Negotiation Approaches and Teachers: A Case Study

Public school teachers in Middletown, New Jersey called a strike against the Middletown Board of Education. This case analysis considers three questions related to the strike. These questions are as follows:

What negotiation style did the teachers adopt?

Why did the teachers reject offers made by the Middletown Board of Education and by the Judge overseeing the case?

What mistakes were made by the teachers in the negotiations?

The structure of the above questions indicates a bias by the case writer against the position of the teachers. Stonewalling by the Middletown Board of Education, together with the cooperation of a Judge who refused to find fault with the Middletown Board of Education allowed the law to be used as a weapon in an effort to break the teachers union. The case writer apparently approves of the behavior of the Middletown board of Education and Judge Clarkson Fisher.

Assessing the Negotiating Style of the Teachers

The negotiating style of the teachers can be defined in relation to different models. As an example, one can consider negotiating style within the context of competitive, cooperative, integrative, or composite choice strategies (Levy, 1999). Alternatively, one could place negotiation within the framework of arbitration, mediation, bargaining, or litigation (Fernberg, 1999). Yet another model includes th

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The Middletown teachers adopted a strong formal approach to negotiations (the Board of Education adopted the same approach). Trait: Communications. Negotiating style and approach alternatives vary from "direct" to "indirect". The Middletown teachers followed a middle ground in that some communications with the Board of Education were direct; while other communication was delivered through the mass media (the Board of Education adopted the same approach). Trait: Time Sensitivity. Negotiating style and approach alternatives vary from "high" to "low". The Middletown teachers relied on a high time sensitive approach by calling the strike when the Board of Education was at its most vulnerable (the Board of Education adopted a low position in relation to time sensitivity, preferring to drag out negotiations as long as possible). Trait: Emotionalism. Negotiating style and approach alternatives vary from "high" to "low". The Middletown teachers relied on a high emotionalism approach by referring to the Board of Education as dictatorial and by playing of the emotions of teacher arrests as much as was possible (the Board of Education also adopted a "high" emotional negotiating strategy by calling the strike disloyal because it foll
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Approximate Word count = 1230
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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