Prenegotiation experience

Prenegotiation experience and dyadic conflict resolution in a bargaining situation

Several conditions of prenegotiation experience were compacompared for their efficacy in facilitating conflict resolution between opposing team representatives. Participants played roles of union or company representatives in a simulation of the collective bargaining process. Prenegotiation experience that involved unstructured discussion, from a unilateral perspective, among teammates, or bilateral study with an opposing representative, irrespective of whether there was to be a bargaining opponent, facilitated resolution. Two prenegotiation sessions that involved team separation were compared to a session in which team members studied the issues with a member of the opposing team before debate. In the latter condition team members consulted with a member of the opposing team who was not to be a future bargaining opponent. Thus the activity of bilateral study was not confused with communication with a future bargaining opponent.