Introduction to Negotiation Strategy
At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Negotiation Strategy and other business case study solution. A Mega-Church Takes on Urban Problems: Fellowship Bible Comes to South Midtown case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Howard Husock, Brent Coffin. The A Mega-Church Takes on Urban Problems: Fellowship Bible Comes to South Midtown (referred as “Church Fellowship” 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, Government, International business, Organizational culture, Social responsibility, Strategic planning.
Negotiation strategy solution for case study A Mega-Church Takes on Urban Problems: Fellowship Bible Comes to South Midtown ” 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?
Twenty five years after its founding in members' homes, the non-denominational, evangelical Fellowship Bible Church of Little Rock, Arkansas had become a "mega-church", holding worship services on a 25-acre campus in one of the best locations in booming West Little Rock and attracting a combined 5,000 congregants on any given Sunday. But as the Fellowship congregation had grown, its leadership had come to believe that the Christian life must go beyond individual salvation and the responsibilities of family, friendship, and individual acts of charity and that church members must strive to be "socially responsible". In its effort to become a "church of irresistible influence", Fellowship Bible had taken the lead in organizing a massive citywide day of volunteer projects. In addition, ministries that had originated in small groups of church members-such as a sexual abstinence education program held in dozens of public and private schools-had taken on an independent life as well known free-standing organizations. Such efforts were made possible, in part, by charitable contributions made by Fellowship which totaled more than 25 percent ($3 million-plus) of its annual spending. This case tells the story of the next stage in church efforts to ameliorate social ills in Little Rock-an "external ministry" known as the "one church, one school, one neighborhood" project, announced in August 2004. Fellowship hoped that its assistance would demonstrably and measurably improve life in one of the city's most troubled areas-a 130-block area of central Little Rock. The project would include intensive mentoring of students one school in Little Rock's predominantly black South Midtown area (Fellowship itself was an almost entirely white congregation), efforts to work with African-American churches to encourage marriage in an area dominated by single-parent families, and an initiative to build new housing in the area. HKS Case Number 1780.0
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 “A Mega-Church Takes on Urban Problems: Fellowship Bible Comes to South Midtown” 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 “Howard Husock, Brent Coffin”, 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 “A Mega-Church Takes on Urban Problems: Fellowship Bible Comes to South Midtown ”, 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 “A Mega-Church Takes on Urban Problems: Fellowship Bible Comes to South Midtown” can make for an effective negotiation strategy and will make it easier to negotiate with this party the next time as well.
Howard Husock, Brent Coffin (2018), "A Mega-Church Takes on Urban Problems: Fellowship Bible Comes to South Midtown Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.
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