For the second year running, between April 11 and 13, Insper hosted the CPR international negotiation and mediation competition at its headquarters in São Paulo, which is considered to be one of the world’s leading competitions. Students from 18 leading universities on five continents competed in the roles of negotiators and mediators. The aim was to stimulate mediation skills, while also promoting intense professional interaction with recognized international and Brazilian experts in the sector, several of whom were part of the judging panel.
“In this competition, the students worked on the main soft skills required in today’s job market, alongside their knowledge of negotiation and mediation, such as communication, adaptability, problem-solving, creativity, leadership and work ethics,” says Roberto Kuster, Insper’s negotiation professor. “All these skills were stimulated in each of the rounds, a 90-minute session in which the teams were able to defend their point of view and advance their interests, collaborating with the other party so that they could also achieve their goals, thus generating value for both parties.”
The case worked on by the students involved a dispute between a soccer club and its investor within the context of the SAF (Football Corporation), a recently created business model in Brazil that encourages association clubs to make the transition to a corporate model by providing rules on governance rights and obligations. During the competition, the negotiators received new confidential information about their interests, such as a change of sponsor, selling player X or requesting financing from bank Y, which brought new dimensions and challenges to the case. Some of this information was passed on in confidence, i.e. meaning the other group of negotiators was unaware of it.
“Negotiators were assessed on their ability to formulate balanced proposals and on the way, more or less effectively, they presented their interests and points of view to the other party and formulated options for possible convergence,” explains Caio Farah Rodriguez, senior fellow professor of law at Insper. “The mediators, on the other hand, were assessed on their mediation skills, which aim to facilitate convergence between the parties. Hosting and supporting the organization of this competition is very consistent with one of the main elements of Insper’s undergraduate law program, which is to promote consensual forms of conflict resolution outside of the judiciary and even private arbitration, such as mediation.”
In mediation, the parties in conflict appoint a mediator by mutual agreement whose role is not to make a final and binding decision for the parties, unlike the Judiciary and arbitration, which use a judge and arbitrator respectively. The mediator’s role is, therefore, to stimulate and give realism to the claims of the parties in order to create possibilities for convergence and, in the process, give opinions that facilitate this understanding. “It is a form of mediation used to resolve business conflicts, such as corporate, commercial or construction issues,” says Rodriguez.
For the first time, Insper had a team of students participating in this competition, as its undergraduate law program is new. The expectation is to form even more teams representing the institution in future editions of the event. Negotiation and mediation skills have become indispensable in the daily operations of organizations, which is why this knowledge has proven increasingly relevant for lawyers. Another very positive aspect of the competition was the contact with other cultures. ‘This integration with other nationalities caught the students’ attention, as did the expertise of the judges involved in the judging panel, who were able to share their knowledge,’ notes Kuster.
The final, broadcast live on YouTube, awarded prizes to the following universities and students.
Best negotiating team:
1st place: University of Glasgow
2nd place: University of Sydney
3rd place: Fordham Law School
Best mediator:
1st place: Adrícia Rocha Ferreira (Federal University of Espírito Santo)
2nd place: Daria Ionas (University of Vienna)
3rd place: Gabriela Alves dos Santos (University of São Paulo)