In Theory: Nine Degrees of Uncertainty in Negotiations

Joint decision-making processes such as negotiations play a vital role in diverse societal contexts spanning from business and politics to sustainability-related negotiations. One of the most prominent examples of how negotiations play an important role in overcoming societal challenges was the COVID-19 vaccine supply negotiations. These negotiations have put the spotlight on an aspect of joint decision-making that always has been of great interest to both negotiation researchers and practitioners yet remains empirically understudied- the effect of uncertainty. In the present article, we develop a framework of uncertainty in negotiation using the COVID-19 vaccine supply negotiations between the European Union and pharmaceutical companies as an example. More specifically, we categorize different kinds of uncertainty based both on mathematical considerations (i.e., differentiation between risk, ambiguity, and uncertainty) as well as on more circumstantial factors. To do so, we adapted the nine kinds of uncertainty in environmental governance proposed by Dewulf and Biesbroek to the more general context of negotiations. We first differentiate between three natures of uncertainty (i.e., lack of knowledge, unpredictability, and interpretations) and three objects of uncertainty (i.e., issue- based, strategy- based, and context- based). Second, we illustrate the psychological barriers that negotiators face when handling uncertainty, before concluding with proposals for practitioners on how to manage different kinds of uncertainty. Overall, we aim at stimulating investigations of the effects of uncertainty in mixed- motive decision- making while simultaneously helping negotiation teachers and practitioners better cope with the additional demands created by specific kinds of uncertainty.

"To honour cleanness and shame filth”: medical facemasks as the narrative of nationalism and modernity in China

As the Covid-19 pandemic has swept across the world, the wearing of medical facemasks has become a hot topic on social media. In China, the relevant discourses are entangled with codes of medical science, national self-esteem and appropriated modernity. These discourses can be dated back to the narrative established by Dr Wu Lien-teh, the great fighter in the Manchurian plagues of 1910–1911 and 1920–1921. This paper reveals that Wu and his colleagues used different strategies when displaying to the Western world their achievements in the anti-plague battle and when proving the effectiveness of the Western medical and hygienic system to Chinese people. Wu and his colleagues used metonymies, analogues and metaphors on or related to medical facemasks to illustrate the possibility of building a modernised nation with sovereignty. Because the construction of a sanitary system in China has always been labelled as a patriotic movement (Rogaski, Ruth. 2004. Hygienic Modernity: Meanings of Health and Disease in Treaty-Port China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 285–298), the wearing of medical facemasks has constituted an important part of the narrative of nationalism and hygienic modernity. This discourse continues to play a significant role in today's campaign against the coronavirus.

Technology transfer in e-communication for small and medium enterprises as promoters of innovation and competitiveness

Globalization, technological innovations, and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic have promoted disruptive changes in buying and selling negotiation models through e-communication. As a result, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been forced to adapt to online channels. Considering market relevance, this article describes the survey results with 11 SMEs regarding their adherence to digital media. Moreover, a case study of a selected company demonstrated barriers and propulsions to digital adequacy. The aim was to promote SMEs' competitiveness through technology transfer, focusing on e-communication and strategic digital planning. The results show that the insertion of technology through digital media depends on the knowledge of the tools used in this medium. Therefore, despite being ready to use, SMEs have not yet fully leveraged digital media. Organizational barriers, such as lack of time for those responsible, lack of training and knowledge, and strategic planning, were observed. However, environmental factors such as competitive pressure and innovation-related policies are positive for insertion. Thus, there is room for companies to invest in digital strategic planning focused on improving sales, customer relations, and competitiveness. © 2022 IEEE.

