Alpha / Beta Negotiation

This was an odd negotiation, and at certain points, it took everything I had in me not to laugh as I was stuck playing my role. In my own odd way, I found it hilarious that I was looking straight down at the table as my fellow classmates were talking to me. I kept imagining how awkward it must have been for them to be talking to someone who would not look at them.

Anyways, the negotiation delt with basic culture contradictions and how to handle those differences. It was quite obvious that beta was an Asian country (Japan most likely) and alpha was America. I brought Green Tea and Presents to the negotiation, and it was quite odd acting in such a different way (I'll admit that while I greatly admire asian culture and its standards, that when it comes to negotiating I am definitely more of the American stylist), it did open up some new ways of thinking - in which I might be dealing with foreign cultures in the future.

School District

For the school district negotiation, I was a superintendent who was routinely bored by these meetings but also wanted to show that I could use new techniques to make these meetings more effecient. This negotiation was somewhat stressful for me, but not because of the topics or the setting. It was was stressful because I was the "leader" of this negotiation, yet I knew that my counterparts had views and issues that they would try to make as "top priority" - and I had to let them feel that way to be seen as "keeping up to date" instead of just taking charge. This made for an environment of "1-up ness" and argumentation ... which I had to control using new techniques. I tried my best, and was sometimes succesful. But then again, at times, I just couldn't get people to shut up. I think overall, however, the meeting went pretty well ... and I'm sure not everyone could actually see how flustered I was getting while issues were being discussed over and over without meaningful resolution.

Strange Chips

I enjoyed this negotiation, if for no other reason, than the overabundace of figures and options. Dawn and I actually came to the perfect agreement. I took the right path (even if it wasn't for the correct reason) in looking to make the most amount of money for both divisions. I knew that my division was getting "free" technology, so I figured it would be ok to split profits 50/50 with Dawns division .. since they took the initial risk while we sat around. Therefore, I negotiated a deal that would use the 2nd highest option - one that would gain to beifit us both to the tune of 6 million dollars. Turns out, this was very good because the point of the negotiation was to make the most overall money for the company as a whole. I didn't base my arguments on that, but it worked out perfectly.

Pricing Increase

To be honest, this negotiation was really easy because my group figured out at the beginning that this was using the same concept as the war game. Therefore, we contacted the other group and both planned to go with the option that made us both the most money ... and not be in random competition with each other.

Nazi Parade

This was an assignemnt which seemed to hit a nerve with Laura Ellen and I. I took the stance of being a representative who saw it as the Nazi's right to hold a parade and Laura Ellen was a representative of the majorly Jewish town. This wasn't an easy one, and we couldn't reach a full agreement at the end. The individual instructions seemed lacking on both ends, as I had no information about what day and time the parade was to be held and so forth. I can honestly say that I did not care for the position I had to take on the issue, but I played my part nonetheless. The toughest thing about this negotiation was trying to establish what acceptable "language" was.

Hospital Budget Cuts

I was Dr. Baxter on a panel of leaders who had to decide how to cut 3.5 million dollars out of the hospital budget in ordert to pay for a new heart surgeon to come join our staff - in which the joining process would turn our hospital into a prestigious benchmark worthy of national recognition. I was the head of the Medical Staff and Supplies. Laura was head of the Housekeeping Staff. Nicola and Amy were in charge of the Nursing Staff. Dawn was our "Financial Consultant".

I was nervous going into this observation, because we were all going into it with the mindset that our department should give up the least ... and my department had the most feasable options! How was I going to convince Nurses to take paycuts and the hospital to fire housekeeping, when all we had to do was come up with a better system for preventing supply loss?? To me, I came in as "the bad guy" again just based on that. But, then it worked as I began to think of argument after argument to present. I knew that as long I was assertive and produced arguments that could at least pass in logic or theory, then I had a chance. Plus, I was just supposed to be a bitter managerial type (due to the fact that I was not "in charge" of the new doctor) who also had a tinge of sympathy for the Nurses and Housekeeping and what they were going through. So, all I could rely on was presenting workable theories that benifited myself. I went into the negotiation (according to my instructions) trying to not have my department touched at all by cuts, but at worst, accepting the "low" cuts while others could pick up the rest of the cuts.

