![\"cake,](\"http:\/\/images-partners-tbn.google.com\/images?q=tbn:euKLInJ4Y53hJM::www.countryliving.com\/cm\/countryliving\/images\/cut-cake-de-5170669.jpg\" "\\"cake,")
<\/a><\/p>\nSimilar behavior happens in legal disputes.\u00a0 If a party makes a proposal that falls outside the range that most would consider reasonable, it is rejected.\u00a0 Indeed, even an offer within that range might be rejected if it is made\u00a0under circumstances that lead the offeree to conclude that further concessions will be forthcoming, rather than their both rolling the dice with a judge or jury.<\/p>\n
Ring cited the behavior of Hernando Cort\u00e9s in entering Vera Cruz to confront Montezuma.\u00a0 Having landed his men, horses, supplies and ammunition, Cortez ordered that his ships be burnt in front of the amazed eyes of Montezuma’s army.\u00a0 The\u00a0strategy was what Ring called “commitment” —\u00a0 Cort\u00e9s was telling Montezuma that they would work something out or not work something out, but that he wasn’t going away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/libweb.hawaii.edu\/libdept\/charlotcoll\/posada\/images\/posada\/posbib33.gif\")
<\/p>\n
Montezuma had to decide how small a piece of cake he was willing at accept.<\/p>\n
What are the implications for bargainers?\u00a0 The simple game — 50\/50 — is like a “buy\/sell” offer.\u00a0 It is the amount of money that the offerer would either\u00a0pay to purchase a partner’s interest, or\u00a0accept to sell his own interest.\u00a0 The varient game, on the other hand, is like a “black box.”\u00a0 One party inserts a number into the box, reflecting the value s\/he will accept (or, if a defendant, the\u00a0value s\/he will pay)\u00a0in settlement.\u00a0\u00a0 That “demand” number is frozen inside the box and can’t be changed.\u00a0 \u00a0The other party puts an “offer”\u00a0number in the box, reflecting the value s\/he is willing to pay (or accept).\u00a0 The box will tell the second party whether that “offer”\u00a0number matches the first “demand” number.\u00a0 If it does not, the second party can increase its offer\u00a0any time over\u00a0a period of (say)\u00a030 days.\u00a0If the box reports an eventual match, the matter is settled.\u00a0 If\u00a0the second party is unwilling to offer as high as the first party demanded,\u00a0then no cake for anybody.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.syracuse.com\/flags\/photo-of-the-day\/weather-sad-birthday.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u00a0The black box won’t reveal the other side’s number to you unless there’s a match, and if there is no match the box could create an attestation to the offeror of the number the other side had failed to meet — an incentive for the second party\u00a0to make reasonable offers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The implication is that negotiation not only is unnecessary, but often an obstacle to resolution.\u00a0\u00a0Negotiation expends time,\u00a0injects emotions, and encourages nonsense like bluffing and other expensive and time-consuming distractions into the process.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Janet Kloenhamer, who until recently was President of one Fireman’s Fund Insurance company and, before that, General Counsel of another, has sometimes wished that there was a “black box” for resolution of contested insurance claims.\u00a0 Insurance companies have tens of thousands of disputes, whether between them and policyholders or among them and other insurers.\u00a0 They all resolve, of course, but until they do she\u00a0pays hundreds of\u00a0lawyers all around the country to handle them.\u00a0 Why, she has wondered, can’t there be a “black box” online somewhere, where she could put in her bid and see how many she can just close up?<\/p>\n
Mr. Ring, meet Ms. Kloenhamer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A presentation on game theory at the recent Dispute Resolution Section meeting prompts one to wonder whether, in many cases, negotiators are obstacles to settlement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,24],"tags":[31,23],"class_list":["post-553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-negotiation","category-systems-design","tag-negotiation","tag-systems-design"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.businessconflictmanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.businessconflictmanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.businessconflictmanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.businessconflictmanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.businessconflictmanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.businessconflictmanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.businessconflictmanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.businessconflictmanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.businessconflictmanagement.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"image\"](\"http:\/\/www.tutor2u.net\/blog\/images\/uploads\/nash.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/images-partners-tbn.google.com\/images?q=tbn:jRf9EQsHAeJ74M::www.goodhousekeeping.com\/cm\/goodhousekeeping\/images\/how-to-cut-cakes-1-ghv-325-17745545.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"cut-cake\"](\"http:\/\/images-partners-tbn.google.com\/images?q=tbn:0tmUhm8_Hdc1tM::www.designspongeonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/cut-cake.jpg\" "\\"cut-cake\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n