The impact of COVID-19 on the family and working life of fathers with young children

This study examined the impact of COVID-19 on the working style of fathers raising young children and its influence on their family and working life. Fathers with full-time jobs (N = 606) participated in this study in August 2020. The results indicated the following conclusions, (a) Only fathers in certain conditions (desk work, college graduate, high income, etc.) increased the number of days working from home, (b) The fathers who worked from home because of COVID-19 reported "doing family" (active, responsive, and generative involvement in the family) more than others, (c) The fathers who worked from home and had working spouses negotiated more with their spouses and work colleagues, (d) Changes in working style increased "doing family," and improved satisfaction with family and work, and the satisfaction with their lives. Actualizing fathers' life careers through the societal change of work environments was discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

PARENTS' EXPERIENCE of BABY LOSS during the COVID-19 PANDEMIC in AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in rapid and unparalleled changes to the provision of health care globally. New Zealand (NZ) experienced a lower rate of COVID-19 deaths compared with other high-income countries, related to the swift reaction to close borders and implement strict lockdowns, known colloquially as the 'go hard, go early' response. Healthcare workers reduced non-essential contact implemented social-physical distancing and wore personal protective equipment. This influenced the delivery of maternity care and perinatal bereavement support. There is limited information of the impact of the pandemic on parents bereaved by perinatal loss, and none in the NZ context. Our aim is to explore the experiences of NZ parents bereaved by late miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method(s): Semi-structured interviews with bereaved parents via video-call technology analysed using qualitative Framework Analysis. Result(s): We interviewed 26 bereaved parents. Their losses comprised 15 stillbirths, 4 late-miscarriages, 1 neonatal death. Four key themes were identified, (1) Distant and impersonal care, (2) Exclusion of partners, (3) Negotiating hospital rules, and (4) Hindered access to social & cultural support. Conclusion(s): This study adds important insights into perinatal bereavement care in NZ during the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted negatively on parents' already difficult experience of baby loss. The degree of impact was related to periods of greater restriction and institutional responses to the pandemic. The unique context of NZ's model of maternity care, with a known maternity provider and culturally responsive care mitigated some of the difficulties imposed by the pandemic.

The Politics of Vaccines—How to Determine a Fair Vaccine Allocation: Hierarchy, Negotiations, or Culture?

This study examines vaccine allocation policy during the COVID-19 pandemic by applying a hierarchical, a negotiation, and a cultural perspective. It addresses how vaccine allocation principles under conditions of scarcity are translated into practice in the case of Norway. A main finding is that the policy was informed by instrumentalism as well as by path dependencies, but over time the issue became more salient by activating stakeholder interests, which resulted in an adaptation of established norms. The three perspectives reveal how different approaches to a "fair vaccine allocation” policy can lead to different explanations of the same phenomenon. © The Author(s) 2023.

Nine Degrees of Uncertainty in Negotiations

Joint decision-making processes such as negotiations play a vital role in diverse societal contexts spanning from business and politics to sustainability-related negotiations. One of the most prominent examples of how negotiations play an important role in overcoming societal challenges was the COVID-19 vaccine supply negotiations. These negotiations have put the spotlight on an aspect of joint decision-making that always has been of great interest to both negotiation researchers and practitioners yet remains empirically understudied—the effect of uncertainty. In the present article, we develop a framework of uncertainty in negotiation using the COVID-19 vaccine supply negotiations between the European Union and pharmaceutical companies as an example. More specifically, we categorize different kinds of uncertainty based both on mathematical considerations (i.e., differentiation between risk, ambiguity, and uncertainty) as well as on more circumstantial factors. To do so, we adapted the nine kinds of uncertainty in environmental governance proposed by Dewulf and Biesbroek to the more general context of negotiations. We first differentiate between three natures of uncertainty (i.e., lack of knowledge, unpredictability, and interpretations) and three objects of uncertainty (i.e., issue-based, strategy-based, and context-based). Second, we illustrate the psychological barriers that negotiators face when handling uncertainty, before concluding with proposals for practitioners on how to manage different kinds of uncertainty. Overall, we aim at stimulating investigations of the effects of uncertainty in mixed-motive decision-making while simultaneously helping negotiation teachers and practitioners better cope with the additional demands created by specific kinds of uncertainty. © 2023 The Authors. Negotiation Journal published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Gender and negotiation initiation during Covid-19: studying negotiations over salary, work-role and work-home balance and the pandemic's perceived effects

