Midwestern Contemporary Art Dispute

     In the dispute over whether Peter Smith should be held accountable in honoring his pledge of $5,000,000 to the Midwestern Contemporary Art Museum, I chose to review the Three Approaches Model when analyzing negotiations.  In the 1980s, Peter Smith joined the MCA board for his love of art collecting.  He and his wife donated lots of money to better the museum and continue their passion of art collecting.  Later, Peter was elected board chairman devoted almost all his time to the MCA.  The dispute began after hiring Keith Schmidt, the executive director, who was very experienced in his field.  Keith had great plans to grow the museum, however Peter was more conservative, and Keith was very ambitious.  Even though both were passionate about the museum, they would argue over how the museum was run and how to spend money.  It seems that Peter would try to control Keith by micromanaging him instead of allowing him to do what he was hired to do.  Keith had great success with other museums and had already proven himself before coming onboard with MCA.  Keith has an entrepreneurial approach with an aggressive way of doing things, and he wanted MCA to be the greatest museum in the Midwest and wanted to expand it rapidly.    On the other hand, Peter had a more reserved way of handling things.  He was more concerned with costs and not taking risks, and this caused a conflict over who had the power.  In 1991, the board voted and the majority favored in Keith's aggressive plans.  Peter was quite upset and left the museum, and the board hired a new chairperson.  After Peter left the museum, he did not honor a $5,000,000 pledge he had made to the museum.  The challenge the museum was facing was the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) had recently changed the rules, and nonprofit organizations now had to claim all pledges before they are honored.  So if a donor reneges or their pledge for any reason, the nonprofit organization still must claim that pledge.  Years before leaving MCA, Peter made a pledge to build a new facility, and now that the FASB rules have changed, the pledge is now legally binding.  In turn, the MCA had to become tough in collecting pledges.  The MCA board must decide whether to take legal action against Peter and his wife Catherine Smith.  Also, Peter was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer and may now need the funds for medical treatment.  In deciding whether to file a lawsuit or not, I decided to examine the Three Approaches Model to try and formulate a recommendation.  These three approaches to resolving disputes involve interests, rights, and power.  Although Peter and Keith had the same interests, and each had the right to do their job as best as they could, the struggle was over who had the power.  This is what led to the board voting and eventually going with Keith's plan.  If both parties would have been more focused on their interests, they may have been able to produce a more satisfactory outcome for both parties.  These may have resulted in better working relationships rather than Peter leaving and not honoring his pledge.  Sadly, it did not work out this way, so now MCA needs to make a decision on whether to file a lawsuit.  In general, an interests approach is less costly than a rights or power approach, and a rights approach is less costly than a power approach. Few disputes are resolved through reconciling interests or know as the Effective System, while many more are resolved through determining rights and power known as the Distressed System.  MCA could negotiate with an interest approach by reaching out to the Smith family before filing a lawsuit and try to resolve the matter that satisfies both parties interests.  If no resolution is made, the next step would be the rights approach.  Before the FASB changes, Peter had the right to not honor his pledge even though it's not morally right.  However, since the FASB changes, the MCA now has the right to collect even though it may not be morally right since Peter is now terminally ill.  If a lawsuit is filed, a power approach may legally bind Peter to honoring his pledge, and this may also cause others to be hesitant about future donations.  The tough question to be answered would be, does Peter have the power to not honor his pledge since the MCA was not run according to his plan?  Or does the MCA have the power to collect the pledge toward what was promised for a planned new building for the museum?  It is quite obvious the power approach is definitely more costly and distressing for everyone involved.  This is a perfect example of why the interest approach would be the best approach when negotiating. 

Reading 1.5 and 1.6 assignment

No matter how hard you work on your negotiation techniques, the important thing to learn is how and when to execute. Negotiating success involves building relationships that are cooperative and trusting. When negotiating, it's wise to remember the norm of reciprocity when humans respond with actions similar to how they're treated. It's very important to practice a cooperative interaction and a virtuous cycle. It's helpful to avoid impasses and assumptions when building business relationships.

