STRUMR: Logrolling

This 30-to-45-minute simulation serves as an introduction to logrolling integrative issues in a negotiation. Depending upon how the negotiation is prepared (see alternatives in the teaching note), there are also opportunities for learning about both preparation and collective biases.

In this simulation, learners interact in a two-party, two-issue, scoreable negotiation. The scenario is one in which an entrepreneurial firm is looking to sell vendor stands at a mud run. The parties need to negotiate the total number of stands the vendor will occupy as well as the number of those stands located in the area near the band.

Learners take on the role of either STRUMR (the event coordinator renting out stands) or Lennigan's (the restaurant seeking to rent stands), and each role has a unique information packet and payoff matrix that should be kept confidential until the negotiation begins. In addition, since this is a synchronous experience, learners must coordinate a time to negotiate.

Once both learners are connected, they can exchange messages and offers through the simulation. After an offer is accepted, or someone abandons the negotiation, the platform will automatically generate personalized feedback while also updating the educator debrief. The data visualizations available in the debrief will allow the educator to underline the key learning objectives while facilitating discussions about the experience of specific learners as well.

The simulation is mobile-optimized and can be used in courses that cover topics including negotiations, organizational behavior, or conflict resolution. It is the digital version of the popular negotiations case from Kellogg's Dispute Resolution Resource Center (DRRC) library. The core teaching points are unchanged; however, the digital experience allows educators to access more information regarding what occurred within each negotiation as well as across all the participants in the session.