Thank you to everyone who responded with advice and suggestions! When
class started, I asked if they wanted to negotiate before or after the
RATs. They unanimously wanted to take the RATs first, and when I posted
the i-RAT average score on the board followed by the t-RAT scores, they
all became more confident in their teams.
When they started to negotiate percentages, I insisted on a fourth 'new'
representative for each team. They reached consensus at 30% individual,
50% team, and 20% team maintenance. (Yes, I had given them ranges
within which to work.) They ran out of time before they could agree on
breakdowns within the team and individual categories, and overwhelmingly
voted to proceed with class and revisit the negotiations in 2 weeks
rather than have me decide.
As Larry mentioned (below), the blockade was indeed a key person in team
5 who was trying to steamroll everyone in the class into his preferred
scheme. But interestingly, he was the initial delegate for his team and
I think the reason why this process has taken so long - the trick in
this situation seems to have been getting another member of his team in
the negotiating chair, who wasn't afraid to stand up to him and do
something *other* than what he was urging.
They are now working on their appeals over the weekend via WebCT, and
morale seems high based on their posts.
Thanks again to everyone!
Fran
Larry Michaelsen wrote:
> Francine,
>
> I think you made a wise decision and are in good shape for your next
> class. What your are experiencing is unusual, but it does happen. When
> it does, the real problem is usually that there is a very strong team
> member who is NOT the one doing the negotiation. The key to resolving
> the blockade is getting that person in the position where they are
> feeling the heat from the other teams. In most cases, that happens by
> simply sending the reps back to the teams for a consultation. On the
> rare occasions when that doesn't work, the approach that I've used is
> having all of the teams replace their representatives. Once, many years
> ago, I had to replace the reps twice, but once the key person was in the
> hot seat, they folded right up and a decision was made.
>
> Larry
>
>
>
> --
> Larry K. Michaelsen
> Professor of Management
> University of Central Missouri
> Dockery 400G
> Warrensburg, MO 64093
> 660/543-4124 voice
> 660/543-8465 fax
>
--
Francine S. Glazer, Ph.D.
Professor, Biological Sciences
Kean University
Union NJ 07083
Ph: 908-737-3661
Fx: 908-737-3666
http://www.kean.edu/~fglazer
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