Conflict Resolution Analysis: NHL Lock-Out Negotiation Barriers

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of the 2004-05 NHL lock-out, focusing on the negotiation process between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the NHL Players Association (NHLPA). The essay identifies and examines the psychological, structural, and tactical barriers that hindered successful negotiation, including issues of trust and power dynamics. It explores the role of Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) in determining the course of action. The essay delves into the complexities of the collective bargaining agreement, the financial disputes, and the power imbalances between the owners and players. The analysis highlights the importance of trust, transparency, and the impact of various negotiation strategies employed by both parties. The essay uses the lock-out as a case study to illustrate key concepts in conflict resolution and negotiation, providing insights into how these barriers can be overcome and successful outcomes can be achieved.

Running head: CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Conflict Resolution
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Issues of negotiation in the context of labor issue:
In order to manage disputes and make decisions one of the common approaches that can
be considered is negotiation. The process of negotiation acted as an extensive method in
alternative dispute resolution procedures (Schaerer et al.). In case of negotiation participants are
required to identify the issues in order to educate themselves about the needs and interests by
generating possible settlement thereby generating over the terms and conditions of final
agreement (Chatterjee). In the present case study it is required to analyze the issues of
negotiation by identifying the physiological, structural and tactical barrier to successful
negotiation. The essay seeks to provide an understanding on the role of the power and trust in
complex negotiations.
The present case study is regarding an issue related to 2004–05 NHL lock-outs which
engendered the repudiation of 88th season of National Hockey League (NHL). The National
Hockey League led by Commissioner Gary Bettman, in an attempt to convince the players asked
them to accept a salary structure which is likely to link the salaries of the players to league
revenues which was defined by the league as cost certainty (Micieli and Micieli). However on
July 2004, on the presentation of NHL Players Association (NHLPA) with six other concepts in
order to attain cost certainty the concepts were believed to have originated from an obstinate
salary cap similar to those used in National Football League (Hutchison et al.). Bettman stated
that with the inclusion of a luxury tax that is similar to the one in Major League Baseball would
not in any way satisfy the targets of cost certainty of the league. In this regard it caused the
NHLPA to dispute the financial claims of the league. The six concepts presented by the NHL
were rejected by the union on the basis that such concepts contained salary caps in different
forms. The contractual structure of the League was highly criticized by the players that overpaid

2CONFLICT RESOLUTION
many unproven players. It can be stated that though the numbers of NHL was disputed and
criticized no questions were raised about the other franchises that lost their money and some of
them went severely bankrupt.
It can be stated that in order to emphasize on the issues of negotiation it is important to
introduce a new concept in order to understand the reason behind successful negotiation. In the
theory of negotiation Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) has been used by
most negotiators in determining the course of action in case an agreement has not reached within
a certain frame of time (Kirk, Oettingen, and Gollwitzer). A well structured Best Alternative to a
Negotiated Agreement acts as an essential insurance policy (McKibben). It can be stated that
skilled negotiators are benefitted from the structure of a clearly defined BATNA which helps the
negotiators to break off the negotiation.
In the present scenario, for the purpose of Collective Bargaining Agreement both the
parties had contradictory positions and interests. It is noteworthy to mention here that there was
no scope for agreement and bargaining zone on every issue that aroused between the league and
the NHLPA. However the NHLPA in this regard had different point of views. According to
NHLPA moving out of negotiation is easier and is considered as a right decision when the nature
of the negotiation is extremely complex. In this regard an individual can walk away from a
negotiation due to various reason however if the BATNA becomes efficient then in such cases it
is important to satisfy the needs of the issue (Kirk, Oettingen, and Gollwitzer). In this regard the
National Hockey League (NHL) is a vast and well known organization to part away from
negotiation. In the season of 2003-2004 the average player made less than 2 million dollars a
year and the collective salaries of the players comprised more than 1.5 billion dollars. In this
context it can be observed that such number would be marginally above by the next season.

3CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Identification of psychological, structural and tactical barrier:
While discussing the effects of physiological, structural and tactical barrier to successful
negotiation it is important to mention here that NHL has immense power in uniting people of
different nations. Different perspectives of negotiation has been discussed however most of the
majority wants hockey to be a part of the league and therefore the agreement on negotiation took
place. It is noteworthy to mention here that there are barriers in all kinds of negotiations and such
barriers tend to make the process of negotiation more complex. These three barriers can be
classified as psychological, structural, and tactical. Firstly in regard to National Hockey Leagues
Players Association it can be stated that the players felt confident when they thought that they
will be represented well by Bob Goodenow. Bob Goodenow was a successful lawyer an
experienced hockey player as he played hockey for Harvard and the Junior Wings. It can be
observed that since time immemorial and from the beginning of dispute the players were totally
confident. It can be seen that their claims were met in 1992, when they went on strike about
marketing benefits and where the player became in full control only after conducting strike for
10 days. The Lock Out of 1904-1905 was emphasized on the financial issues of the league as
well as it aimed to curb the growth of salaries. According to the owners they gained victory in
the process however in general the players were the real winners. This reality irked the owners
until the beginning of next Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations. The supply of players
in the market was low and the demand was still high.
It can be observed that Bettman had the power to lock out the players as the old
Collective Bargaining Agreement came to an expiry. It can be stated that in the presence of
psychological and structural barriers there are tactical barriers to negotiations as well. In this
regard one barrier was put up by the owners was when Bettman used a goblin of sorts. It was