Purpose: The study tested the effects of gender on negotiation initiation in three topics: salary, work-role and work-home balance;and on employee's perceptions of Covid-19 as inhibiting or enhancing negotiation initiation in these topics. Design/methodology/approach: The authors employed a mixed-methods approach in a sample of 387 Israeli employees (189 female). Analyses of variance tested for gender differences in negotiation initiation and in Covid-19's perceived effects. Participants' additional written explanations, specifying how the pandemic inhibited or enhanced negotiation initiation, were inductively analyzed. Findings: Compared to male, female employees were less inclined to initiate negotiation in all three topics, and more likely to perceive Covid-19 as inhibiting salary and work-role negotiations. Qualitative explanations demonstrated gender-role-consistent motives for avoiding or initiating salary negotiations during Covid-19. They also suggested that the pandemic increased the legitimacy and significance of work-home balance negotiations, across gender. Originality/value: The study provides new evidence on gender differences in negotiation initiation, particularly over work-role and work-home balance, and is among the first to test these differences in Israel. Moreover, it sheds light on the effects that Covid-19, as a world-wide crisis, had on employees' negotiations in general, and gender equality in employees' negotiations in particular. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Perceived barriers and negotiation of using peer-to-peer accommodation by Chinese consumers in the COVID-19 context

PurposeThis study aims to understand Chinese consumers' perceived barriers to using peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation before and after the outbreak of COVID-19 and the negotiation strategies they applied in overcoming the barriers and enabling consumption.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research design with 28 semi-structured interviews was used. Data were analysed by content analysis.FindingsFive psychological barriers and four functional barriers were found to inhibit consumers from using P2P accommodation both before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. In overcoming the perceived barriers, consumers applied both behavioural negotiation strategies, including seeking information, behavioural adaptation, selective choice and seeking social support, and cognitive negotiation strategies, including cognitive adaptation and trusting agents. COVID-19 was found to serve as both a barrier and a facilitator for using P2P accommodation. A barriers–negotiation framework was developed in the context.Research limitations/implicationsTheoretically, this study advances consumer resistance and perceived barriers literature by integrating negotiation and developing a barriers–negotiation framework of P2P accommodation usage. This study also offers insights for practitioners in the P2P accommodation industry.Originality/valueThis study showcases the role of negotiation in understanding barriers to using P2P accommodation, paving the way to extend relevant knowledge to advance consumer resistance research, which is an emerging topic in the broader management domain.

A Needle in a Haystack? Human Rights Framing at the World Trade Organization for Access to COVID-19 Vaccines

How and why is implicit and explicit human rights language used by World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiators in debates about intellectual property, know-how, and technology needed to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines, and how do these findings compare with negotiators' human rights framing in 2001? Sampling 26 WTO members and two groups of members, this study uses document analysis and six key informant interviews with WTO negotiators, a representative of the WTO Secretariat, and a nonstate actor. In WTO debates about COVID-19 medicines, negotiators scarcely used human rights frames (e.g., "human rights" or "right to health"). Supporters used both human rights frames and implicit language (e.g., "equity," "affordability," and "solidarity") to garner support for the TRIPS waiver proposal, while opponents and WTO members with undetermined positions on the waiver used only implicit language to advocate for alternative proposals. WTO negotiators use human rights frames to appeal to previously agreed language about state obligations;for coherence between their domestic values and policy on one hand, and their global policy positions on the other;and to catalyze public support for the waiver proposal beyond the WTO. This mixed-methods design yields a rich contextual understanding of the modern role of human rights language in trade negotiations relevant for public health.

