Innovative New Dispute Systems Design Book Just Released

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - March 28, 2013 - PRLog -- The Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program (HNMCP) is pleased to announce the publication of Designing Systems and Processes for Managing Disputes, co-authored by HNMCP Founding Director Robert C. Bordone, with Nancy H. Rogers, Frank E.A. Sander, and Craig A. McEwen.

The first coursebook of its kind, Designing Systems is a readable and useful guide for both practitioners and pedagogues—a multi-disciplinary, skills-based, practical reference for the dispute resolution field. Ombuds, consultants, policymakers, human resources professionals, and instructors of dispute systems design and conflict management will benefit from its pedagogy.

The authors use a narrative, sequential approach of six, real-life case studies developed over the course of the book to illustrate dispute resolution systems theory and practice. They range from the design and construction of eBay’s innovative online dispute resolution mechanism to the groundbreaking work of Cure Violence as it systematically learns how to deploy former gang members as street mediators/violence interrupters on the streets of Chicago. Through these stories, the authors highlight important aspects of dispute system design including: goal-setting; stakeholder engagement; ethics; the use of technology; implementation challenges; and dispute management system evaluation. The final section focuses on specific skills practitioners need, not only to build an effective system but also to be effective designers.

“I hope,” says Bordone, “this text will serve as a resource for faculty teaching dispute systems design and related courses, as well as to practitioners in the field whose job it is to facilitate the creation and improvement of more effective dispute resolution processes and systems.”

Designing Systems and Processes for Managing Disputes offers lessons from the authors’ extensive experiences as researchers, designers, and instructors, as well as the wisdom of some of the nation’s most innovative dispute resolution professionals. In addition to the six case studies, the book features an appendix with the career stories of four dispute systems design experts, each of whom designed and implemented large-scale dispute resolution systems. The book also comes with a DVD of PBS’s Masterpiece Theater production of “Endgame,” which tells the compelling and dramatic story of Michael Young’s behind-the-scenes work helping to construct the historic negotiation process that brought an end to apartheid in South Africa, referred to throughout the book to illustrate various concepts of dispute resolution.

HOW TO ORDER

Copies of Designing Systems and Processes for Managing Disputes can be purchased from Wolters Kluwer Law & Business Publishers or Amazon.

For more information about the Harvard Negotiation & Mediation Clinical Program, please see http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/hnmcp/.

WHAT THE EXPERTS ARE SAYING

"Designing Systems and Processes for Managing Disputes makes a crucial contribution to the field of ADR and Dispute Systems Design. This innovative text offers helpful advice, identifies typical challenges, and provides a perfect combination of theoretical background and practical wisdom. This comprehensive approach will provide guidance to practitioners and scholars alike for years to come."

– Andrea Kupfer Schneider, Professor of Law, Marquette University Law School

"Finally—the definitive coursebook dealing with designing and implementing alternative dispute resolution programs. One-stop shopping that explains the challenges and solutions in designing ADR Systems to resolve disputes both large and small. Must reading for students and practitioners alike.”

–Kenneth R. Feinberg, Administrator of the 9/11 and BP Gulf Oil Spill Compensation Funds

"This is the gold standard for teaching and learning dispute system design. It brings multidisciplinary perspectives and practical wisdom from case studies. Anyone new to dispute system design in any field cannot afford to miss this. Every experiences scholar also will need to read this book to keep up with the next generation of scholarship and practices."

–Clark Freshman, Professor of Law, University of California, Hastings College of Law