4CONFLICT RESOLUTION
observed that during such dispute, a letter was written to the union by him expressing his thought
that the owners needed modification of 19 additional aspects of the Collective Bargaining
Agreement. This added to the complexity to the matter of negotiation. However such message
was not well received by the union which only discouraged them when there was a point for
cooperation. The decision to deny the owners request of a renegotiation was another tactical
problem which created issues for the players.
It is important to mention here that lifting these barriers is important while analyzing such
kind of negotiation. Barriers have proved to be beneficial in providing assistance to the process
of negotiation and understand the meaning of different perspectives (Schaerer et al.). These
psychological barriers helped to determine the underlying motives which are causing hindrance
to rational and logical processes. It can be stated that tactical barrier has been listed for the
purpose of identifying the cause and effect of the actions of negotiations before and during such
disputes. The structural, psychological and tactical barriers has proved to be beneficial in
indicating that whether a previous behavior has positive or negative on negotiation policies
(McKibben). The identification of such barriers proved to be effective and can be implemented
as a learning tool.
The barriers of distrust and amity between the owners and the players were mostly
demanding. The barrier brought down the fundamental dilemma of trust and power. Since the
very beginning the relationship between the parties were not in good terms and was filled with
accusations and threat. The players of NHL have accused the owners of concealing the revenue
matters and keeping other financial information hidden from them. The players demanded an
environment of financial transparency which the owners could not provide. The owners were
reluctant in providing the confidential information relating to financial data by stating the fact

5CONFLICT RESOLUTION
that being a private enterprise it had no obligation. The NHL being in business has generated
revenue of hundreds of millions of dollars every year. This was however the main dispute how
was the hockey related revenue (HRR) will be split up between the two parties. The salary of the
players’ were currently %57 of HRR, which is highest among the four major sports leagues,
however the least popular among them. The owners have been reporting the losses of league-
wide operations where only a handful of teams were generating the profit. It has been observed
that at multiple times the players have accused the owners of false representation of financial
information by denying access to their books. In 2004, Arthur Levitt, former chairman of the
Securities and Exchanges Commission was hired by the league in order to audit the books. This
was done because of the reason that many players had a doubt regarding the report and have
accused the owners of not granting them to access all the information. The players were
informed about the details of the report until the day before its release. In order to eliminate the
barrier of distrust the idea of using a third party provided great help.
Role of Power and Trust:
In this regard it can be stated that the process of negotiation takes place in different
contexts. The important among them is power and trust. Power penetrates all the distinct features
of negotiation. The subject matter of negotiation is ostensive which craves the structure of power
contest and the process of tough bargaining (Gomes et al.). The concept of power in undermining
the basic framework of negotiation has originated from the traditional background that proposes
the fact that negotiation begins with the distribution of certain powers among the different parties
(Gunia et al.). Scholars have argued about the concept of trust and its role in determining
complex negotiations. The essay will analyze the fact that whether negotiation is a precondition
for negotiation or it serves as a goal and strategy in determining the process of negotiation.

6CONFLICT RESOLUTION
It is noteworthy to mention here that by entering into negotiations, the players might have
thought they were equal in power to the owners and some were of the opinion that they had more
power than the owners. However this was a mistake. It can be stated that from the very
beginning to the season of cancellation, the majority of powers vested with the owners. The
league since time immemorial was tenacious to hold a secure position and did not want to
surrender to the players for the third time. The league had proper information as they had access
to the financial data. Position- based power was also entrusted to them because being the owners
of their respective organizations they have the power over the resources and they can control
matters like money, organizational staff and players by creating contracts.

7CONFLICT RESOLUTION
References:
Chatterjee, Kalyan. "Game theory and the practice of bargaining." Game Theory and Business
Applications. Springer US, 2014. 189-206.
Gomes, Marco, et al. "Studying the effects of stress on negotiation behavior." Cybernetics and
Systems 45.3 (2014): 279-291.
Gunia, Brian C., et al. "The remarkable robustness of the first-offer effect: Across culture,
power, and issues." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 39.12 (2013): 1547-1558.
Hutchison, Michael G., et al. "An observational method to code concussions in the National
Hockey League (NHL): the heads-up checklist." Br J Sports Med (2013): bjsports-2012.
Kirk, Dan, Gabriele Oettingen, and Peter M. Gollwitzer. "Promoting integrative bargaining:
Mental contrasting with implementation intentions." International Journal of Conflict
Management 24.2 (2013): 148-165.
McKibben, Heather Elko. "The effects of structures and power on state bargaining
strategies." American Journal of Political Science 57.2 (2013): 411-427.
Micieli, Robert, and Jonathan A. Micieli. "Factors influencing visor use among players in the
National Hockey League (NHL)." Open access journal of sports medicine 5 (2014): 43.
Schaerer, Michael, Roderick I. Swaab, and Adam D. Galinsky. "Anchors weigh more than
power: Why absolute powerlessness liberates negotiators to achieve better
outcomes." Psychological science 26.2 (2015): 170-181.