OPTION A: HOW PEOPLE "PRACTICE" NEGOTIATION : AN INTERVIEW TASK

Negotiation is a part of many different professions.  You need to interview a "professional" who negotiates as a significant part of her or his professional work.  You should first prepare an interview guide; the set of questions you would like to ask in a pre-determined order.  Following the interview, you will write a paper about the interview in which you respond to and analyze what the interviewee said.

Many professions involve negotiation.  You might consider interviewing someone is law, law enforcement, labor-management relations, sales, marketing, contracts, or government  Your paper should go beyond simply reporting what the person tells you; you should react to and analyze the responses.

In the interview, you should ask questions concerning what your interviewee to discuss decision making processes prevalent in her or his organization.  Prepare a set of questions ahead of time and avoid jargon.  Here are some issues to consider:
1. What do the organization's major decisions involve?
   a.  What steps the organization goes through to make a decision?
   b.  Who is involved in the decisions?
   c.  What decision rules are used?
   d.  How decisions are communicated within and outside the organization?

2. What is your interviewee's role in organizational decision making?  What is the substance of his/her decisions?  Does the interviewee make most decisions as an individual or make decisions primarily as a member of a team or group?

3. What does the person try to accomplish when making a decision?  What goals does the person desire?  How does the person view decision making--as a process or outcome?

3. How does the person prepare to make a decision?  What planning is involved?  Are goals set and information gathered?  Are specific steps followed?  What does the interviewee do to try to influence the climate or structure the decision situation?

4. Does the interviewee see decision making as a negotiation process?  What strategic orientations are valued (e.g., collaborative and competitive)?  Does the person employ arguments or persuasive tactics to influence other decision makers?

5. How does the person define effective decision making?  What does the interviewee see as the essential characteristics of an effective decision maker?  What factors may contribute to a poor decision?

6. Are power and reputation important parts of your interviewee's decision making experiences?  Does the interviewee value power?  How does s/he deal with it?  How does reputation (his/her own and that of the other parties) affect decision making in the interviewee's profession?

7. How has the interviewee learned about decision making?

This list of questions is not exhaustive.  They are only suggested areas of inquiry.  The readings, lectures, etc. include additional issues to consider.  Remember, your reactions and analysis represent an essential part of the paper.

NOTE: Please provide contact information for the person you have interviewed (name, title/position, organization, mailing address, phone number, email).  I will send the person you interview a thank you note.
 

OPTION B: THE NEGOTIATION RESEARCH CRITIQUE TASK

Scientific research is rhetorical (McCloskey, The Rhetoric of Economics, 1988).  Certainly social scientific research, when it appears as published scholarship, attempts to influence policy decisions, disciplines, and other scholars.  It is argument attempting to gain adherence.

Your task concerns the evaluation of published research.  In doing so, you will be examining research as a kind of rhetorical act.  You need not employ rhetorical principles, but conceiving of published research as rhetorical may help you in your task.

Select a published research (not solely theoretical) essay dealing with some aspect of negotiation and dispute resolution.  Relevant publications include: Negotiation Journal, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Communication Monographs, Human Communication Research, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Mediation Quarterly, Conciliation Courts Review, Journal of Peace Research, and the Arbitration Journal.  You may find others.  You can also report on research published in anthologies of negotiation or dispute resolution research.  Include a copy of the research article.

The Critique Process
First, offer background on the study.  Briefly summarize the research.  What is it about?  What is the research purpose?  What is the study attempting to discover?  Summarize the literature review.  What previous research provides the foundation for this study?  Include enough information to describe what this study is addressing.  Include the research questions and/or hypotheses.

Second, focus on the research method.  What methodology is employed?  Present the important dimensions of the methodological procedure.  Is it quantitative or qualitative research?

Third, evaluate the research foundation, statement of research problem, question(s) or hypothesis(es).  Is the research grounded adequately in theory and previous research (is the literature review adequate)?  Are the research questions clear?  Does the methodology employed seem appropriate to answer the research question or address the research problem?  You may not have much background in research methods, but through common sense, rational evaluation, you should be able to assess the "logic" of the invesitgative procedure.  You could also consider the "style" of presentation (e.g., too jargon-laden, unstated assumptions).

Fourth, offer suggestions for improving the research.  What could the researcher(s) have done to strengthen the study?  How might a replication improve on this effort?

Finally, consider external validity (generalizability).  Are the results of this study applicable to a population beyond the research itself?  Does this study have real-world applications?  Is this study meaningful?  Is it significant?  Is is trite?  Is it a waste of time?  Do you wonder why it was published?  What did you learn?

NOTE: Make sure you select a RESEARCH article (a study, data-based, quantitative or qualitative analysis) rather than a conceptual discussion or literature review essay.  Attach a copy of the article.