I must confess! it actually felt great to act as the Sr. VP of Aracruz Cellulose (I was a self made man! ... literally...)! :-) I have to say, if the stakeholders involved are as smart, positive and sincere as our group was, we could actually experience peace and harmony! That was a great fruitful discussion .. thanks to Ganka, Lynnette, Maria and Michael!
It was a great exercise that helped us think from individual stakeholders perspective. First my fellow Aracruz executives Alison and Vadhi knew exactly what our company position was going to be. That made me go in the meeting with knowing how much I can and can not give.
Our meeting started well as we found ourselves unanimous in identifying the real issues and the points on which we had disagreements. We discussed our perspectives that formed our opinions. In the process, it became pretty aparrent that we all had a common understanding -"We need to co-exist for betterment of each other!" That was the tone set in our meeting right from the word go and hence we seemed to have developed some amount of trust in each of the characters we were playing! Of course we all realized that in the real world, things are far more challenging and some times the conflicts become an impossible one to solve. I believe, if we do get involved in such situations in our future, we can only continue to demonstrate strong leadership values and not deter from them. Consistent and strong leadership could eventually be impressed upon all parties involved which could lead to a solution.
I couldn't help but check out the company profile on the internet and I was amazed to find out that Aracruz accounts for 24% of the raw material supply that goes into making a paper in the world. Aracruz has been on the NYSE sustainability index as recently as in 2008. To find out more, you can go to http://www.aracruz.com/show_arz.do?menu=true&id=321&lastRoot=107&act=stcNews&lang=1
The Carlos Ramirez simulation in the morning session provided with a great insight as well. It was a very realistic situation that we might face in our future. I hope we cherish the learnings from this class for a long time apply them in the situations whenever they arise!
I could not agree more with you , in terms of leadership required in such negotiations. I took a class earlier at my previous company, which was taught by a Professional who was one of the negotiators in Palestine Conflict with Israel. He told us that if he made any mistakes his life was in jeopardy, so in real life situations it requires courage and negotiation skills to contribute effectively.
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