Introduction to Negotiation Strategy
At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Negotiation Strategy and other business case study solution. Too Much Alcohol at a Remote Construction Site case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Soumendra N. Bagchi, Rajeev Sharma. The Too Much Alcohol at a Remote Construction Site (referred as “Permission Project” 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, Leadership, Project management.
Negotiation strategy solution for case study Too Much Alcohol at a Remote Construction Site ” 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 September 2014, an American expatriate project manager at High-Tech Construction Pvt. Ltd. (High-Tech) received a late-night call saying that an engineer at a remote project site in India was extremely ill after consuming alcohol at an employee party. The driver would not take the sick employee to the hospital unless the project manager gave permission, but would giving permission drag High-Tech into a complicated situation? The expatriate manager was unsure of the legal ramifications involved in death or injury due to drinking. In addition, he was concerned about the effect on the company if the media was involved. Because he was an American in a multinational company with Indian employees, the story was potentially more saleable. Furthermore, was it prudent to inform the sick employee's parents yet, or should he call the head of the human resources department for advice? As the project manager, he would have to make the final decision. It had been just a couple months since he arrived in India and less than a month since the start of work on the current project, and now he had a crisis to deal with. Soumendra N. Bagchi is affiliated with XLRI School of Management & Human Resources, C. H. Area (East). Rajeev Sharma is affiliated with XLRI School of Management.
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 “Too Much Alcohol at a Remote Construction Site” 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 “Soumendra N. Bagchi, Rajeev Sharma”, 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 “Too Much Alcohol at a Remote Construction Site ”, 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 “Too Much Alcohol at a Remote Construction Site” can make for an effective negotiation strategy and will make it easier to negotiate with this party the next time as well.
Soumendra N. Bagchi, Rajeev Sharma (2018), "Too Much Alcohol at a Remote Construction Site Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.
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