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NEGOTIATION COMPETENCY FOR LOCAL LEADERS. CASE STUDY.
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CASE STUDY • In Ma Ujay and Sunday-gay Towns in District #4 Grand Bassa County, there exists dispute over the utilization of a creek. Ma Ujay Town is situated on the Northern end of the creek and Sunday-gay Town on the South. The creek flows from upper Ma Ujay Town down to Sunday-gay Town. The upper end (Ma Ujay) of the creek serves as a source of safe drinking water for both towns and the lower end (Sunday-gay Town) is where inhabitants of both towns fetch fish and crawfish for their livelihoods.
Of late relations between the two towns have been outlandish or strange due to the alleged misused of the creek by Sunday-gay town’s youths which led to the refusal of residents of Ma Ujay Town to allow them (Sunday-gay Town) fetch safe drinking water. Others believed that the conflict ignited as the result of the persistent denial by the beautiful girls of Sunday-gay Town to lend their attentions to the lads of Ma Ujay Town. Howbeit, there has been numerous complains from residents of Sunday-gay Town against the young boys of Ma Ujay Town. The most recent has been the alleged sexual assault on one of the girls of Sunday-gay Town by gang of boys from Ma Ujay town which is believed to have actually prompted the ongoing conflict between the two peoples.
Since the eruption of the dispute, the livelihoods of both towns have deteriorated causing the death of several inhabitants in the two towns. The chiefs from both towns were called upon by the paramount chief of District # 4 on numerous occasions to amicably negotiate and bring the stalemate to an end but proved unsuccessful probably due to the lack of proper knowledge and skills in negotiation and mediation or for some other reasons. However, now that you (Superintendents and other higher ups) have been updated with relevant knowledge and skills in negotiation and mediation, you have been mandated by the President, Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to mediate in the conflict by: • identifying the root cause (s) and common interest; • indicate the kind of strategy (positioned bargaining or principled bargaining approach) that will be used to solve the dispute; and • recommend sustainable strategies that will avert future conflict.
CASE STUDY II The fall of the Ghana Empire cause Nyeswa Tarpeh to lead group of Kwa Speaking Peoples to a place called Daeswa (Old thing). The gods told him to settle in this place once inherited by their forefathers. Upon arrival, Tarpeh began to divide the land to his people to build their houses. Tarpeh and his wife Ma Juah had two children. Wehli, the oldest daughter and Cheyee, At age 112, Tarpeh got ill and while on sick bed, he called the elders to a meeting and told them that when died his Daughter Wehli should take over the leadership. According to him, the oracle said after his death there will be famine, sicknesses and war will come but only a woman will be able to find solution to their problem.
Surely, Tarpeh died two years after that meeting. After his burial, the Bodios and Kwi came together to name a new chief. At that meeting, the Kwi nominated the girl child to head the town. This out rightly rejected by the Bodios on ground that it is strange for woman to rule over the chiefdom.The Kwi group decided to crown Wehli as chief of the chiefdom. Wehli came to town dressed in tribal custom with the Traditional Stool, the stool is the symbol of authority. Upon arrival in the town, Cheyee ordered his bodyguards to arrest Wehli and if possible eliminate her for betrayal.The Kwi group resisted. This led to a war between Wehli group and Cheyee group.The Traditional council decided to invite you as head of the area to look into the matter. What will you do to stop the war between the two groups
INTRODUCTION In every setting there are competing demands over who gets what, how, why and when. These demands sometimes lead to tension among contending parties. To maintain mutual relations among people, it is important to give and take. In order words, negotiation becomes the order of the day. Negotiation takes place every where, either in government, business, among nations etc. etc. This module about Negotiation, a competency require by local elected officials in the effective discharge of their duties. It will show the relationship between negotiation and mediation as well as the techniques use in negotiation.
DEFINITION John Fitzgerald Kennedy, former of the United States once said” let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate” • Negotiation • Is a process of deliberative interaction involving two or more people with some disagreement or conflict seeking to resolve their differences to their mutual satisfaction. • Is a dialogue intended to resolve disputes; • Is an act intended to produce an agreement upon courses of actions. • Is an act of bargaining for individual or collective advantage. • Is an act of crafting outcomes to satisfy contending interests or the primary method of alternative dispute resolution.
NEGOTIATION & GOVERNING PROCESS • Negotiation is a vital component of the political process, because it involves reaching agreements on resource allocation, decision making as to who gets what, how, why and when amidst scarce resources. • Negotiation is an important skill requirement for local governments for three reasons. Firstly, local government bodies do not operate independently of other levels of government. At time, local government bodies interact with central government agencies negotiating the boundaries of power and authority or with each other. Secondly, local governments interacting with citizens to reach consensus agreement on issues.
ELEMENTS OF NEGOTIATION Negotiation has three basic elements: • Process - This refers to how the parties negotiate: the context of the negotiations, the parties to the negotiations, the tactics used by the parties in the negotiation, and the sequence and stages in which all these play out. • Behaviour - Refers to the relationships among parties in the negotiation, communication between them and their individual styles • Substance - Refers to what the parties negotiate over: the agenda, the issues (positions and interests), the options, and the arrangements reached at the end.
APPROACHES TO NEGOTIATION The Advocate’s Approach • This involves a skilled negotiator who represents the interest of one party to an issue and attempts to obtain the most favorable outcomes possible for that party. • The negotiator attempts to determine the minimum outcomes the other party (parties) are willing to accept, then adjusts their demands accordingly. Negotiation is successful when the negotiator is able to obtain all or most of the outcomes their party desires
APPROACHES TO NEGOTIATION CONT THE WIN –WIN APPROACH In the part of the 20th century, academics like Mary Parker Follett propounded ideas that: • Agreement often can be reached if parties look not at their stated positions • Rather look at their underlying interests and requirements that a decision that benefits parties in negotiation. • Win – win is a situation whereby each party equally benefit from the decision reached
STAGES IN NEGOTIATION According to Ellen Raider and Susan Coleman, there are four stages in negotiation: • Ritual sharing – parties check out each other in terms of values, viewpoints that can influence the process. Know the climate for possible cooperation. Actually it is about knowing whom you are talking with. • Defining the issues- what are the original positions, demands, interests, even going as far as knowing what brought the parties together to negotiate and on what?
NEGOTIATION STAGES CONT 3. Reframing and prioritizing issues- parties forget about demands and positions but concentrate agreeing on opportunities to assist each other achieve gains from the process 4. Problem solving and decision making - identify problem, discuss and reach common ground for resolution
NEGOTIATION STYLES Roger Fisher & William Ury Perspectives: Fisher & Ury propounded that effective negotiation should: • Produce a wise agreement if agreement is possible • Be efficient, conserve everyone’s resources and time • Improve and try not to destroy the relationship between the parties
NEGOTIATION STYLES CONT According to Fisher & Ury, wise agreement is one which meets the legitimate interests of each party in the negotiation. They suggested four steps to acquire a good deal. • Separate the people from the problem • Focus on interests, not positions • Invent options for mutual gain • Insist on using objective criteria
People: negotiation is bucked down or side tracked when people problems are not separated from substantive issues. Interests: do not enter into negotiation with a fix position instead focus on underlying interests, the benefit to derive from negotiating Option: identify fall back position that will benefit you and the other side Criteria: insist that agreement is based on objective criteria.
GENDER IN NEGOTIATION Recognizing gender in negotiation is very important. This is because gender analysis shows how men and women play out in negotiation differently. Men believe that women are not effective negotiators- male bias statement.
