Case Scenario - Known to other parties
Mangrove Bay Development (MBD) is planning construction of a hotel with adjacent mixed retail/commercial development in Abu Dhabi overlooking an area of mangroves, a sensitive ecological site. Locals are concerned about the project and have formed the UAE Coastal Preservation Society (CPS) to advocate for sustainable development. Typically, local community groups have little sway over government or developers.
 

MBD has sufficient capital to independently finance the development however is looking to offset risk through partial financing from MHT Bank. MBD has close ties to the government who support the development. MHT Bank anticipates solid returns from its first property investment in the UAE but insists on environmental sustainability being met in its investments.
 

Mangrove Bay Development (MBD)
MBD's primary interest is to ensure a profitable investment. Overly burdensome restrictions to the development because of environmental or social regulation will impact the bottom line so MBD seeks to minimise regulatory overheads, construction delays, or changes to the construction plans.
Scale will be critical to ensuring profitability and the sale and leasing of retail spaces will be the most profitable aspect of the development. To support increased traffic flow, a new access road will need to be built, this will require the limited removal of some mangrove trees.
Hotel guests will enjoy exclusive access to the mangroves in the area immediately surrounding the hotel and a boardwalk through the mangroves will increase access for guests.
The government has approved the development as it meets local environmental protection requirements.
 

UAE Coastal Preservation Society (UCPS)
Mangroves are intertidal, coastal forests that are essential in shielding coastlines from storms and flooding. By absorbing more than four times as much carbon as tropical forests, they also serve as a habitat for species and control climate change.
With the government's support to protect the mangroves, it would be counterintuitive to encroach into them with a construction project which will only cause more damage to the area. Despite being one of Abu Dhabi's most valuable natural resources, mangroves are in danger from already existing dredging projects and now with the impending offshore development, it only exacerbates the issue. Kilometers of devastated coastline are being restored by the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD), which is attempting to stem erosion in some locations. To make up for the damage, the environment agency and some developers are also planting hundreds of thousands of mangroves as a way of compensation. Mangrove replanting requirements in Abu Dhabi state that any developer who removes mangroves must replace them with an area twice as large as what was taken away.
 

MHT Bank
MHT Bank is a global bank partnering heavily with investors across the Gulf and Middle East, and the industry leader for high-value sustainable property development meeting key ESG criteria that are increasingly important for international investors and regulatory requirements.
 

In the UAE, MHT Bank is the number 1 consumer bank, but lacking a foothold in property development, it is seeking to build long-term partnerships with high-end commercial property developers. Its interest is to secure its share of this lucrative opportunity; however, it is also keen to avoid any perception of investment at the expense of the local community it already serves, or at the expense of the environment. MHT Bank believes the local developer underestimates the importance of these topics in today's economy and their value for sustainable long-term business growth.

 

Team debrief reflection
 

Process
The parties agreed to a negotiation process including an agenda, as well as location, time, and attendees in advance of the negotiation; however, the negotiation reflected the common issue described by Malhotra of concentrating on substance rather than process (2015). All parties may have benefitted from further time negotiating process; specifically, agreements on whether commitments made during the negotiation would be considered binding and what specific outcomes were needed from the negotiation.

The agreed agenda was broad, which likely matched the early stage of relationship development between the parties. A tighter agenda may have made negotiations more efficient and would have limited the ability of parties to push discussion on difficult topics to a future negotiation. However, allowing the negotiation to flow more freely aided in developing a deeper appreciation of the perspectives of each party and the meeting reflected the improvisational nature of negotiation described by Wheeler and much of the negotiation focused on the exploration of each parties' interests and positions before negotiation and option generation began (2013).

 

Consideration could have been given to the use of a facilitator as described by Lax and Sebenious given the multiple parties involved and the significant power imbalances, however such a process proposal may have been rejected by MBD as an attempt to curtail their powerful position ahead of negotiations (2003). Consideration was given by all parties to separate negotiations in advance of the simulated exercise for coalition building however this ultimately played out during the simulation.
 

Content
The three-party negotiation was established with no prior defined zone of agreement but having the key objective of agreeing terms suitable for a long-term business collaboration while meeting the local community's needs of environmental protection. Each party sought to meet or exceed its core needs and achieve an outcome greater than the status quo without negotiating.
Despite agreement to address concerns on ESG standards, the meeting took place without specifically agreed negotiation issues. This made the content hard to navigate as it was not concretely defined, giving one party, the developer, leeway to lead the opening to his advantage and not address the concerns at all. Attention had been paid to the negotiation process with pre-negotiation meetings and a negotiation target to determine our ability to establish a cooperation between developer and bank. The "understanding and exploration phase" of opening statements and problem framing was vital to share key content and interests between the parties as described in the "Mediation Diamond" negotiation framework (Heys, A., GMBA Lecture video 4.3) and was important to shape our relationships before zeroing in on specific proposals for a zone of potential agreement (ZOPA).
 

The quality of the interaction and outcome reached could have been increased by defining a more granular agenda to achieve specific outcomes, which would be an important success factor especially if working on a tight schedule. With the meeting content defined only in high-level terms, outcomes were not concrete and conclusive, which resulted in a non-binding commitment to return to the negotiating table for further talks.
 

Relationship & Culture
The negotiation must consider the nature of the parties' relationships with one another as well as their cultural backgrounds and distinct communication styles. Lax & Sebenius suggest that differing expectations in and surrounding negotiation are a manifestation of cultural values in negotiations and highlight how different cultures approach and articulate their interests, values and relationships throughout the process of negotiation (2003).

 

Coalitions provide one method for streamlining multiparty dynamics but may introduce new challenges into the negotiation process. Whilst separate negotiations were considered by all parties prior to the simulated exercise for coalition building, this ultimately played out between MBD/UCPS and MHT/UCPS, with the latter being the strongest likely due to greater exploration of their complementary interests during the session.
 

The session concluded with a zone of potential agreement accommodating key interests of UCPS and MHT Bank, which resulted in a strengthened relationship between all parties that would support continued negotiation.
MBD had a certain degree of authority and influence that allowed them a sense of assertiveness which also demonstrated their corporate culture. UCPS are used to a more relaxed communication tone to ensure that they build relationships accommodating both their allies and adversaries. MHT Bank needed to be analytical to ensure increasing the size of its real estate portfolio while also steering clear of any unfavourable news. The three distinct styles mentioned, showcase the different cultures and characteristics of each of the parties involved and their subsequent approach to the negotiation (2020).

 

Question:

Analyze the above in a private scenario from the perspective of UAE Coastal Preservation Society (UCPS);  their internal thought process, the preparation that they needed to undergo before the meeting, the negotiations that they had to go through int he process and reflection of the final outcome of the meeting.