Introduction to Negotiation Strategy
At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Negotiation Strategy and other business case study solution. Sony Ericsson: Marketing the Next Music Phone case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Qiu Cheng, Zane Moi. The Sony Ericsson: Marketing the Next Music Phone (referred as “Sony Ericsson” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Sales & Marketing. It also touches upon business topics such as - negotiation strategy, negotiation framework, International business, Product development, Technology.
Negotiation strategy solution for case study Sony Ericsson: Marketing the Next Music Phone ” provides a comprehensive framework to analyse all issues at hand and reach a unambiguous negotiated agreement. At Oak Spring University, we provide comprehensive negotiation strategies that have proven their worth both in the academic sphere and corporate world.
What’s my BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement) – my walkaway option if the deal fails?
What are my most important interests, in ranked order?
What is the other side’s BATNA, and what are his interests?
Coming off its global success of marketing mobile handsets which featured embedded digital cameras, Sony Ericsson planned to launch a new series of handsets which featured digital music playback capabilities in 2005. Beginning in 2004, Sony Ericsson's competitors, such as Motorola and Nokia had begun to develop digital music content delivery and mobile handset strategies, at the same time Sony Ericsson was developing its own. The case illustrates some of the issues that mobile phone, or more broadly, consumer electronics manufacturers and distributors need to take into consideration when developing product management and product marketing strategies for new products in developing categories. The case also attempts to highlight some of the complexities that exist in marketing "convergent" products, where service delivery partnerships and competition with non-traditional handset vendors needs to be taken into consideration. Finally, the case also focuses on the strategic use of cross-product brand extensions where, in reality Sony Ericsson ended up licensing the Sony "Walkman" brand name to promote what has ended up being a successful line of music oriented mobile handsets.
By interests, we do not mean the preconceived demands or positions that you or the other party may have, but rather the underlying needs, aims, fears, and concerns that shape what you want. Negotiation is more than getting what you want. It is not winning at all cost. Number of times Win-Win is better option that outright winning or getting what you want.
Options are the solutions you generate that could meet your and your counterpart’s interests . Often people come to negotiations with very fixed ideas and things they want to achieve. This strategy leaves unexplored options which might be even better than the one that one party wanted to achieve. So always try to provide as many options as possible during the negotiation process. The best outcome should be out of many options rather than few options.
When soft bargainers meet hard bargainers there is always the danger of soft bargainers ceding more than what is necessary. To avoid this scenario you should always focus on legitimate standards or expectations. Standards are often external and objective measures to assess the fairness such as rules and regulations, financial values & resources , market prices etc. If the negotiated agreement is going beyond the industry norms or established standards of fairness then it is prudent to get out of the negotiation.
Every negotiators going into the negotiations should always work out the “what if” scenario. The negotiating parties in the “Sony Ericsson: Marketing the Next Music Phone” has three to four plausible scenarios. The negotiating protagonist needs to have clear idea of – what will happen if the negotiations fail. To put it in the negotiating literature – BATNA - Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. If the negotiated agreement is not better than BATNA then there is no point in accepting the negotiated solution.
One of the biggest problems in implementing the negotiated agreements in corporate world is – the ambiguity in the negotiated agreement. Sometimes the negotiated agreements are not realistic or various parties interpret the outcomes based on their understanding of the situation. It is critical to do negotiations as water tight as possible so that there is less scope for ambiguity.
Many negotiators make the mistake of focusing only on the substance of the negotiation (interests, options, standards, and so on). How you communicate about that substance, however, can make all the difference. The language you use and the way that you build understanding, jointly solve problems, and together determine the process of the negotiation with your counterpart make your negotiation more efficient, yield clear agreements that each party understands, and help you build better relationships.
Another critical factor in the success of your negotiation is how you manage your relationship with your counterpart. According to “Qiu Cheng, Zane Moi”, the protagonist may want to establish a new connection or repair a damaged one; in any case, you want to build a strong working relationship built on mutual respect, well-established trust, and a side-by-side problem- solving approach.
According to
Harvard Business Review
, there are three types of negotiators – Hard Bargainers, Soft Bargainers, and Principled Bargainers.
Hard Bargainers – These people see negotiations as an activity that they need to win. They are less focused less on the real objectives of the negotiations but more on winning. In the “Sony Ericsson: Marketing the Next Music Phone ”, do you think a hard bargaining strategy will deliver desired results? Hard bargainers are easy to negotiate with as they often have a very
predictable strategy
Soft Bargainers – These people are focused on relationship rather than hard outcomes of the negotiations. It doesn’t mean they are pushovers. These negotiators often scribe to long term relationship rather than immediate bargain.
Principled Bargainers – As explained in the seven elemental tools of negotiations above, these negotiators are more concern about the standards and norms of fairness. They often have inclusive approach to negotiations and like to work on numerous solutions that can improve the BATNA of both parties.
Open lines of communication between parties in the case study “Sony Ericsson: Marketing the Next Music Phone” can make for an effective negotiation strategy and will make it easier to negotiate with this party the next time as well.
Qiu Cheng, Zane Moi (2018), "Sony Ericsson: Marketing the Next Music Phone Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.
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