Introduction to Negotiation Strategy
At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Negotiation Strategy and other business case study solution. Goldman Sachs and Its Reputation case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by David P. Baron. The Goldman Sachs and Its Reputation (referred as “Goldman Securities” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Finance & Accounting. It also touches upon business topics such as - negotiation strategy, negotiation framework, Financial markets, Regulation.
Negotiation strategy solution for case study Goldman Sachs and Its Reputation ” 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?
Goldman Sachs was a bank, but it did not take deposits, issue credit cards, make mortgage loans, or interact with consumers. For most of its history Goldman was organized as a partnership and operated as an investment bank engaging in underwriting new securities to raise funds for corporations and public agencies, advising clients as in mergers and acquisitions, and managing assets for clients. It began to engage in securities trading and risk arbitrage in the 1950s, when it developed its philosophy of being "long-term greedy," which the bank understood as focusing on long-term profitability rather than short-term performance. Goldman went public in 1999, forecasting that its investment banking business would continue to provide most of its revenue and profits. Soon, however, its proprietary trading and trading on behalf of clients began to dominate both its revenue and profit streams. The leadership of the firm also shifted from investment bankers to traders, such as Henry Paulson and CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein. Goldman was a major player in the events leading to the financial crisis and was a major participant in the CDO market. As with most financial institutions Goldman was heavily criticized for its role in the crisis. The disclosure that Goldman had allowed an investor to select securities for inclusion in a CDO that the investor intended to short caused an uproar, particularly because the purchasers were not informed of the investor's role. The media covered the issue extensively, Congress held hearings, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Goldman, private investors filed lawsuits, and some issuers of securities shunned the company. Goldman's reputation was damaged. The company faced the decision of how to rebuild its reputation as it addressed new regulations on banks as a result of Dodd-Frank and Federal Reserve actions.
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 “Goldman Sachs and Its Reputation” 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 “David P. Baron”, 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 “Goldman Sachs and Its Reputation ”, 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 “Goldman Sachs and Its Reputation” can make for an effective negotiation strategy and will make it easier to negotiate with this party the next time as well.
David P. Baron (2018), "Goldman Sachs and Its Reputation Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.
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