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Send by emailAction-Forcing Mechanisms: Additional Resources
These references supplement the Knowledge Base Essay, Action-Forcing Mechanisms.
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Additional Explanations of the Underlying Concepts: Online (Web) Sources "Action Forcing Mechanisms/Deadlines." , Available at: http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/actforce.htm [Backup Link] This page discusses action-forcing mechanisms in negotiation. These mechanisms serve to counter-balance delay tactics by using deadlines or other strategies that require parties to take specific actions by specific dates. To be effective, these mechanisms must also impose meaningful penalties when the parties fail to meet their obligations. Deadlines and Compliance Guarantees. Available at: http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/deadline.htm [Backup Link] This page summarizes the use of deadlines to ensure implementation of negotiated agreements. The inclusion of deadlines (and penalties for a failure to meet these deadlines) can help assure parties that the provisions of an agreement will be carried out. This can reduce the risk that a lack of trust between the parties will block an agreement that would otherwise benefit all the parties. Deadlines within the negotiation process can also limit deliberate dealy tactics. Compliance aagreements help settle fears about the other sides' willingness to meet commitments. Offline (Print) Sources Moore, Christopher W. "Discussion of Deadlines." In The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict, 2nd Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1996. Pages: 291-300. This excerpt of The Mediation Process presents an in-depth discussion of deadlines and time constraints. The author includes a good bit about the mediator's role in manipulating deadlines, as well as the dangers of deadlines and strategies to avoid them. Primary Link [Backup Link] Rubin, Jeffrey Z. and Bert R. Brown. "Presence of Time Limits." In The Social Psychology of Bargaining and Negotiation. New York: Academic Press, 1975. Pages: 120-125. An older publication, this work includes a section on the effect of time limits on negotiation focusing a good deal on collective bargaining. The authors call last minute settlements in the face of deadlines the "eleventh hour effect", and discuss some studies that have been done on the phenomena. Watkins, Michael, Susan Rosegrant and Shimon Peres. "Time and Forcing Action in Negotiation." In Breakthrough International Negotiation: How Great Negotiators Transformed the World's Toughest Post-Cold War Conflicts. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2001. Pages: 123-126. This excerpt of Breakthrough Negotiation looks at steps that can be taken to build momentum toward agreement in negotiation. It focuses on shaping one's opponent's perception of time constraints and also discusses the tactic of structuring action-forcing events (deadlines). Primary Link Lewicki, Roy J., David Saunders and John Minton. "Time Constraints and Deadlines." In Negotiation, 3rd Edition. Burr Ridge, IL: Irwin-McGraw Hill, 1999. Pages: 430-431. This short section of Negotiation discusses why time is a critical factor in an effective group process. In addition, it addresses the issue of deadlines and offers advice on how to avoid the natural tendency toward individualism as a deadline approaches. Primary Link Examples Illustrating this Topic: Online (Web) Sources Cutcher-Gershenfield, Joel, John Calhoun Wells and Thomas A. Kochan. "How Do Labor and Management View Collective Bargaining?." , Available at: http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1998/10/rpt2full.pdf [Backup Link] Deadlines play a critical role in collective bargaining as unionized workers plan to go on strike on a given date if their contractual demands are not met. "This report examines the pressures affecting labor and management involved in negotiations, the issues most frequently addressed in bargaining, the role of the contract deadline, pressure tactics used by unions and employers to influence the process and its outcomes, and the quality of the relationships, as well as the direction and pace of change in labor-management relations." This report includes quantitative survey data. Stambaugh, Colonel Jeffrey E. "Peacekeeping Exit Strategy: A Renaissance for the Deadline?." , May 21, 2001 Available at: http://www.stormingmedia.us/31/3177/A317704.html [Backup Link] This scholarly work examines the role of deadlines in peacekeeping, considering whether they offer an acceptable exit strategy for nations wanting to end peacekeeping operations. The author looks at relevant theory, historical practice, and the application of deadlines in peacekeeping operations in the Balkans. Durkan, Mark. "The Negotiations in Practice: Steps Toward the Belfast Agreement." Accord, Vol. 8 , December 1999 Available at: Primary Link [Backup Link] This article reviews the 22-month formal negotiation process that led to Northern Ireland's Belfast Agreement in 1998. The article specifically discusses the different strategies and mechanisms, pertaining to the format of the talks, employed by the negotiating parties. This particular peace process demonstrates the integral role of setting deadlines, as they turned out to be critical for forcing the parties to make progress toward an agreement. To access the article, scroll down the page and click on "The Negotiations in Practice." Offline (Print) Sources Roth, Alvin E., J. Keith Murnighan and Francoise Schoumaker. "The Deadline Effect in Bargaining: Some Experimental Evidence." American Economic Review 78:4, September 1, 1988. This paper reports on findings from some negotiation experiments, which showed that a high percentage of agreements are reached in the final moments before a deadline. The paper includes much quantitative analysis. This academic paper presents data and quantitative analysis of four bargaining experiments conducted to test theoretical models of bargaining behavior. This paper will be useful to those interested in theory and concrete data on how deadlines affect negotiation outcome. Audiovisual Materials on this Topic: Offline (Print) Sources Security Council . First Run Icarus Films. 1982. The film reviews several United Nations Security Council cases involving disarmament and arms limitation agreements, security guarantees, deadlines, and sanctions. It explains the role formal intermediaries and elite leaders play in the enacting and enforcing of UN policies. Primary Link [Backup Link] The Deadline. Directed and/or Produced by: Jammy, David. First Run Icarus Films. 1996. Filmed in the closing stages of the writing of South Africa's new constitution, The Deadline provides a unique and intimate look at the realpolitik of South Africa's negotiated settlement. Primary Link [Backup Link] |
