UW-Madison Mock Negotiation Reflections Part 1

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There’s nothing quite like looking at the business from a different perspective. Even more stimulating is when those perspectives come to you from unexpected sources. Such was the case with the mock orchestra collective bargaining agreement negotiations I conducted with the MBA students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Bolz Center for Arts Administration program… Regular Adaptistration readers might remember that I conducted a similar exercise with students from Eastman School of …

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Determining A Bargaining Position At Eastman Part 2

Continuing from Part 1 about my lecture to Eastman School of Music students on how they should use observation, communication, and analysis to determine a negotiation bargaining position, we’ll begin to examine how the students utilized an orchestra’s income/expense information to begin formulating a plan…

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Determining A Bargaining Position At Eastman Part 1

On Thursday, 11/03/05, I once again had the pleasure of serving as a featured lecturer for Eastman’s Realities of Orchestral Life course. This year’s lecture focused on how the students (as orchestra musicians of tomorrow) should use observation, communication, and analysis to determine their value in the relentlessly changing orchestral environment…

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Power And Corruption In The String World

Ever since the Axelrod/NJSO instrument collection scandal broke into the news headlines, people have become fascinated with how the world of high end string instruments operates.  Today’s Soundcheck radio program on WNYC will focus on that very issue. I’ve written about the Axelrod instruments here and at my Neo Classical column and as such I’ll be one of the on-air guests along with string instrument dealer Fritz Reuter to discuss some of …

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Eastman Students Negotiate Their Future Part 2

When we left off in yesterday’s article, the students of Eastman’s “Realities of Orchestral Life” were just beginning a simulated orchestra contract negotiation.  The students of the class represent the musicians in the orchestra and five of their members were designated to serve as their negotiation committee.  I represented management and the course professor, Ray Ricker, would act as a mediator if such a need should arise.

The students had just been informed that the financial situation for their “Sim Orchestra” has gone from bad to worse and serious reductions in their annual budget would be necessary to avoid bankruptcy.  And so the class continue…

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