leads to complexity.
05:08
More information, more actors,
more talking, more fighting,
people have to
manage all this data,
all this input and find a way to
create a plan for negotiations.
05:22
Creating this plan leads us to
talking about interdependence.
05:26
They all need each other to
find a way out of the crisis.
05:31
And if we look at
the issues involved
that I mentioned earlier,
you will see that there
is the potential for
different sides to make
coalitions with other groups.
05:42
For example,
the owners and the local protesters
all want Local infrastructure.
05:49
The owners and the OR
construction company
also have an interest in
finishing the project quickly.
05:55
And actually if the sides would have
cooler heads prevail we would see
that the owner of the
OR construction company
and the local protesters also
have some common interests
all of them want to see
a beautiful community
come out of this project.
06:14
If we look at this
conflict, we will realize
that the parties are not
willing to meet just anywhere.
06:20
The protesters don't want to
go to the construction site.
06:23
The construction side,
a team does not want to
go to the local community.
06:27
Everyone is scared
of each other.
06:29
So what we need is
some other third party
to serve as an umbrella
organization where
people can meet
and this is what we
call the auspices.
06:40
This organization serves
as a neutral safe space.
06:45
Number 6, we have what's
called Epistemic Community.
06:48
Now this is a very
challenging word.
06:50
What does it mean?
It's actually a scientific term
and it means community
of knowledge,
and means experts.
06:58
People who are trying
to find a way to codify
their vision of the
world into a principal.
07:06
A seventh issue
that is different
is that given the
amount of people
and the amount of issues actually
different parties can link
and create a a given
take negotiation process
in order to create momentum
within the process.
07:23
Otherwise the conflict will just
turn on itself over and over
as people fight over
different issues.
07:30
The last point I'd like to make
about multilateral negotiation
is that given so many people,
we have to find a process
where different people
can take on leadership
roles and make sure
that local communities local
actors are building their way up
and deciding until we
find a final agreement.
07:49
Now I've mentioned to
you nine differences
to bilateral negotiations.
07:54
I'd like to take a closer look
at two of these nine
differences coalitions
and epistemic communities.
08:01
Coalitions are the
unification of resources
or sometimes even power
of two or more actors
so that they can have a better
chance of obtaining a desired outcome
or controlling how
other people behave.
08:15
Nobody joins the coalition
If they're not going to
achieve something greater.
08:20
Well we've seen throughout history is
that coalitions build around issues,
maybe some regional connection,
Sometimes we have what's
called a blocking coalition.
08:31
The sole purpose of this coalition is
to make sure no agreement is reached.
08:36
And we also have what's
called Bridging coalitions.
08:40
The goal of
multilateral negotiation
is to encourage bridging
coalitions and to the emphasize
locking coalitions.
08:49
The second issue,
I would like to look at is
what we called
epistemic communities.
08:55
This is defined as communities
of shared knowledge.
08:59
Has quite often,
these are people we call lobbyists or
non decision makers.
09:05
They have no authority,
they have no
decision-making power,
but they are called upon
as experts to discuss
what is the best
way out of this.
09:15
For example, in this situation,
we might call Urban
living Specialist
or scientists to talk about
what does gentrification
do in a local community.
09:26
The other side might call
in specialists to talk about
the advantages of creating
new building within the city.
09:34
In any case,
epistemic communities
build themselves,
especially if you
have three conditions.
09:41
Number one, dread,
if people are afraid
they will listen more.
09:48
Number two, familiarity,
how much do people know about it
when people don't know
anything about it.
09:55
They turn to experts
to find out more.
09:58
And number three,
How much will I personally
be affected by this
and this particular
case, the local community
is afraid of gentrification.
10:08
They don't know very much
about this construction company
and at the same time they feel
they're going to be personally
thrown out of they're apartments
if they do not do
something for themselves.
10:21
In dealing with complexity,
we need to understand the purpose
and structure of a meeting.
10:27
We also need to make sure
that we know who are
the decision-makers
and who are not decision makers,
and we need to make sure that we
have a process by which to decide.
10:38
We also need to make sure
that we build momentum
so that everybody feels
we're moving forward
and that we made progress.
10:47
We also want to make sure
that the bridging coalitions
are moving upward
and getting stronger.
10:53
But at the same time we give
each group the opportunity
to go back and check
with their own supporters
if they are doing the
right thing at the table.
11:03
Given the complexity of actors
and the nine difference is
to a standard negotiation.
11:08
Let's have a look at the
type of skills needed
in a multilateral negotiation.
11:14
Skills are us,
skills are what we inside of us,
and we would go to a meeting
and we see the chaos raging
with multiple actors.
11:23
Sometimes we have to take
a step back and say, okay,
What skills do I
have inside of me?
For example,
can I facilitate a meeting?
Have I taken a
course in mediation
that might help the parties
find mutual agreement.
11:39
Do I have experience
in building coalitions
that will lead us to success.
11:45
Can I take harsh comments
from different sides
and reframe them in a way
that people will understand the
basic needs of the different actors.