Addressing the Digital Divide in Online Education: Lessons to Be Drawn from Online Negotiation

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the digital divide was often identified as an obstacle to online teaching, and inequalities in education were sometimes observed. This challenge could be addressed by making online teaching more efficient through the application of good practices. Given that there are similarities between diplomatic negotiating practice and teaching practice, it is worth examining whether good practices developed in online diplomatic negotiation are transferable to online teaching. The aim of this paper is to examine good practices in online negotiation and explore how such good online practices could be transferred to teaching. The research is informed by the author's first-hand experience from practice in both international diplomatic negotiation and academic teaching. The paper identifies a number of practices from online negotiation that are equally effective in online teaching. It focuses on communicational aspects, mutual understanding (monitoring and optimisation of understanding), motivation to listen, attention, active participation, and non-verbal communication. Some unresolved challenges of online teaching remain though, which are not addressed in this paper. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Russia business: Analyze the economy, understand the society, manage effectively

A comprehensive guide in a compact format on doing business in Russia. This book contains everything business-minded individuals need to know, using practical information and numerous tips to succeed in Russia. 'Russia Business' discusses the economy, highlights the challenges Russia would face after the Coronavirus crisis, and covers key societal topics. In addition, it gives a greater insight into the work culture, business regulation and provides first-hand advice on how to manage a business in Russia. This book covers topics of interest to business professionals looking to enter the Russian market, to grow their Russian operations, and to all managers who intend to update their knowledge about Russia in relevant business areas. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.

From Great Resignation to Great Re-Negotiation on space and time for more holistic individuals and organizations

PurposeThis paper aims to offer a new perspective to conceptualize the Great Resignation from the cognition of space and time, as well as the opportunity to re-negotiate space and time arrangements in personal and organizational lives. As a result, the paper provides new ideas for developing more holistic and sustainable individuals and organizations to survive and thrive in challenges of global disruptions.Design/methodology/approachDrawing from anthropology and psychology works in space and time, this paper proposes new ideas for individuals and organizations to negotiate space and time arrangements that facilitate holistic personal growth and sustainable organizational lives.FindingsThis research raises a critical point on the need to reconceptualize and renegotiate work arrangements about where we work and when we work. Anthropologist Edward Hall suggests that work should be viewed from multiple lenses that connotate different meanings of space and time in different parts of the world. Instead of separating professional and personal lives, we need to cultivate a more holistic mindset and renegotiate space and time settings at work.Originality/valueThis research broadened current conceptualizations of the Great Resignation and organizational behavior around work arrangements. From an interdisciplinary perspective, this paper suggests that individuals and organizations negotiate space and time arrangements for more agile and resilient future.

L2 communicative competence analysis via synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) as an alternative to formal classrooms

The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically altered formal classrooms and traditional learning environments with many educational institutions forced to teach online. Communicative L2 classes are impacted as in-person, face-to-face interactions are key to developing communicative competence. This qualitative research study investigates if L2 communicative competence can be demonstrated via online synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) platforms as an alternative to formal classrooms. Previous research on SCMC has focused on its implementation in a blended learning environment to support formal classrooms. The study analyzes seven recorded group interactions of 22 Japanese university students in a communication class for a presentation and discussion project done completely online while being physically isolated. The study observes whether L2 communicative competence can be demonstrated via expression, integration, and negotiation of meaning. Additionally, technological competence via procedural and technological negotiation is examined. The study shows that with careful planning, structured scaffolding from the instructor and technological familiarity and acceptance from the students, L2 communicative competence via SCMC platforms can be demonstrated, to varying degrees, when formal classrooms are not available. Formal classrooms may never be completely replaced but the development of SCMC platforms shows technological possibilities in future L2 learning environments. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

How They Learned to Stop Worrying and Love (the) Restrictions? Reimagining COVID-19 Lockdowns-as-Liberative and Restorative: A Case Study of Somali Canadian Mothers

