Our resources thrust participants into the heart of real-world scenarios, from crisis management in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic to cross-party education reform in Brazil.
Many of our resources are available on The Case Centre distribution platform. Educators who are registered with the site can access free review copies of our case studies, teaching notes, and other materials.
To inquire about our other cases or background materials, please contact us at casecentre@bsg.ox.ac.uk.
Fighting for women’s representation in Sierra Leone
For decades, Sierra Leone’s women’s movement had advocated for a quota for women in decision-making positions. But despite promises from successive governments to heed these calls, no quota had been implemented. By 2021, only 12% of parliamentarians were women. Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs Manty Tarawalli was now attempting to pass a quota for women to boost representation. The bill had been part of her party's election manifesto yet faced resistance in parliament. How could Tarawalli find a majority?
In August 2021, Manty Tarawalli, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Gender and Children’s affairs, was trying to convince members of Sierra Leone’s hung parliament to vote for her ministry’s signature Gender Empowerment bill. The bill featured a 30% quota for women in parliament, public bodies, and private companies and had been received coldly by many representatives from Sierra Leone’s major parties.
The proposal followed decades of campaigning by Sierra Leone’s women’s movement, years of intense debate, and repeated promises by successive governments. But even though the bill was based on the government’s election manifesto, conversations with stakeholders, and a detailed policy paper, parliamentarians still asked her to conduct yet another round of national consultations. It was clear to her that the bill and the 30% quota were on the verge of being rejected: ‘Go out, go and do consultations. That is one way of derailing something’, Tarawalli remembered. As Tarawalli gathered herself, she had to consider her next steps. How could she overcome the resistance and usher the bill through parliament? Which negotiation strategies could she use to break the impasse?
- Analyse position of actors and power dynamics in multi-party negotiations;
- Understand the importance of mass mobilisation, alliances, and internal unity;
- Explore negotiation strategies and policy framing when pushed to the margins
Can the WTO help solve the COVID-19 vaccine crisis?
It is July 2021, and, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, access to vaccines is highly uneven around the globe. In this multi-issue, multi-party negotiation role play, participants representing governments from the Global North and Global South, as well as pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers, must work together to solve this issue. And although all parties share a common interest in seeing vaccination rates rise globally, individual and national interests diverge and finding an agreement is extremely challenging.
It is July 2021 and more than four million people across the world have lost their lives to Covid-19. With the pandemic still raging, mass vaccination programmes have been rolled out in many countries as one essential strategy to combat the virus. However, access to vaccines is highly uneven around the globe: while rich countries have vaccinated large proportions of their populations, some low-income countries have vaccination rates of under 1%.
In this multi-issue, multi-party negotiation role play, participants representing governments from the Global North, governments from the Global South, and pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers must work together to improve access to vaccinations. And although all parties share a common interest in seeing vaccination rates rise globally, individual and national interests diverge and finding an agreement on the best route to achieve the desired goal is extremely challenging. In the negotiation, participants must navigate shifting alliances and competing interests and must, fundamentally, develop an understanding of how to negotiate for the public good.
- Practice and reflect upon key negotiation moves, skills and potential obstacles in a multi-party, multi-issue complex negotiation;
- Explore and experience themes related to negotiating in the public interest.
Making it last: Striking black gold in Guyana
A recent large oil discovery had the potential to make Guyana one of the world's richest countries on a GDP per-capital basis. However, the low-lying nation was particularly vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels. This mini case study puts participants in the shoes of President Mohamed Irfaan Ali in 2024 as he navigates the political, economic, and environmental issues raised by the oil discovery.
Guyana in 2024 was a country on the cusp of a major transformation. The world’s largest non-state oil company, ExxonMobil, had discovered sizeable oil fields off the coast of Guyana in 2015. The discovery had the potential to make Guyana one of the world’s richest nations on a GDP per-capita basis. The country’s president, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, in office since 2020, believed the oil could be ‘an important tool … in the building of a prosperous Guyana and a sustainable Guyana.’
But the discovery of oil also raised a host of political, economic, and environmental questions. This mini case study is set as Ali’s first term in office was drawing to a close. Ali needed to determine how to navigate the oil opportunity with a view towards the long-term interests of the Guyanese people and the planet, whilst also managing voters’ shorter-term expectations.
- Consider how environmental, political, and economic concerns interact when considering the short- and long-term interests of a nation;
- Explore challenges and opportunities related to new natural resource discoveries