Support for the Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition

The Sumitomo Group Public Affairs Committee strives to support college students’ negotiation skills, assist in upgrading higher education and contribute to global human resource development through the Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition.

The 11th intercollegiate negotiation competition was held at Sophia University in Tokyo, December 1st and 2nd, 2012. This year’s competition featured students from 18 schools: Osaka University, Gakushuin University, Kyushu University, Kyoto University, Keio University, Sophia University, Chuo University, University of Tokyo, Tohoku University, Doshisha University, Nagoya University, Hitotsubashi University, Hokkaido University, Ritsumeikan University, Waseda University, Nihon University and a combined team of the Australian National University and The University of Sydney. In total, 247 undergraduate and graduate students from these 18 universities performed enthusiastically.


Yoshiaki Nomura, Representative of the Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition committee
     

Opening ceremony
 
Hitoshi Yamanaka, The General manager of The Sumitomo Life Insurance Company, The Chairman of the Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition in the Sumitomo Group Public Affairs Committee


Performance in Japanese

Performance in English

Pairing
<Japanese>
    Round A/arbitration Round B/negotiation
Red Blue Red Blue
  1 Ritsumeikan1 Hokkaido Tokyo1 Hitotsubashi1
2 Osaka1 Gakushuin2 Australia Keio1
3 Kyushu1 Doshisha1 Waseda1 Sophia3
4 Chuo1 Doshisha3 Kyoto2 Doshisha1
5 Tokyo2 Gakushuin1 Chuo2 Tohoku1
6 Waseda2 Doshisha2 Osaka1 Hitotsubashi2
7 Kyoto2 Sophia1 Sophia1 Keio2
8 Australia Tohoku1 Kyoto1 Tohoku2
9 Kyoto1 Hitotsubashi2 Waseda3 Hokkaido
10 Waseda1 Keio2 Ritsumeikan1 Nihon1
11 Tokyo1 Nihon1 Osaka2 Doshisha3
12 Chuo3 Keio1 Ritsumeikan2 Doshisha2
13 Kyushu2 Tohoku2 Waseda2 Gakushuin2
14 Ritsumeikan2 Sophia3 Tokyo2 Sophia2
15 Chuo2 Hitotsubashi1 Chuo1 Gakushuin1
16 Waseda3 Sophia2 Kyushu1 Nihon2
17 Osaka2 Nihon2 Chuo3 Sophia1

<English>
    Round A/arbitration Round B/negotiation
Red Blue Red Blue
1 Australia Sophia1 Kyushu Sophia2
2 Kyoto Keio Ritsumeikan1 Keio
3 Waseda Nagoya Osaka Tohoku
4 Tokyo Doshisha Tokyo Nagoya
5 Kyushu Hitotsubashi Australia Doshisha
6 Ritsumeikan1 Gakushuin Kyoto Gakushuin
7 Osaka Sophia2 Ritsumeikan2 Sophia1
8 Ritsumeikan2 Tohoku Waseda Hitotsubashi


Problem establishment and competition outline (Red vs. Blue companies)

The competition has two major parts, “arbitration” (Round 1), and “negotiation” (Round 2), with each part having both a Japanese version and an English version. Each team was divided into two sides, the Red company, which played the role of a restaurant management, agricultural production and sales company in the fictional country of Negoland, and the Blue company, which played the role of a supermarket and fast food management company in Arbitria, a neighboring country of Negoland.

They had concluded contract discussions which involved making a restaurant which features products such as high quality vegetables and chicken from the Red company, while the Blue company will be the master franchisee of the chain and expand the franchise business in Arbitria. However, during the contract negotiations, the following four problems came up.


Party at the canteen of Sophia University

1. The challenge over the cost of painting the exterior of the new sub-franchisee.
2. The problem over not reaching the minimum number of stores which was specified in the contract.
3. Trouble with the interpretation of the exclusivity provisions.
4. Doubt over the possibility that the Red company can provide the high quality vegetables to the Blue company due to bad weather.

On the first day, they aimed to resolve these problems by "arbitration" and argued passionately. On the second day "negotiation", they were expected to have a direction for a number of issues for the business such as the planning of franchising for the future and the revision of royalties in a limited time, even if they get an agreement or if negotiations are broken off. It was training for a negotiation in real business format.



Judges

Every year, this competition receives assistance from many people and groups in judicial circles, professionals from each participating universities as well as the Judicial Affairs Divisions of various corporations who serve as judges for the competition. The comments from the judges after the enthusiastic performance has been a valuable opportunity for students to perceive and grow from the guidance of these professionals. Also recently, the number of both male and female alumni of the competition has been growing and now they serve as judges and staff for the competition.



Results of the 11th Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition.

The awards ceremony is always surrounded by tension and every year contains drama regarding the delight of the winning team or the disappointment of the team that was not able to achieve its goals. As expected, the teams have been working seriously on this competition and this year, all of the teams had nearly equal merit as other years but this year Keio University distinguished itself enough to win the top prize for first time.

The final results for 2012 are as follows
The 1st prize : Keio University
The 2nd prize : Waseda University
The 3rd prize : Kyoto University
The 4th prize : Sophia University
The 5th prize : Kyushu University

The Sumitomo Group Public Affairs Committee congratulates all of the students involved in this year's competition for their wonderful efforts.


Presentation of championship cup

Keio University, winner of the 11th Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition.

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