Le site de «l'un des mandats de maintien â la maison les plus stricts et les plus longs au monde», les confinements en Ontario sont devenus une source de discorde dans le discours public provincial - souvent compris comme restrictifs, épuisants et detestables. Cependant, au sein de ce groupe, il existe un groupe d'Ontariennes pour qui ces mandats étaient perçus comme liberent et réparatrif - un groupe (n=29) de meres Somaliennes canadiennes. Des entretiens individuels avec vingt-neuf meres Somaliennes ont révélé une réalité convergente qui s'écarte significativement de l'opinion publique dominante: plutôt que restrictives et isolantes, les confinements sont perçus par ces femmes comme libératrices et réparatrices, car elles offrent un répit prolongé loin de la Négrophobie (le racisme anti-noir) et l'Islamophobie négociés dans une société coloniale. La maison Somalienne enfermé offre â ses habitants doublement racialisés (noir, Musulman) la possibilité d'exister sans conséquence, car ils forgent une distance physique et psychique entre eux et les navigations quotidiennes de la subordination Négrophobie et Islamophobie. Cet article engage une lentille féministe noire pour examiner de maniere critique comment les meres contestent - dans leur maison -avec la marginalisation que leurs enfants Musulmans noirs négocient dans l'espace public urbain. En s'appuyant sur les perceptions des meres Somallennes du confinement, cet article avance l'argument saillant que, pour certains groupes marginalisés dans les sociétés coloniales, l'espace privé offre considérablement plus de libération par rapport â leur homologue public. Premier texte â considérer les confinements comme libérateurs et réparateurs, cet article contribue â la sociologie féministe noire, aux géographies canadiennes noires, ainsi qu'aux études sur la diaspora Somalienne au sens large.Alternate abstract:The site of "one of the world's strictest and longest running stay-at-home mandates," lockdowns in Ontario have become a source of contention within provincial public discourse, often understood as restrictive, exhausting, and detestable. Amongst this, however, there exists a group of Ontarians for whom staying-at-home is conversely perceived as liberating and restorative - a group (n=29) of Somali Canadian mothers. Twenty-nine (n=29) individual interviews with Ottawa-based Somali mothers revealed a converging reality which diverges significantly from dominant public opinion: rather than restrictive and isolating, lockdowns are perceived by these women as liberative and restorative, for they offer a prolonged respite from the anti-Black racism and Islamophobia negotiated in settler colonial space. The locked down Somali home provides its doubly racialized (Black, Muslim) inhabitants the room to exist without consequence, in part by forging physical and psychic distance between Somali mothers, their kin, and the daily navigations of anti-Black and Islamophobic subordination. This paper engages a Black feminist lens to critically consider how mothers contend - in-house - with the marginalization their Black Muslim children negotiate in urban public space. By leaning on the Somali mothers' perceptions of lockdown, this work wages the salient argument that, for certain marginalized groups in settler colonial societies, private space provides considerably more liberation relative to their public counterpart. The first of its kind to read lockdowns-as-liberative and restorative, this article contributes to Black feminist sociology, Black Canadian geographies, as well as Somali diasporic studies writ large.

Traveler There is No Path, the Path is Made by Negotiating: The Story of the Abraham Path, a Decade and a Half of Negotiations, and Lessons Learned

The Abraham Path Initiative (API) has substantially reduced its close-in support of path-building work on the ground. The paths in Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt are run, as they should be, by local partners. It was always part of the strategy to pull back once the Path was established and local communities were shepherding it. These trails have gained in popularity thanks to a newfound tourism industry centered around walking and hiking as well as to a great deal of publicity related to the Path. While in the early years. International travelers predominated in using the Path, many local hiking groups later emerged and were very active along different parts of the Path prior to the Covid pandemic. What were the keys to progress toward that UTA? They can be summed up by seeing the Path through the prism of a very long-term negotiation campaign. Within that campaign, two steps were particularly essential--first, carefully thinking about negotiation sequencing at the outset and revisiting it frequently as the Path developed, and second, taking an iterative approach that harnessed people's learnings and forced them to constantly adapt to the situation that presented itself.

The application of emergency regulations to sports sponsorship contracts

To face the emergency linked to the Covid-19 virus, sports organisations have responded in different ways and this has posed problems regarding the regularity of competitions, but above all regarding the sustainability of an international competitive level, linking the various national federations. This contribution will therefore examine the immediate effects on the fate of ongoing contracts and the regular execution of the relationship, making the implementation of the negotiation bond different. We will therefore look at the provision introduced by Article 3 of Law Decree no. 6 of 23 February 2020, converted with amendments by Law no. 13 of 5 March 2020, paragraph 6 bis, with regard to sports sponsorship contracts, reconstructing the meaning of the rule, also in relation to the pre-existing disciplines, in order to then verify its compliance with the structure of interests underlying the sponsorship contracts. © 2023, Societa Editoriale Federalismi s.r.l.. All rights reserved.

