16th | Sponsorship of the Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition | Sponsorships | About Public Affairs Committee

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.

16th (2017) Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition

On November 18 and 19, 2017, the 16th Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition (INC) was held at Sophia University in Tokyo.

The contestants were 293 students from 28 universities, with 36 teams competing in Japanese and 24 teams in English. 19 Japanese universities participated: Hokkaido University, Tohoku University, the University of Tokyo, Hitotsubashi University, Waseda University, Sophia University, Chuo University, Gakushuin University, Nihon University, Keio University, Meiji University, Rikkyo University, Tsukuba University, Nagoya University, Kyoto University, Doshisha University, Ritsumeikan University, Osaka University, and Kyushu University. Participating from overseas were Team Australia (representing the Australian National University, the University of Sydney, the University of Melbourne, Monash University, the University of Western Australia, and the University of the Sunshine Coast), the University of Hong Kong (HKU), the National University of Singapore (NUS), and the National University of Mongolia (MUIS).

Yoshiaki Nomura, Professor of Osaka University and Chair of INC Steering Committee, speaking at the opening ceremony

Kenji Shinmori, Representative of the Sumitomo Group Public Affairs Committee

Tournament chart

<Japanese>

	Round A/arbitration		Round B/negotiation
	Red	Blue	Red	Blue
1	Doshisya 1	Kyoto	Hitotsubashi 1	Ritsumeikan
2	Gakushuin 2	HKU 2	Tsukuba	Waseda 2
3	Team Australia	Meiji 1	Team Australia	Hokkaido 1
4	Gakushuin 1	Meiji 2	Tohoku 1	HKU 1
5	Sophia 1	Osaka	Gakushuin 1	Waseda 1
6	Nagoya	Waseda 1	Rikkyo 1	Kyusyu
7	Doshisya 2	Waseda 2	Sophia 1	HKU 2
8	Sophia 2	Nihon 1	Tohoku 2	Meiji 2
9	Tokyo 1	HKU 1	Hitotsubashi 2	Osaka
10	Hitotsubashi 2	Hokkaido 1	Doshisya 1	Meiji 3
11	Rikkyo 1	Ritsumeikan	Rikkyo 2	Chuo 1
12	Hitotsubashi 1	Kyusyu	Sophia 2	Waseda 3
13	Tokyo 2	Hokkaido 2	Hitotsubashi 3	Meiji 1
14	Hitotsubashi 3	Chuo 2	Tokyo 1	Nihon 2
15	Tohoku 1	Chuo 1	Nagoya	Hokkaido 2
16	Tsukuba	Nihon 2	Tokyo 2	Kyoto
17	Tohoku 2	Waseda 3	Gakushuin 2	Nihon 1
18	Rikkyo 2	Meiji 3	Doshisya 2	Chuo 2

<English>

	Round A/arbitration		Round B/negotiation
	Red	Blue	Red	Blue
1	MUIS	Waseda 1	Tokyo	Ritsumeikan
2	Rikkyo	Waseda 2	Hitotsubashi	Waseda 1
3	Team Australia 1	Ritsumeikan	MUIS	Kyusyu 1
4	Tokyo	NUS	Sophia	NUS
5	Sophia	Keio	Rikkyo	Kyoto
6	Doshisya	Kyusyu 1	Team Australia 1	Waseda 2
7	Team Australia 2	Kyoto	Nagoya 1	Keio
8	Nagoya 1	Chuo	Doshisya	HKU 2
9	Tohoku	Kyusyu 2	Team Australia 2	Kyusyu2
10	Hitotsubashi	HKU 1	Tohoku	Osaka
11	Team Australia 3	HKU 2	Nagoya 2	HKU1
12	Nagoya 2	Osaka	Team Australia 3	Chuo

The Problem and the Competition Outline

The competition consists of two parts, Round A devoted to arbitration and Round B devoted to negotiation, with each part having both Japanese and English divisions.

Teams discuss transactions as the protagonists of two fictional companies from fictional countries: Red Corporation of Negoland and Blue Corporation of Arbitria.

Red Corporation is the nickname of the Trade Development Public Corporation of Negoland, which was established under the Ministry of Economy and Trade. Negoland’s capital is Negotown. Red Corporation’s tasks include drafting of national plans on economic and trade matters and negotiations with foreign governments and corporations regarding important projects. Negoland has abundant mineral deposits such as iron, nickel, titanium and platinum and rich fisheries for salmon, trout and mackerel.

Blue is headquartered in Abu-Abu, the capital of Arbitria. It has offices in Negotown, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney, among other cities. Its business is wide ranging in scope. Since 1990, Blue has been actively engaging in the production of agricultural products and fish aquaculture through its subsidiaries in Arbitria and overseas, in investing in overseas companies engaged in the exploitation of mineral resources and production of agricultural and marine produce, and in technology development and facility construction for the exploitation of mineral resources. In recent years, Blue has also been active in the tourism industry; it is playing a pivotal role in a large resort project under construction in the Abu-Nea district.

In Round A on the first day, the teams endeavored to resolve the “Rare Metals Case” and the “Fisheries Case” through arbitration. In Round B on the second day, the teams negotiated about “mining of negonium, a new mineral discovered on the seafloor off the coast of Negoland” and “enhancement of a national park in Negoland for development of the tourism industry.” In both Round A and Round B, contestants were well prepared and engaged in animated debate as if doing real business.

Judges

Every year INC benefits from the cooperation extended by many people, including legal professionals, academics, and corporate legal staff. They serve as judges and provide commentary on the teams handling of the issues. For contestants, this feedback from the judges is both illuminating and stimulating, contributing to their personal development. Increasingly, judges and staff are drawn from the growing ranks of INC alumni.

Results of the 16th Intercollegiate Negotiation Competition

The awards ceremony always has an element of high drama. On the one hand, there is the delight of the winning team, and on the other hand, the disappointment of the runners-up. The drama attests to the commitment and enthusiasm of the contestants. The winners of the first prize were Kyoto University. Chuo University won the Best Teamwork Award. The teams with the highest scores in the competition in Japanese were Kyoto University for arbitration and Sophia University for negotiation. The teams with the highest scores in the competition in English were Team Australia for arbitration and Kyoto University for negotiation.

Kyoto University, the winners of the first prize

Sumitomo Cup presented to Kyoto University

1st prize	Kyoto University	315.25 points
2nd prize	Team Australia	310.625 points
3rd prize	Sophia University	308 points
4th prize	Chuo University, University of Tokyo	307.167 points
6th prize	National University of Singapore, Ritsumeikan University	305.5 points

Best Teamwork Award

Chuo University

Highest score for the competition in Japanese for arbitration

Kyoto University

Highest score for the competition in Japanese for negotiation

Sophia University

Highest score for the competition in English for arbitration

Team Australia

Highest score for the competition in English for negotiation

Kyoto University