$0.00 – $6.00
Hal Movius
Two-party negotiation between representatives of Viatex and one of its clients, Brattlebury, involving trade-offs between short and long-term gains as well as dealing with internal stakeholders.
SCENARIO:
Brattlebury Corporation manufactures a range of pharmaceutical, nutritional, and medical products for which Viatex supplies plastic bottles. The relationship between the two companies has existed for 10 years and both parties are satisfied with it thus far however Brattlebury is under pressure recently to cut costs due to less than stellar sales. After examining means to cut corporate costs, Brattlebury discovered that its RFP process was highly inefficient and cost both Brattlebury and Viatex significant amounts of time in drawing up a proposal every two years.
MAJOR LESSONS:
It is difficult to create value when you discuss issues one by one, and when you and your negotiating partner are focused on articulating positions rather than interests.
In general, it makes sense to share your own interests, and persuade your partner to tell you his or hers by asking why he or she prefers specific options, and how he or she values different issues.
The opportunity to create value arises when you and your partner discover (by sharing interests) that you care about different things to different degrees, and you can trade across those differences.
Even when parties disagree about what a fair outcome would be, there is usually room for interpretation and negotiation on what standard of fairness the parties should use.
Aspirations can undo or facilitate a negotiation, depending on where they are set and how adjustable they are to new information.
Parties' satisfaction levels may not be correlated to the total value they created; process and relationship/ rapport are also key determinants of how satisfied the parties are at the end of a negotiation.
Subjective satisfaction can change drastically if or when parties become aware of less-than-forthcoming behavior by their counterparts, or aware of opportunities for gain that were missed.
MATERIALS:
Participant materials include:
General instructions for both parties
Confidential instructions for Brattlebury
Confidential instructions for Viatex
Viatex Attributes
Time required:: | 2 hours |
---|---|
Teams involved:: | Yes |
Agent present:: | Yes |
Neutral third-party present:: | No |
Scoreable:: | Yes |
Teaching Notes:: | Yes |
Author: | Hal Movius |