What's Happening [09.10.13]

What's Happening?" Blog is a weekly round up of the all the ADR news, jobs, events and more. Check it out each week and view past news [HERE]

The Pasta Wars: Return of Luigi!

Noam Ebner- The Pasta Wars, our Prisoner’s Dilemma simulation-game, will be appearing in one of the negotiation field’s leading teaching books: NEGOTIATION: READINGS, EXERCISES, AND CASES (edited by Roy Lewicki, Bruce Barry, and David Saunders), soon to come out in a 7^th edition.

Abstract:
The PASTA WARS is a four-party negotiation / conflict simulation-game, in which participants must decide recurrently whether to adopt a cooperative stance or a competitive strategy towards one another. Participants are formed into four groups, each of which manages a flour mill that is attempting to sell its produce to a single purchaser, the local pasta restaurant, over a series of rounds. Each mill’s profitability is dependent not only on its own manufacturing strategy but also on that of the three other mills. In this way, they are subtly placed in an iterated four-way Prisoner's Dilemma, and they must maneuver, in an environment of limited communication, to develop relationships with each other and to build trust as a means of enabling personal and joint gain.

Read more [HERE]

Family Business Disputes- Expanding Your Mediation Practice

Guest writer Richard Lutringer is is moderating a discussion with panelists Prof. Peter Begalla, Warren von C. Baker and Matthew Caras at the 2013 ACR Annual Conference

Richard Lutringer- Why can’t siblings in a family business “just get along”?

What would it mean in the eyes of each sibling to be treated “fairly” by parents?

Without a family culture of open and honest communication, it is not surprising that generational and personality differences can result in misperceptions of “fairness” between parents and their children as well as among siblings. The inability of some families to deal frankly with the founder’s mortality coupled with a history of managing intra-family rivalries and disagreements by “keeping the lid on”, often dooms a smooth transition of a family business to the next generation.

How can mediators help ? Read more [HERE].

Is Your Workplace Prepared For Violence?

Meghan M. Biro- ...Workplace violence, on the other hand, is often the work of one deranged, rage-filled individual. But both strike fear in our hearts. And while there is little we can do as leaders and managers to stop terrorists, there are steps that can be taken to lessen the odds of workplace violence and create better disaster preparedness plans in our organizations and our lives.

...Remember: According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 2 million people are victims of workplace violence every year.

Elder mediators can keep families out of court

South Florida mediators have been refereeing divorce and custody battles for years. But recently, a new breed who call themselves "elder mediators" have been specializing in small and large conflicts commonly faced by seniors, such as which sibling gets to make medical care decisions for a parent, or deciding if Dad should give up driving.

...The Association for Conflict Resolution, a professional organization for mediators, created an elder section about two years ago.

LOSING FACE

Cinnie Noble- Among the fears that some of us have about interpersonal conflict is the loss of something important to us. It may be a fear we will lose what we are fighting for. It may be we fear losing the relationship. We may fear the loss of our position or status. Another loss some of us have when we are in conflict, or when we expect one may evolve, has to do with losing face and experiencing related emotions such as humiliation.

According to one source, the idiom – loss of face – refers to “loss of respect of others, humiliation, public disgrace” and apparently began as a translation of the Chinese phrase 'tiu lien'.

News, Events, Articles, & More