11:55
Do I have some experience
with structuring protocol?
Will somebody get insulted
if they're speaking last
and when they feel they
should be speaking first.
12:05
And lastly a very good skill to
have is can I build consensus,
do I know the basic principles
of consensus building.
12:15
Now if we look at the phases
of multilateral negotiation,
we see from the chart behind us
that they look the same
as a regular negotiation.
12:24
We have a pre-negotiation
and opening a negotiation
and agreement and
implementation stage
and we have a next
negotiation stage.
12:32
At this point, you're wondering,
so why do we even have
to look at the faces
while the phases are
slightly different
if we look at the
pre-negotiation phase
it's about creating
an environment.
12:45
Actually a lot of
negotiation happens
in the pre-negotiation phase.
12:50
For example,
there is a joint diagnostic.
12:53
Do we have a common problem?
And even if we have
a common problem,
do we have a commitment
to collective action?
Thirdly, what other procedural rules
that will dominate the negotiation.
13:09
Until these three things are
not decided and pre-negotiated
in pre-negotiation phase
we cannot move to the
negotiation phase.
13:19
Another very important
aspect of pre-negotiation
is that we begin the dialogue
before we actually
sit at the table.
13:27
In the pre-negotiation stage,
we informally bring all
the stakeholders together
in different formats
and in different venues,
the purpose is not to negotiate
but to get a deeper
level of understanding
about how to prepare
the negotiation
in a way that's meaningful.
13:45
In the pre negotiation stage,
there are six objectives:
relationship-building,
information-sharing,
agenda-setting,
problem solving,
and consensus-building.
13:58
Once we look at these things,
we also have to figure out
what are some of the challenges
that we face within the
pre-negotiation phase.
14:06
Number one,
How do we select a stakeholder?
With so many people
who actually gets
to sit at the table?
Number two, who will facilitate?
Number three,
what limited resources do we have?
Number four,
who has influence in the negotiation?
And number five,
even if we agree on an
agenda and procedures,
how do we follow up
on what was agreed in the
informal pre-negotiation stages
which actually has
no formality to it.
14:39
Once we move to the
negotiation phase
we realize that the opening
is not just about about
figuring out
everybody's position.
14:47
But in this particular case is
how do we balance out power.
14:52
In this group with
so many people
having their own conceptualization
about how important
or how influential
they might be,
we have to balance the agenda
with the prioritization
in the group.
15:05
This negotiation will
actually be the basis
of the agreement
towards the end.
15:11
In addition to that
in the opening stage
parties would like to figure out
do we even have the possibility
of creating a win for the
whole group at the table?
A wind set is the set of all
possible agreements that would win
that is to gain the necessary
majority among the actors at the table
with a simple vote up or down.
15:35
What we're trying to
do is to make sure
that all the resistance
points at the table
actually overlap and that
there is a small space
where everybody can
find themselves.
15:46
We're trying to create the
zone of possible agreement.
15:50
Once you move to the
negotiation phase,
we look at three things different
than in a bilateral negotiation,
we're going to actually
look at principles
that everybody can agree to.
16:01
Number two, we're going to
develop smaller working groups
where people can
actually talk in smaller,
more confidential environment,
and this will all bubble up
into what we call the
bridging coalitions.
16:15
The goal of the negotiation
phase is to create one text
where everybody can
find themselves.
16:22
Once we move to the
agreement phase.
16:24
We're going to look at
things like compliance.
16:27
Do we need dispute
resolution systems
built into the agreement.
16:31
How do we accommodate
one actor who doesn't feel
their interests are met.
16:37
Can we look at specific wording
that can meet all the
needs of all the sides.
16:42
And finally,
we will have final concessions
to make sure we have
a winning coalition.
16:48
During the implementation phase,
we're going to
look at things like
how do we monitor
implementation of the agreement?
How do we verify the
people are actually doing
what they said they
were going to do.
17:00
And lastly, how do we create a
transparent reporting system,
so all actors are informed
about the progress.
17:09
The goal of this
phases to build trust
because for sure we're going to
have to do some renegotiation.
17:16
Lastly, the agreement
phase does not end until
parties at level 1,
meaning the people sitting at the table
have been able to consult and
ratify any agreement they make
with their own constituents
and have assured
that the agreement will survive.
17:36
In closing to the
outside observer,
a multilateral negotiation
can look in one or two ways.
17:43
Either it looks like a chaotic roller
coaster at with no end in sight
and a lot of excitement
but actually just a thrill,
or it can seem like a
systemic sequential process
in which people feel
the process was fair,
inclusive,
participatory,
Everyone was kept on track,
and there was clarity of purpose
and quality of relationships.
18:09
To summarize,
I hope during this lecture you
have been able to understand
the difference between
a two-party negotiation
and a multi-party negotiation
that you understand the skills
that are needed
in a larger group
and that you are able now to
adapt a bilateral negotiation
into a multilateral negotiation.
18:28
Thank you very much.