Korean immigrant parents' ways and reasons to support their elementary-aged children's mathematical meaning-making at home during the COVID-19 pandemic

U.S. society perceived some Asian immigrants as a model minority, even assuming that Asian students would be good at mathematics. However, the narratives and experiences of Korean immigrant parents and their children were not discussed in these perspectives. The purpose of this study is to understand the interactions and reasoning of Korean immigrant parents about their children's mathematical meaning-making at home. The study investigates the following research questions: How do Korean immigrant parents of elementary-aged students support their children's mathematical meaning-making at home during the COVID-19 pandemic? Why do Korean immigrant parents of elementary-aged students support their children's mathematical meaning-making at home during the COVID-19 pandemic? Using the theory of belonging, model minority stereotypes, and meaning-making, this study critically examines Korean immigrant parents and children how and why negotiate the meaning of U.S. mathematics. Narrative inquiry is used to understand the diverse experiences of the five participants' families through interviews, observations, and debrief sessions. The findings report how and why Korean immigrant parents support their children's mathematical meaning-making using code-switching and cultural negotiation that addresses conceptual differences across language and culture. On a personal level, Korean immigrant parents' desire to belong in U.S. society guides them to put effort into their children's education. On a societal level, the parents in this study wish for their children to overcome perpetual foreigner stereotypes, myths, and glass ceilings around them. Yet because of their limited connectedness to mainstream society, they feel they lack the information needed for their children to be successful. Their voices demystify the model minority stereotypes and counter the argument that mathematics education serves as an absolutely inclusive subject. Recommendations from this point on the school districts and educational system are to have explanatory sessions for immigrant parents to help their understanding of the U.S. curriculum, and at the same time, teachers also can take advantage by having listening sessions about multiple ethnic parents to learn the cultural meaning-making to make a connection between school children and their culture in the curriculum. Furthermore, the higher education system could recruit more diverse pre-service teachers to create more belonging for diverse learners. Last but not least, school teachers can learn and practice immigrant experiences and try to demystify racial stereotypes in classrooms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

To negotiate or not negotiate: professional boundaries surrounding mobile device usage

ABSTRACTWith the widespread ownership and usage of mobile devices combined with the subsequent challenges usage poses on relationships, this research examines how people negotiate time spent on mobile devices (smartphones and/or tablets) accomplishing professional tasks. Participants in this study were the users of the mobile device within a full-time managerial level position. Diverse organizational representation included, but not limited to health care, engineering, public relations, finance, education, and distribution management industries. Using qualitative methods and semi-structured interviews, data analysis unveiled what negotiation means when using mobile devices in any capacity for professional reasons within the domestic (familial) sphere. Management-level organizational members share how parameters (sometimes called boundaries or borders) are both in and out of their control when using mobile devices to communicate professionally. Within their control was the users' ability to engage or disengage, while also challenged with situations out of their control due to organizational directives. This research re-conceptualizes the concepts of Clark's (2000) Work/Family Border Theory. While this data was gathered prior to Covid19, understanding this balance has current and future relevancy from an academic and applied perspective.

Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on climate change summit negotiations from the climate governance perspective.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruptions to the world since 2020, with over 647 million confirmed cases and 6.7 million reported deaths as of January 2023. Despite its far-reaching impact, the effects of COVID-19 on the progress of global climate change negotiations have yet to be thoroughly evaluated. This discussion paper conducts an examination of COVID-19's impact on climate change actions at global, national, and local levels through a comprehensive review of existing literature. This analysis reveals that the pandemic has resulted in delays in implementing climate policies and altered priorities from climate action to the pandemic response. Despite these setbacks, the pandemic has also presented opportunities for accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy. The interplay between these outcomes and the different levels of governance will play a crucial role in determining the success or failure of future climate change negotiations.