Current Projects: Spring 2008
Challenge: Develop a management model that honors institutional culture
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a multi-million dollar a year charitable organization dedicated to nonviolence and the recognition of the human dignity inherent in every person. The Quaker focus on consensus-based decision making, equality, and universal participation in public service underpins the organization’s business model. The challenge of this project is to develop a set of decision-making and dispute management procedures for the organization, including a way to coordinate national strategic priorities with regional programming, in a way that promotes effective service delivery while also honoring the Friends’ core values.
Our work : Conduct a conflict analysis
Step 1: Conduct an analysis of the current way in which conflicts are handled at the AFSC (possibly a multi-semster endeavor).
Step 2: Working with the advice of the Deputy General Secretary of the AFSC, conduct a thorough literature review.
Step 3: Conduct a series of stakeholder interviews, focusing on the effectiveness, popular acceptance and accessibility of the dispute resolution process and the Ombudperson's office.
Final Product: Based on the team’s analysis of the current strengths and weaknesses of the AFSC’s management model, the team will make a process recommendation for designing a system that will build on what already exists while also addressing the system’s shortcomings.
Auschwitz Center for Peace and Reconciliation
Rene Pfromm and Ines Wu |
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Challenge: Develop a negotiation training for a genocide prevention workshop
The Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation is dedicated to preventing genocide and its recurrence worldwide through the creation of an international network of mid-level diplomats who are knowledgeable about the causes, dynamics and consequences of genocide, and who collaborate on how to address it. This year, the center will launch a week-long workshop for mid-level government career personnel from around the world to study the cases and possible responses to genocide. The course organizers have set aside one day of the course to cover the ways in which negotiation and conflict resolution skills can be useful in preventing genocide. HNMCP is working to develop this component of the workshop.
Our work: Design an appropriate curriculum
Step 1: Conduct a thorough literature review taking into consideration the gravity of the subject matter. Any negotiation training for this course would have to cover not only the basics of interest-based negotiation, but also the complicated ethical and tactical questions raised when negotiating in the face of ‘evil.’
Step 2: Develop context-specific simulations (one or two) and training content (presentation slides, etc.).
Step 3: Give a mock training at HLS.
Final Product: Stand-alone curriculum, complete with appropriate reference materials and simulations, and presentation of this material in May, 2008 in Auschwitz, Poland.
The Citadel
GJ Ligelis, Esther Washauer-Baker, and David Moss |
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Challenge: Evaluate the dispute management system for a top military institution
Founded in 1842, the Citadel is a coeducational military college with a rich and storied history. Eleven years ago, The Citadel, in collaboration with consultants from the Harvard Negotiation Project, began to restructure its internal dispute management system. Among other reforms, The Citadel created the office of the Ombudsperson, which began handling inquiries from students, faculty and staff, both informally and confidentially. This project seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of these reform efforts, and also to explore further ways to address conflict at the Citadel in a way that is appropriate given the school’s unique history and culture.
Our work: Create dispute system recommendations
Step 1: Research the history of The Citadel, the dispute system design process, and any institutional or procedural reforms which have taken place since the creation of the system.
Step 2: Determine what kinds of indicators might be used to evaluate The Citadel's dispute resolution process.
Step 3: Conduct a series of on-site stakeholder interviews to understand the nature of the disputes arising at the Citadel and how those disputes are typically handled.
Final Product: A background case-study of the Citadel's dispute management system design process, a detailed report outlining the findings from student evaluations, and recommendations focusing on possible reforms to ensure that The Citadel's dispute management system continues to be an innovative model for other institutions to emulate.
Challenge: Develop a dispute management system for low-income housing
Not every illness has a biological cause. The Medical Legal Partnership for Children (MLPC) combines the strengths of law and medicine to address the social determinants (food, housing, education, and safety) known to influence child health. To address one of the largest problems, housing, MLPC works with its clients to secure sustainable housing options. MLPC is aware that there currently exist few if any options for resolving disputes among tenants or between tenants and landlords, and that these problems left unresolved often culminate in eviction proceedings. MLPC hopes to work with HNMCP to propose a more effective dispute management system. The first step in this project is to conduct a comprehensive analysis exploring what dispute management mechanisms already exist and what kinds of disputes typically go unaddressed.
Our work: Design a dispute management system
Step 1: Research the current conflict resolution service provision in tenancy cases and analyze the findings.
Step 2: After considering all possible stakeholders, conduct comprehensive stakeholder interviews.
Step 3: Research best practices for managing disputes in similar settings.
Step 4: Provide a preliminary analysis of feasibility of certain proposed dispute management solutions, including focused collaborative outreach efforts with stakeholders to help get them involved and invested into the process.
Final Product: A sophisticated analysis of current dispute management structure, a summary of best practices for dispute management solutions in similar, and a proposal for possible reforms that might be undertaken to expand the services available and help better manage disputes.
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