| ashu |
Posted
on 09-May-01 08:19 AM
Conflict is an unpleasant fact of life.
Throughout life, most of us learn to deal with
conflicts through trial and error, and we live and
learn.
Still, once a conflict happens, how do you
resolve it without costing you your valuable
time, efforts, emotional energy and money?
This question is all the more relevant in Nepal
where, thanks to what seems to be our collectively
low emotional intelligence and refusal to think long-term,
we see vicious fights everywhere -- from the Maoist-led
violence to sarkari abuses to disentangling of business partnerships and long-festering wars among once-good
friends.
That's also a question being explored by my friends
Surendra Sthapit, Neeraj Nepali and economist Dr. Narayan
Manandhar --all of whom, by and large, are temperamentally
given to calm, cool and reasoned deliberations -- have been
approached by some private institutions in town to help develop strategies to help teach their employees about the basics of negotiations, conflict resolution and other such matters.
In the US, arbitration (I am using these related words interchangeably here) of disputes is a billion-dollar-plus
ko business. (Check out www.adr.org) In fact, the Harvard Law
School even has a center devoted entirely to study negotiation
skills to be used in a variety of settings.
And so, given how frequently jhagadas erupt in Nepal and among Nepalis, and given how slowly the court system move here, surely there must be a big market for professionally accredited/certified arbitrators here? Must not there be a
demand for trustworthily neutral professionals who bring a
dispassionate way to solve costly disputes?
Maybe the basics of negotiation/conflict resolution skills could be taught -- as an extracurricular activity -- at Nepal's schools and colleges too.
Anyway, though we often hear about jhagadas in Nepal and
among Nepalis, the silver lining is that fortunately
solutions do exist. Here's to wishing Surendra, Neeraj and
Narayan all the best as they try to help solve some of the
vexing labor-related issues currently facing Nepal.
Maybe the country needs more arbitrators and negotiation
professionals.
oohi
ashu
|
