Distributive & Integrative Negotiation

Distributive & Integrative Negotiation

            In grade school, the teacher would allow us to choose which activity we would like to engage in during our recess period.  In fair weather, this was an easy decision.  The playground and classroom were at our disposal.  Students could break off into small groups and participate in whatever activity they so desired; basketball, soccer, football, sandbox, hopscotch, four square, jungle gym, monkey bars, merry-go-round, swings, trader cards (mainly baseball and garbage-pail-kids), or simply sit around and gossip.  However, on rainy days our activity was limited strictly to the classroom.  Hence, the entire class (25-30 students) would have to collectively choose.  At that point the options were silent ball, here comes the judge, tic-tac-toe, hang man, or board games.  We had to decide whether or not to select an activity everyone could participate in or various activities which would not disrupt one another in an enclosed setting.

            Now, on one particular rainy afternoon, it dawned upon me that opportunity was knocking.  The previous evening I had been invited to a basketball game and pep rally at N.C. State.  However I could not attend the pep rally because I had to complete my homework beforehand.  Therefore my intentions were to meet up with my friend and his family at the game.  Yet since it was raining and recess was out of the question, if I completed the majority of my homework during this time (about 45-50 minutes) I would be able to attend the pep rally as well.  Now my only problem was convincing my classmates to have a study hall instead of engaging in our normal rainy day activities.

            In order to persuade my fellow classmates to participate in a study hall, I utilized “a variety of tactics to convince other parties to agree to the allocation of benefits” (Mayer, 2000, p. 148).  Through distributive negotiation, my peers were swayed to concur with my desires.  This was achieved by posing the question: “Wouldn’t you rather go home without any homework?”  Initially, half the class agreed.  Now we had to work on everyone else.  Next I promoted the advantages which a study hall would allow.  These included, more time to watch television, visit with friends, play video games, or sleep.  In addition, they could leave their books and backpacks in their lockers overnight.  The bottom line was our homework had to be done, whether it was completed now during lunch hour, or later on in the evening and night at home.  Within a couple of minutes, it was unanimously decided that we would have a study hall; I finished my homework and was able to attend the pep rally and the game.

References:

Mayer, B. (2000). The dynamics of conflict resolution: A practitioner’s guide. San Francisco:

          Jossey-Bass.