Life seemingly comprises an infinite array of diverse negotiations, filled with choices to decide which ultimately result in both positive and negative outcomes. The following reflection paper relates the previous week’s course materials to an ongoing professional transaction spanning approximately 15 months. The business arrangement has identified strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities -- understanding “BATNA” or the “best alternative to a negotiated agreement” has helped me to understand how to proceed with the negotiation process (Griffith & Goodwin, 2013, p.138). The following paper summarizes a variety of negotiations transpiring simultaneously throughout professional endeavors. Approximately a year and a half ago, a Farmers Insurance Group recruiter identified the opportunity to purchase a book of business with approximately 1000 existing policies in force. The benefits of purchasing the book of business included a $10,000 start-up bonus and the potential ability to achieve a 6% override bonus on the annual collected premium for all of the existing At this point in time, the best outcome would be for the current agency owner to lower the price by $50,000.00 and take responsibility for transferring all insurance related accounts generating income to myself as the new agency owner. Potentially having a portion of the money deposited into an escrow account so the transition would better poised to transition flawlessly. Mentioning these types of considerations and factors influencing negotiation has the ability to set the current agency owner into a tailspin. Going through with the purchase agreement will take a certain amount of faith in everyone involved, including the agency’s former owner, secretary, and the district
Lewicki, J. R., Barry, B., & Saunders, M. D. (2010). Negotiation: Readings, exercises and cases
Bargaining and negotiation are part of everyday lives and in the case of Smith and Fischer an initial bargain agreement was established. BATNA or Best alternative to a negotiated agreement is defined as the best method that can be used to convince...
Communication skills are important in professional negotiations and in personal life. This book discusses why we find some dialogue difficult, why we avoid it, and why we often address it ineffectively. Most important, the authors suggest methods for more effective, productive, and rewarding, interaction.
Fisher, Roger, William Ury, and Bruce Patton. Getting to yes: negotiating agreement without giving in. 2nd ed. New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, 1991. Print.
Fisher, R., & Ury, W. (1991). Getting To Yes Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. New
Michael R. Carrell, C. H. (2008). Negotiating Essentials: Theory, Skills, and Practices. New Jersey: Pearson.
Negotiations styles are scholastically recognized as being broken down into two general categories and those are distributive bargaining styles and integrative negotiation styles. Distributive bargaining styles of negotiation are understood to be a competitive type of negotiation. “Distributive bargaining, also known as positional bargaining, negotiating zero-sum, competitive negotiation, or win-lose negotiation, is a type or style of negotiation in which the parties compete for the distribution of a fixed amount of value” (Business Blog Reviews, 2011). This type of negotiation skill or style approach might be best represented in professional areas such as the stock market where there is a fixed goal in mind or even in a garage sale negotiation where the owner would have a specific value of which he/she would not go below. In contrast, an integrative negotiation approach/style is that of cooperative bargaining, or win-win types ...
Lewicki, R. J., Saunders, D. M., & Barry, B. (2006). Negotiation Readings, Exercises, and Cases Fifth Ed. Bill Brubaker, Mark Asher, A Power Play for Howard Negotiation (pp. 616-626). New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill Irwin.
Good preparation allows you to strategize with the ability to think quickly in the negotiation room. There are several different formats and styles of negotiations. The use of a certain style depends on elements such as the strength of the relationship, the urgency of the situation, the intricacy of the issues, and the content of the negotiation. Each format and style has its own strengths and weaknesses and can be strategically used in various types of situations. As mentioned, the preparation of a successful negation is necessary, especially concerning your BATNA. We have been able to explore such preparation and methods by participating and conducting negotiations with our peers. The following negotiation studies proved to have their own dynamic, thus accounting for a different preparation and negotiation tactic for each.
Lewicki, R. J., Saunders, D. M., & Barry, B. (2010). Negotiation: Readings, exercises, and cases. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin
Lewicki, R., Saunders, D.M., Barry B., (2010) Negotiation: Readings, Exercises, and Cases. 6th Ed. McGraw-Hill Irwin. New York, NY
This negotiation took place between the Chief Officer of a US based company (BioPharm) and a small company (Seltek). BioPharm is operating in the pharmaceutical industry. It wants to buy or build a plant in the US to manufacture a new product called Depox. The main goal of our group as negotiators is to play the role of BioPharm to buy a plant belonged to Seltek. It is on sale. This plant is the most appropriate choice for BioPharm for a number of reasons, namely to save time and cost of building a new plant because the Seltek’s plant is running and gets the FDA approval. Besides, it also has a highly experienced workforce, which can help us reduce the cost and the time for recruiting and training new employees.
During this course, I have learned a lot about negotiating. We learned about almost every negotiating technique there is. We learned about cross-cultural negotiations, body language, Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA), variables in negotiating, and many more. Before this course, I did not know that much about negotiating. I thought that negotiating was just about trading or convincing someone to give you what you want and you did not care about the other side, resulting in a win-lose. I now know that negotiating is about getting what you want, but also giving the other side what they want as well to result in a win-win. This paper is about how I am going to improve my negotiating skills over the next six months. In order for me to improve my negotiating skills, I believe I need to improve the following skills- my body language, communication, planning, and my interpersonal communications. By improving those skills, I can become an effective negotiator.
Negotiation has been used as a vital communication tool not only in business but also in social intercourse. It helps people make common agreement and avoid conflict. So we need to use the tactics which we learned from this course and books to do more practice, only in this way we can gain advantages in negotiation.
Lewicki, R. J., Barry, B., & Saunders, D. M. (2007). Essentials of Negotiation. New York: McGraw-Hill/ Irwin.