Introduction to Negotiation Strategy
At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Negotiation Strategy and other business case study solution. Integrating Private Practice and Hospital-Based Breast Services at Baystate Health (Part A) case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Deborah Milstein, Susan Madden, Linda MacCracken. The Integrating Private Practice and Hospital-Based Breast Services at Baystate Health (Part A) (referred as “Baystate Breast” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Strategy & Execution. It also touches upon business topics such as - negotiation strategy, negotiation framework, Organizational culture, Project management, Strategic planning.
Negotiation strategy solution for case study Integrating Private Practice and Hospital-Based Breast Services at Baystate Health (Part A) ” 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?
Dr. Laurie Gianturco ("Dr. G."), Chief of Radiology at Baystate Health and President of the private imaging practice Radiology & Imaging, Inc. ("R&I"), and her partner for this project, Suzanne Hendery, VP of Marketing & Communications at Baystate Health, considered their new assignment. With Baystate leadership's full executive sponsorship and support, but no additional budget, they were tasked with consolidating two competing practices-one operated by R&I, the other by Baystate Medical Center-to form a new breast services center under the Baystate umbrella. The consolidation would simplify redundant Baystate-affiliated breast services offerings, making the system less confusing for patients and providers while giving Baystate the opportunity to offer more patient-centered services as well as reducing its operating costs and boosting revenues. They knew it would be a complicated project, involving two competing physician practice cultures, three clinical specialty orientations, the potential disruption of existing referral networks, and the merger of imaging services for healthy women along with treatment for women with breast cancer. Despite these challenges, they banded together to define a patient-driven culture, create an integrated program, and build a strong brand anchored by the new facility. Their goal was to gain a competitive advantage by developing a relationship-based approach that would exceed customer (patients and referring physicians) expectations for service. "The financial argument was the easy part," Dr. G reflected. "How to actually design a model of care is where we came to an impasse."
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 “Integrating Private Practice and Hospital-Based Breast Services at Baystate Health (Part A)” 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 “Deborah Milstein, Susan Madden, Linda MacCracken”, 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 “Integrating Private Practice and Hospital-Based Breast Services at Baystate Health (Part A) ”, 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 “Integrating Private Practice and Hospital-Based Breast Services at Baystate Health (Part A)” can make for an effective negotiation strategy and will make it easier to negotiate with this party the next time as well.
Deborah Milstein, Susan Madden, Linda MacCracken (2018), "Integrating Private Practice and Hospital-Based Breast Services at Baystate Health (Part A) Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.
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