Rock, Paper, Scissors Negotiation

You may have seen the rock, paper, scissors TV ad during the 2007 Super Bowl last week. That was all about beer. But here's a real life negotiation that used rock, paper, scissors --

In 2005 Maspro Denkoh Corporation, a Japanese TV equipment manufacturer, decided to sell its corporate collection of Impressionist paintings -- worth around $16 million. Maspro contacted the world's top two art auctioneers, Christie's and Sotheby's, and asked for proposals.

Maspro Denkoh's president Takashi Hashiyama determined that both companies' proposals were so similar he couldn't pick a winner. So Mr. Hashiyama decided the bidders would have to play a game of "Rock, Paper, Scissors" to determine who won the business.

Mr. Hashiyama stated: "It probably looks strange to others, but I believe this is the best way to decide between two things which are equally good." The game of "Rock, Paper, Scissors" is a cultural institution in Japan and something often used to make arbitrary decisions.

Why use the game to decide? The team that lost wouldn't get in trouble with its corporate bosses (e.g. it is important to save face) and Maspro wouldn't have a loser bearing a grudge against them (e.g. we need to preserve future relationships.)

The game was announced on a Thursday and would be played in the Maspro's Tokyo office the following Monday. Instead of making symbols with their hands, as is traditional, he required that the presidents of the Japanese units of both companies write down their choice, in Japanese, on a piece of paper. Per the game's rules, which automatically determine a winner—paper covers rock, rock smashes scissors, scissors cut paper.

Christie's and Sotheby's sales teams scrambled to research the psychology and strategy of the game of Rock, Paper, Scissors prior to the Monday meeting.

Christie's picked scissors and Sotheby's picked paper. Christie's won the business.