Group assignment instructions
Students are to form teams consisting of 3-4 members. In Week 10, each team will be provided with the details of a workplace dispute that needs to be resolved.
Each team member will be allocated a role to play in this dispute – for example, a manager/employer, employee, a mediator or a union representative. Each actor in this dispute will have a vested interest in the outcome, and will try to achieve their desired outcome from the negotiation process.
The teams are required to conduct a role play, which demonstrates how the actors in this negotiation resolve the dispute. Prior to conducting the negotiation, each actor in the role play will have to consider:
- the outcome they want to achieve, and what outcome/s would you be willing to accept?
- the various negotiation techniques and tactics we have discussed this semester. Which method/technique will you employ in your negotiations? And why?
Individual Reflection on the Negotiation Simulation
Effective conflict management and dispute resolution is often referred to as an art form – and a difficult skill to develop. The dynamics of negotiation are intriguing. Stakeholder agendas (some hidden), different personalities, power imbalances and scarce resources combine to make the process of achieving a satisfactory outcome for all concerned a challenge, to say the least.
In this subject, we have tried to simulate the kind of dispute resolutions and negotiations you might be involved in as a Human Resource practitioner. Now that you have completed your negotiation simulation, you will have an opportunity to reflect upon your experiences in the role play – to consider what you had learned about negotiation and dispute resolution, and about yourself in this type of situation.
In your reflection on this exercise, provide a response to the following questions:
- What were your negotiation techniques or tactics? Why did you employ these techniques/tactics? Did you ‘stick to your plan’ or have to ‘think on your feet’.
- What did you learn about the practice of negotiation and dispute resolution as a result of this simulation exercise? Identify and discuss three learnings from this exercise.
- As an active participant in this negotiation simulation, what did you learn about your own strengths and weaknesses through your participation in the simulation? Did your reactions to the negotiation process or the behaviour of other actors in the simulation surprise you?
A reflective piece should be a personal response to new information, which is shaped by your own experiences. Reflective thinking involves the processing of information, where thinking and learning takes place. It involves considering how and why you think the way you do, and an examination of your beliefs, values, attitudes and assumptions that form the foundations of your understanding. In your reflective essay, you can discuss:
- your perceptions of the negotiation process
- experiences, ideas and observations that you have had during the exercise
- what you found confusing, interesting, difficult or inspiring, and why
- unanswered questions
- comparisons and connections between what you are learning and your experiences or preconceptions
- how new ideas challenge what you already know
- your speculations or hypotheses.
In this essay, the reflective component will be mostly subjective. You can comment based on your experiences, rather than limiting your discussions to academic evidence. A reflective essay allows you to use different modes of writing and language, including:
- descriptive (outlining what something is or how it is done)
- explanatory (explaining the why or how)
- expressive (I think or I believe)
Where you discuss the work of others, sources should be referenced.
Referencing
Designed by the Library, this set of Academic Referencing Modules (ARM), as well as the very useful Academic Referencing Tool (ART), provide detailed examples of how to cite material and create references using four different styles. For this subject, all references should adhere to the Academy of Management Journal Referencing Style.
Academic Referencing Modules (ARM)
Designed by the Library, this set of Academic Referencing Modules (ARM) provides detailed examples of how to cite material and create references using four different styles. For this subject, all references should adhere to the the APA (6th) Referencing Style.
Click http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/arm/ link to open resource.
Academic Referencing Tool (ART)
Designed by the Library, this Academic Referencing Tool (ART) provides detailed examples of how to cite material and create references using four different styles. For this subject, all references should adhere to the the APA (6th) Referencing Style.
Click http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/referencing-tool/ link to open resource.