Then, the solution came (or so I thought) about 10 minutes in. Dawn labled off her 3 top prospects of solutions for the problem. I'm not sure if she was supposed to, because that gave me ALOT of leverage. Luckily, the one that hurt me was 3rd in priority. The other two worked perfect (as I was thinking selfishly). At that point, while still being diplomatic, I made a point to let the group know that they better go along with my kindness ... because I had the TRUMP card. All I had to do was break the concensus, and things worked out for me. I offered to give a "low" cut to my budget, but could not get the other groups to do the same ... mainly because of a one sentence stipulation in the document.

We came to a stalemate, only to find out that Dawn was hiding the simple solution - which was a million dollar loan paired with my "low" cut and a nurses "low" cut. In reality, that option made alot of sence. But, since that knowledge was witheld, I still feel like I did pretty good in this negotiation ... even though I stumbled over my words a little bit at times while speaking. I should have asked Dawn alot more questions though so we could have come to a concensus.

The War Game

The War Game was a game in which each team had 20 playing cards - that they could place in a armed position or unarmed position. I came up with my teams strategy. This included turning ALL cards to armed and then call for battle by the 3rd or 4th turn so that we could not lose. At very worst we would tie, but if the opposing team left any unarmed during their turns ... we would win. I came up with this strategy because I was under the impression that for us to "win", we were to "beat" the other team. However, it turned out that my definition of winning was wrong, and my team figured this out by the 3rd round. At that point, I went outside to negotiate with Nicola and I told her that the game's point was for both teams to unarm so we could then all get money from the bank after the 7th turn. I told her that we promised to not attack at all, if her and Dawn would promise the same thing. That way, we could all unarm and get more money. However, I guess they thought I was bluffing. We began to unarm while they still armed ... and then they attacked - which was a violation of our treaty. I'm not sure how I could have been more convincing that we were telling the truth when we created that reaty for us and them.

I still ate a good Quizno's sandwhich with the money I gained from the war though. :)

Fish Pond Lane

This negotiation was different in that most of it took place over the internet. I can't say that I liked it more, as I do better in face to face situations. It was also a bit awkward working as a team. However, I can see two advantages working this way. First, you have more time to think about how you will respond to certain propositions instead of being put directly on the spot. Second, you can withold your emotional status (which could also be a disadvantage as Dr. Strange pointed out).

Our groups (Laura and Nicola) & (myslef and Amy) met two times online and one time in person. I was looking to get enough money out of the sale of my house to pay off my mortgage, pay off my business investement, pay off capital gains interest, and pay my sales rep. Therefore, according to my calculations, this had to be a # above $325,000. We ended up selling the house for 330k, so it was a success. To tell the truth, I had no clue what the business was with the bird sanctuary. I thought it might be a turn off to potential customers, so we left it out of our dealings. But, it then turned out to be a major thing that the eventual buyers wanted.

Dirty Stuff

I really enjoyed the "Dirty Stuff" negotiation, even if it was a little intense. For a quick background, I (a factory representative), an environmentalist rep (Amy), a union rep (Laura), and a government agency rep (Nicola) were all trying to find middle ground on issues relating to the dirty stuff chemical that my company was using to produce its goods. We were attempting to hold this meeting by means of a lead facilitator (Dawn). Beforehand, I knew I was going to be seen as the "bad guy" by the environmentalists and the union. So, with that in mind, I decided to first try to kill that image from the very beginning. I attempted to be reassuring that we as a company were not the bad guy, and that we wanted a cleaner, safer environment for both our workers and the community in general. Maybe I was a little too soft. I'm not sure. However, I was firm in my stance that our current working conditions were "safe" according to recent reserach findings. In the end, I did get most of what I wanted. My company stayed open in the city, we got the 1% usage, and we got to choose and evaluate who tested us. I only fell victom to one dirty trick. Even though Amy and I both wanted a cleaning every 24 hours, she suggested every 4 hours. I thought, "Wow, that's harsh". But I decided to use that as a leverage point for other things that I wanted and promised a cleaning every 8 hours ... only to find out that she would have been ok with every 24 hours in real life.

Kidney Disease (Hospital committee)

There were two negotiations tonight; however, we did not have time time to debrief the first one - so I will wait to discuss that particular negotiation. It consisted of a prosecutor and defense attorney discussing sentencing options for a client who is accused of beating his wife. The second one, which I will briefly discuss, involved seven patients who were dying from kidney disease and who were all vying for one of the three dialysis machines at the town hospital.

I really enjoyed this negotiation because of two reasons.

1) I happen to enjoy working on committees and discussing solutions to problems.
2) This negotiation had problem-solving characteristics in which many different methods could be applied in doing so.