 

     In my younger years, being too quick to getting my own way, I would probably use the fait accompli strategy when “negotiating” which is risky and usually unsuccessful. This involves acting too quickly when offering or declining something in a negotiation and then waiting to see what their response will be in hopes that it's desirable to my favor. Taking this kind of chance mainly happens when one does not think through the consequences.

 

     Through negotiating experiences, I have to say that I've learned to be a better listener and actual hear and comprehend what someone else is telling me when negotiating. I'd like to think that over the years, I've learned combinations of the forbearance tactic and the silence tactic.

     Forbearance requires great listening skills, patience, and not saying and doing things when tempted to react. This gives the other person you are negotiating with assurance that you're at least listening to them and seeing their side or view-point. In turn, this makes them more willing to deal with you and respect you for respecting them. It's very important to respect others' perspectives even if you don't agree.

 

     Another successful negotiating tactic is using silence. Silence affirms calmness, self-control, and discipline. This tactic also assures the person you are negotiating with that you're a good listener too.

     Recently I was faced with a dilemma. I worked a 10 week internship, and once the internship was over I was immediately offered a job. I explained that I have one more semester before graduating in December and that I was not interested in working until after graduation in order to focus on my studies. The organization wanted to employee me right away to keep me on the books until graduation. After using the silence tactic and not responding to the offer for several weeks, the organization negotiated an offer and we compromised that I could work only four hours a week during school to keep me on their books until graduation when I could actually begin to work full time ...win~win.   

Introduction

My name is Tedra Shope.  Close family and friends call me Ted.  I have lived in the Shippensburg area all my live.  I graduated from Shippensburg Area High School in 1990.  I am a mother of three beautiful daughters that I am very proud of.  They are my world, and I love to brag about them!  My youngest daughter Michaela is in 4th grade.  She plays piano, softball, and soccer; and she is the sweetest thing ever!  Alex is my middle daughter, and she also attends Shippensburg University.  She works an internship at Volvo and will graduate with her BSBA in spring 2017.  My oldest daughter Halee just moved to Massachusetts to attend MCPHS (Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences) to become an optometrist.  She is in the Army National Guard and graduated from Slippery Rock University with a degree in Exercise Science.  All three of my daughters grew up learning to play piano.  My husband and I have known each other since I was 16 years old.  We got married in Hawaii, and we live in a beautiful stone house in the mountains.  We also have a pitbull named Daisy, and a hateful cat named Nala.  My hubby and I both are foodies.  We love to travel, sight-see, and just go to different restaurants to try different foods and drinks.  My dream would be to sell everything we have one day, travel the world just to experience different cultures and foods, but not so sure that will ever happen.  I have created a bucket list and so far this is what I have checked off... travel to Hawaii, go on a mission trip, get baptized, run a marathon (NYC), do a bike race, get my degree (Dec 2016), and go on a cruise.  What's on my bucket list that I haven't done yet is... sky dive, get my MBA, buy a motorcycle (my hubby has one but I want my own), read the Bible from front to back, visit One World Trade, and go on many many more travels.  I love being outdoors and just being in the weather.  Nothing is more satisfying to me than running in the snow or rain or a storm and just feeling the weather.  I love to hike and ride bike, however I am NOT competitive.  I just love to do these things and in different places just to say "I did that" or "I ran there"! Once I graduate in December, I'm determined to start training for another marathon.  I would like to run a marathon in D.C.  Currently, I am a senior at Shippensburg University majoring in Business Management.  I'll be graduating and receiving my BSBA this December.  My expertise is in the telecommunications industry, and I worked for the same company my entire professional career.  During my 21 years at Centurylink, I have worked in many departments gaining knowledge in most areas of the business.  Two and a half years ago, a door had opened for me to go back to school (in other words, I lost my job), and I have been a full time student at SU since 2014.  I am open to any opportunities to grow as I further my education at Shipp.  I have no idea where I'm going to end up after graduation, because I haven't even started job hunting or applying yet.  My motto is to focus on your objectives, not your obstacles...