Introduction to Negotiation Strategy
At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Negotiation Strategy and other business case study solution. Indian Premier League: Bollywood and Entrepreneurship Transform a Sport case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by George Foster, David W. Hoyt. The Indian Premier League: Bollywood and Entrepreneurship Transform a Sport (referred as “Cricket League” 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, International business.
Negotiation strategy solution for case study Indian Premier League: Bollywood and Entrepreneurship Transform a Sport ” 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?
The sport of cricket is an obsession in India, the country that is the most important economic force in the cricket world. In 2007, top-level cricket was played primarily by national teams. Domestic leagues were controlled by national governing bodies, using domestic players, the best of whom also played on the national team. In September 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that it was forming the Indian Premier League (IPL). It would consist of city-based franchises, and play its first season beginning in mid-April 2008. The six-week season would have 59 games, including a playoff to determine the overall champion. Teams would include the best international players. Much was required to make this happen. Eight team franchises were auctioned in January 2008, for a total of $718 million. Television rights for ten years were sold for $1 billion. The top 75 international players were selected by the team in an auction that paid them over $45 million. This turned the global cricket salary structure upside, with players getting more in six weeks than they could expect for a year or more from their national governing bodies. The league drew from India's other passion, Bollywood to increase the entertainment value of games. The league and teams faced many challenges, which are discussed in the case. The league's first season captivated India, as well as much of the rest of the cricket world, and was a tremendous success. Following its first year, the IPL faced the challenge of maintaining its momentum into the future, and building on the success of its inaugural season. Both international and national cricket covering bodies pondered how to adapt to the changes caused by the IPL's success. Finally, the economic recession and major terrorist attacks in India (November 20008) and Pakistan (March 2009) threatened the ability of the league to proceed with its second season, which was scheduled to start in mid-April 2009.
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 “Indian Premier League: Bollywood and Entrepreneurship Transform a Sport” 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 “George Foster, David W. Hoyt”, 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 “Indian Premier League: Bollywood and Entrepreneurship Transform a Sport ”, 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 “Indian Premier League: Bollywood and Entrepreneurship Transform a Sport” can make for an effective negotiation strategy and will make it easier to negotiate with this party the next time as well.
George Foster, David W. Hoyt (2018), "Indian Premier League: Bollywood and Entrepreneurship Transform a Sport Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.
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