I know the point of negotiating in this class is to improve our interpersonal skills as it relates to negotiation, but I really do get into the negotiations more when they involve some kind of value judgement to be made. Dawn and I first met to discuss this problem we were presented with. A retired athlete, a factory worker, a model, a housewife, a CEO, a whiz kid, and a doctor were all vying for three dialysis machines - without which - they would die in two weeks. After a few minutes, we stated our reasons for why we picked our individual members that we chose. Dawn's main reason dealt with children. My main reason was potential impact on society (you can replace an occupation, but you cannot replace potential or parenthood). So, in a way, our reasons somewhat matched up. We ended up choosing the two individuals who had children, and the whiz kid (whose potential to help society was great, and who had not "experienced" life yet). A lesser, but just as logical approach, involved the fact that each of the other four individuals had the finances to go elsewhere for treatment if they really wanted to live. The three we chose - did not. Based on these personal values, this seemed to be an easy choice. Of course, the choice became alot harder once we met as a committee and met with the individuals who were dying - in person. It is always different when the problem is not at a distance ... but actually in your life. After doing so, however, the committee (which consisted of all five classmates) came to the same solution that my group brought to the table ... and for similar reasons. I believe that our committee worked well together. Naturally, a couple of us "talked" more than others. But, there was no argumentation. It was basically an ordered presentation of values used to make certain judgements - and then attempts to find where values used might intercept (or agree). It was fun.

Bentley Automobile and Blender

There were two negotiations tonight.

#1: The Blender

This negotiation consisted of a sales return clerk and a customer negotiating over the return of a blender. I was the customer. From what I knew, I had purchased a blender from a large department store ... only to find out it was a piece of crap. Now, I only paid $34 dollars for it and it looked nice, but it did not work (or perform) to the level of my expectations. I had thrown away the box, but still had the receipt. Therefore, I would go to the department store to see if I could return the faulty item. Problem is (not knowingly to me), the department store has a return policy - in which I lack two things - a box and a receipt brought back within the valid return time period. We negotiated, and I became a bit irritated as a customer ... but did not show it. The sales clerk never lost her cool, but was firm with the store policy. At one point, we were able to come to an "agreement" in which I would return my blender for a new one, and the store would place my broken one on display. However, I then became greedy and requested a refund. At that time, the store clerk looked at my receipt and realized that it had past the valid return date. We negotiated some more and ended up at this final option: I would keep my blender for the time being and the return clerk would write an endorsed letter to the manufacturer - in attempt to get approval to replace mine with a new one. I, as the customer, accepted this solution - as I was in the wrong on two counts (not having a box or a valid receipt). In this negotiaion, I don't believe I could have been more agressive. First, I was in the wrong on two counts according to store policy. Second, I would be damaging my own reputation (being that of an unreliable, unfair, crazy customer) and would be seen that way in any future circumstances dealing with the store. THAT was not worth the small monetary amount.

#2: The Bently Automobile

This particular negotiation consisted of a sales agent (attempting to sell a 1927 Bently convertable for Mr. Soles, who lives in England) and an agent (attempting to purchase the automobile for Mrs. Austin, who lives in Texas but visits England frequently). Talks after the negotiation had happened showed that the sales agent attempting to sell the Bentley was looking to sell the car for 20,000 pounds or higher (earning a 20% interest on any amount over 20,000 + gaining a good sales reputation). The other agent was looking to buy at 10,000 pounds, but could not go higher than 24,000 pounds. I happened to be the agent looking to sell the car. I began negotiations by mentioning that the owner was looking to get 33,000 pounds, but was more than willing to negotiate the price. I listed off facts about the car, and then asked Mrs. Austin's agent what she would be willing to offer based on this information. She offered 19,000 pounds and mentioned that she could not go any higher. Knowing that I could not go any lower than 20,000, I offered 23,000 and a variety of "goodies". Finally, we settled on 21,000. I agreed to this amount, even though it would only give me $200 for my work. I decided that the good reputation to follow would make up for the measley salary. However, I still felt that I could have been more stubborn in this negotiation, considering that Mr. Soles had a willing buyer at 20,000. BUT, I also didn't want to risk a faulty sales reputation with Mr. Soles. It was a catch 22. Specifically, I would have mentioned that Mr. Soles had a previous offer of 26,000 pounds, but I forgot. That would have really helped me out. I needed to be "quicker on my feet" in that instance.