When the Tone of an Email Went Wrong Negotiation Strategy / MBA Resources

Introduction to Negotiation Strategy

Negotiation Strategy solution for When the Tone of an Email Went Wrong case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Negotiation Strategy and other business case study solution. When the Tone of an Email Went Wrong case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Mukesh Kumar, Archana Parashar, Sanjeev Prashar. The When the Tone of an Email Went Wrong (referred as “Alumna Email” 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, Market research.

Negotiation strategy solution for case study When the Tone of an Email Went Wrong ” 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.

BATNA in Negotiation Strategy

Three questions every negotiator should ask before entering into a negotiation process-

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?

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Case Description of When the Tone of an Email Went Wrong Case Study

A tense situation arose in 2015 after a faculty member at the Premier School of Management in New Delhi, India, mistakenly emailed a test paper to a group email address that included the school's students, faculty, and alumni. An alumna who received the email responded to the professor using the "reply to all" option. The tone of her email was considered to be disrespectful to the professor. The professor responded by sending his own "reply to all," explaining his error to the alumna and chastising her for using a tone inappropriate for a student-to-teacher communication. The alumna apologized, but one of the students on the group email then wrote his own offensive email to the alumna. Was there a way to defuse the mounting tension and avoid a possible rift between the alumna and her former school? Mukesh Kumar is affiliated with Indian Institute of Management Raipur. Archana Parashar is affiliated with Indian Institute of Management Raipur. Sanjeev Prashar is affiliated with Indian Institute of Management Raipur.

Case Authors : Mukesh Kumar, Archana Parashar, Sanjeev Prashar

Topic : Leadership & Managing People

Related Areas : Market research

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Seven Elemental Tools of Negotiation that can be used in When the Tone of an Email Went Wrong solution

1. Satisfies everyone’s core interests (yours and theirs)

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.

2. Is the best of many options

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.

3. Meets legitimate, fair standards

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.

4. Is better than your alternatives or BATNA

Every negotiators going into the negotiations should always work out the “what if” scenario. The negotiating parties in the “When the Tone of an Email Went Wrong” 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.

5. Is comprised of clear, realistic commitments

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.

6. Is the result of effective communication?

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.

7. Managing relationship with counterparty

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 “Mukesh Kumar, Archana Parashar, Sanjeev Prashar”, 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.

Different types of negotiators – what is your style of negotiation

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 “When the Tone of an Email Went Wrong ”, 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 “When the Tone of an Email Went Wrong” can make for an effective negotiation strategy and will make it easier to negotiate with this party the next time as well.

NPV Analysis of When the Tone of an Email Went Wrong

References & Further Readings

Mukesh Kumar, Archana Parashar, Sanjeev Prashar (2018), "When the Tone of an Email Went Wrong Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.