Interest-based bargaining is the FMCS method the BASK lists as a negotiation example. The exam tests two separate sequences from the FMCS document, and the whole trick is not mixing them.
What IBB is
FMCS defines IBB as a collaborative approach to resolving labor and management disputes in which agreements are based on mutual and individual interests rather than positions, emphasizing problem solving and mutual gain.
- Not a neutral issuing a binding award (arbitration). Not fixed-increment exchange of written positions. Not deciding unilaterally then selling it, which is FMCS's description of the traditional approach IBB replaces.
The five problem-solving steps
- Identifying the Issue
- Identifying Individual and Mutual Interests
- Generating Options — all possible solutions
- Developing Standards for Selecting the Solution(s)
- Selection of the Solution
Generating options is step 3. Objective criteria come at step 4: after options are generated, before the solution is chosen. Screening ideas before or during generation conflicts with FMCS brainstorming, which encourages quantity and discourages evaluation. Criteria set after the decision govern nothing.
The four program stages
The FMCS IBB Program stages are Orientation, Training, Preparation, Bargaining.
Four stages, five steps. "Issue, interests, options, criteria" is the trap answer built from the steps. Planning/Facilitation/Consensus/Ratification and Awareness/Dialogue/Agreement/Implementation are invented.
Criteria and decisions
- The jointly developed, objective criteria focus on feasibility, relation to the interests of the parties, and acceptability. Not cost/precedent/speed, not legality/affordability/enforceability.
- Decisions are made by consensus rather than power: the solution must be supported by all group members, not just a majority. Majority vote is the documented misconception. The mediator does not decide, and spokesperson caucusing is positional bargaining returning by the back door.
In a stalled brainstorm, the move is to restate the rule: quantity now, evaluation at step 4.