Introduction to Negotiation Strategy
At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Negotiation Strategy and other business case study solution. Tethia Lungmeng: Making Stone from Paper case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Boon Siong Neo, Soon Ang, Gillian Yeo, Cheryl Lim. The Tethia Lungmeng: Making Stone from Paper (referred as “Tlm Stone” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship. It also touches upon business topics such as - negotiation strategy , negotiation framework, Growth strategy.
Negotiation strategy solution for case study Tethia Lungmeng: Making Stone from Paper ” 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?
On 18 Feb 2011, paper made from stone rolled off from a factory in the city of Huaibei, makingTethia Lungmeng Environmental Friendly Products Co. Ltd. (TLMa??e??e??c?Y) the first company to produce commercial stone paper in China. TLM's founder and chairman, Kong Ling Fa, (a??a??a??) gave his visitors his stone paper business card and put one business card into a glass of water. Half an hour into the conversation, he pulled out the card, shook off the water and passed it around. The stone paper business card felt the same as ordinary paper and yet was completely waterproof. Stone paper is paper made from limestone, which is an abundant raw material. Kong felt that he was breaking new ground with this new material, and that it had commercial potential. He believed that stone paper's potential goes beyond replacing traditional paper. How readily would consumers accept it? How should TLM promote the value and potential of stone paper? Which markets should he target? Should TLM focus on China or reach out to more developed countries in the West? What would be the appropriate business model? TLM licensed the technology from Taiwan and had exclusive rights only in Anhui province. Although TLM was the first to produce stone paper commercially, three other companies were in the process of starting up production. How should TLM exploit its first-mover advantage? How should TLM develop the resources and strategic capabilities to ensure success? How could it leverage on the reputation and experience that Kong and TLM had accumulated over the years? Was it sustainable?
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, clearly understanding the arbitrage . 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 “Tethia Lungmeng: Making Stone from Paper” 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 (Negotiations options), 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 and other people doing the mediation. According to “Boon Siong Neo, Soon Ang, Gillian Yeo, Cheryl Lim”, 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 “Tethia Lungmeng: Making Stone from Paper ”, 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 “Tethia Lungmeng: Making Stone from Paper” can make for an effective negotiation strategy and will make it easier to negotiate with this party the next time as well.
Boon Siong Neo, Soon Ang, Gillian Yeo, Cheryl Lim (2018), "Tethia Lungmeng: Making Stone from Paper Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.
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