Negotiation Reflection Paper

Un Hyung Lee (이운형) 2013230042

Negotiation BUSS394-01                        

Negotiation Reflection Paper 2

Negotiation: Oceania                                                       Role: Seller, General Sales Manager

I played the role of seller, or general sales manager for POP Productions and had mainly four objectives in the preparation phase of the negotiation: 1) make sure to maximize profit sharing for POP, 2) ensure maximum amount of salaries for cast and crew, 3) urge WCT takes a larger share for lodging/board and meals, 4) and to seek for other sources of added value during negotiation process that may have been overlooked by both parties.

Results and Room for Improvement  

The results of the negotiation were as follows: 60% of profit to POP if sales are above $1,000,000 (40% to POP if sales are below $1,000,000), salaries for cast and crew marked at $230,000 with all room and means covered by WCT, and scheduling of three autograph parties and one more matinee show, with the added conditions of sale of Bugles show at $65,000 to WCT. Overall, I am fairly satisfied with the outcome as the results were much higher than the intended price of 45% and like price of 50% profit although salaries were somewhat lower than what I had planned for during the preparation phase. I think one thing I could have improved on during this negotiation was to be more flexible in looking for ways to create more value. This is because I felt like both parties in this negotiation were capable of searching for not only more integrative sources of agreement but also more added values even without a third party intervention (Professor Kim) after negotiation had temporarily ended. This may have happened because I was firm that the contingent contract that I had pushed for in this negotiation was the best way to expand the pie for both parties. As a result, I stopped in seeking for more value as I did not want to have one more matinee as a source of negotiation or to jeopardize the conditions of my actor and crew.

Opponent Analysis

One thing that both of my opponent partners overlooked was that the autograph shows were also highly beneficial for POP. This may have happened because both partners jumped into looking for values to be created under the assumption that what was beneficial for their party would not be beneficial for the other party. Also, since my tactics lied in exaggerating the importance and ethical values that I had as a manager of POP to ensure good working conditions of my actors and crew (bogey tactic), my opponents might not have predicted that the autograph show was also highly beneficial for POP. Yet, I think both partners could have aggressively asked for more information about the benefits of the autograph show, even if I was fairly reserved about opening up information due to my communicating strategy. In the end this could have been a source of distributing strategy to create more value for their own party.

Reflections on General Strategies of Negotiation

Throughout this negotiation, I learned the importance of adapting negotiation style and strategies based on different situational circumstances of the negotiation. This negotiation was different from the three previous rounds of negotiations that I have done before in that I had two opponents rather than one. My strategies, when assigned two partners for the first time, were to quickly shift my style of negotiation to a listener and to assume more of a passive style of communication which was a very different style of negotiation from what I had assumed previously. This shift in negotiation style eventually gave me the opportunity to listen more carefully to the verbal and vocal cues of my two opponents as well as to be aware of more visual cues that played an important role in deciding crucial factors in the negotiation.

Another thing I learned throughout this negotiation was that while the contingent contract is an effective method to maximize the size of both parties it may also be highly risky. Prior to the negotiation, I was assured that since the profit projections of both parties would be significantly different, agreeing on a 60-to-40 percent profit split would be highly beneficial without any other variables to consider. However, as we were discussing other points of negotiation it quickly became evident to me to me that my own projections were very limited in that they were only my own “perceptions” and I had to seek for ways to maximize values in other issues if I were to reduce the risk involved for myself. Hence, it was very important to calculate and negotiate for added value under the assumption that the worst case scenario (profit below $1,000,000) could actually happen in reality.