Introduction to Negotiation Strategy
At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Negotiation Strategy and other business case study solution. SickKids in Qatar - Responding to a Request for Proposal case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Anne Snowdon, Alexander Smith, Heidi Cramm. The SickKids in Qatar - Responding to a Request for Proposal (referred as “Qatar Hamad” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Leadership & Managing People. It also touches upon business topics such as - negotiation strategy , negotiation framework, Globalization, Strategy.
Negotiation strategy solution for case study SickKids in Qatar - Responding to a Request for Proposal ” 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?
In January 2005, the vice-president of International Affairs at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, must decide how to respond to a request for proposal from the Hamad Medical Corporation of Qatar. In order to reach its global mission of "Healthier Children, A Better World," the Toronto hospital, which had an international reputation for excellence in pediatric medicine, had established an arm called SickKids International. In addition, it was anxious to find new ways to recover from an operating deficit caused by the aftershock of the SARS outbreak. Hamad Medical Corporation, a major state hospital medical supplier in Qatar, was looking for international centres that would want to partner with it in the development of what it hoped would become the best children's hospital in the Middle East. The vice-president understood the enormous benefits that the partnership had to offer but recognized the need for a comprehensive strategy to mitigate all of the associated risks, such as the difference in cultures between Canada and Qatar, the pressure on the Toronto hospital's staff to make the project successful and the uncertain political and business environment in the Middle East. Should she recommend to her executive team that they go ahead with their first international request for proposal?
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 “SickKids in Qatar - Responding to a Request for Proposal” 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 “Anne Snowdon, Alexander Smith, Heidi Cramm”, 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 “SickKids in Qatar - Responding to a Request for Proposal ”, 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 “SickKids in Qatar - Responding to a Request for Proposal” can make for an effective negotiation strategy and will make it easier to negotiate with this party the next time as well.
Anne Snowdon, Alexander Smith, Heidi Cramm (2018), "SickKids in Qatar - Responding to a Request for Proposal Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.
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