Sunday, May 5, 2019

Blog post 10

I think this class made me a better negotiator simply just by doing the negotiation practices. I honestly have not come across too many situations where I needed to negotiate so this class was able to prepare me better when I do come across a situation where I need to negotiate. I learned about a lot of tactics that professional negotiators use that I did not even know existed. I also think this class taught me how to be a better negotiator because I am usually a pushover with things. Since I had to fight for things the case wanted in this class it made me realize I need to stand up for things I want instead of just letting them go and agreeing with the other person. I was able to use the things I learned in this class to lower my apartment rent in the future which I think is a huge step for myself. I usually would not have the confidence to even bring anything up and attempt to negotiate it. We read an article of why women don't ask and it really opened my eye that it is okay to ask even if you get turned down.

Blog post 9

If I were able to re prepare for the newton town schools negotiation using the 6 step warm up exercise this is how i would prepare.

1. I wish I was more familiar with the negotiation going into it. Honestly, I read it a few times and still was a little confused by it. I feel as if I understood it to full potential I would have been more successful.

2. If i understood it to full potential I would definitively have more confidence going into the negotiation and would have an easier time arguing for what I wanted.

3. To put myself in an ideal emotional state I make sure to read the case and highlight the most important parts. This way it is easier for me to point out the crucial things and stay calm instead of becoming fluttered trying to search for specific information.

4. The thing that throws me most off balance during negotiations is hearing what the other side wants. For example, in this situation the group we were negotiating with wanted the teachers to work longer hours with not much of a pay raise. We agreed to have the teachers work more hours with a large pay raise but the other group would not give it to us. This to me throws me off balance because I always think things should be figured out equally.

5. To regain balance I would either offer and new deal or simple not make a deal at all.

6. When I'm finished I want to feel like both parties got the most of what they wanted and that everyone collaborated well with no angry arguments.

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Blog post 8

One of the most common biases in decision is known as framing. Executives frame their potential outcomes for their decisions. Framing bias occurs when people make a decision based on the way the information is presented, as opposed to just on the facts themselves. The same facts presented in two different ways can lead to people making different judgments or decisions.

When options are framed as potential for loss the prospect theory describes how managers may irrationally unwilling to incur loss. The idea behind loss aversion is an observed asymmetry between gains and loses. It is thought that the pain of losing is psychologically about twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining. People are usually more likely to take risks when they know they will be losing something rather than gaining something.

In contrast to loss aversion, researchers have also observed that most decision makers are also risk takers. Individuals will most likely take a bigger/more irrational risk when the pay off is larger.

One example of being biased or ganged up on in the negotiations we participated in had to deal with the negotiation about the Jac36 model. All of the participants tended to not get along with VP of manufacturing. Because of this my group members and I were able to from coalitions against this person and have a biased feeling towards them because other people in the group had the same problems with them as I did. Unfortunately, the VP of manufacturing did not get what they wanted in this negotiation because no one was on their side.

Another example of someone falling victim would be the negotiation about the Newton School. My role as head master correlated well with the trustees (people who donate the money). The two of us formed coalitions against the faculty of the school because they wanted something different than us. Therefore, the faculty got the short end of the stick and had to stand up for themselves against two other parties.

Monday, April 15, 2019

Blog post 7

When watching the movie, "The Final Offer" I was able to witness a real life negotiation. A serious one at that. I thought this movie was confusing at some points and hard to keep up with who was who. I also thought that some of the negotiations seemed unfair. It was nice to see the tactics these men used in their negotiations and how they tied into the tactics we learned in class. Bob White was a huge part in this negotiation, and he used his negotiation skills to get where he wanted to be. He is a smart man and made sure to think his decisions over before jumping the gun and making a choice right away. I think Bob White did this because he knows that he has the opportunity to affect a lot of peoples lives positively or negatively depending on how this negotiation goes.

As far as fairness during the negotiations, I thought it was unfair that GM would not see Bob White's perspectives on how he wanted to reward the Canadian workers. They tried to convince Bob into taking a contract similar to the American one and having year end bonuses rather than increased pay. Bob White made a point that America and Canada are two different places, they are not combined and people want different things. I think Bob White was very faithful to his union even through the hard times they had. He was a good man who wanted peace throughout this negotiation and tried his hardest to eliminate a possible strike.

This negotiation allowed me to witness a real life negotiation about a very important topic. Although the movie was older and some what hard to keep up with, I was able to see how professionals perform when they are under an immense amount of pressure and stress.

Monday, April 1, 2019

Blog post #6

I think power and persuasion played a big part in this past negotiation about the Jac 36 model. Each member had a different position which held different levels of power. For example, The VP of finance was a very powerful person in this situation. I think out of everyone the VP of finance was the person that everyone wanted to persuade with their own opinions. My position on the other hand was a lower power level position, I was the senior engineer of the company. I think my group members were able to respect my opinions in this negotiation because I made it clear to them that I worked with the company for 25 years and the president trusted me. The VP of finance was given a structural source of power because the president of the company was out and unable to attend the meeting.

As far as persuasion goes in this negotiation many of us used "The principal of liking". The only person that my role had a problem with in this negotiation was VP of manufacturing. At first we did not get along, so I was able to form coalitions with people who I did agree with/get along with in my group. Since my role, research and development, and VP of sales agreed on a few things we continued to negotiate and work together to come up with the best outcome for the company.

The principal of reciprocity was also brought into this situation. At first we all wanted to go with our own opinions and argued our reasoning. After a few talks we were able to accept one thing if we were reciprocated with the respect of doing something in our own favor too. For example, My group was set on doing the portable Jac 36 and discontinuing the old one all together. Since I was the senior engineer I felt that I needed to go to a summer engineering seminar so I could perform the best on our new Jac 36. I agreed to creating the new portable Jac if the company would pay for my seminar, which they did. This situation was a win-win.

Power and persuasion are two key aspects to have when negotiating. If someone has power they are more likely to be agreed with and respected for what they need to say. Also, if someone is able to be persuasive and they have the right information to back up their opinions they are able to win a negotiation without a doubt. 

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Post 5

A coalition is when two or more people come together and form a type of partnership to achieve a common goal. There are internal and external coalitions. Internal coalitions are when people from the same company/organizations come together to figure out things such as employee wages, benefits, or a type of working condition. It is internal so it is specifically about the environment they control/are working in. The external coalition deals with people who are members of different organizations that come together and collaborate and achieve whatever goal they had planned. People who form coalitions use synergism to come up with the greatest possible outcome that they want to reach as a group.

An example of a time I used a coalition was last semester. It was about a specific new professor in the marketing department. All three of his classes were very confused about what he was teaching us in class because he was not a good teacher. Everyone was clueless when the first exam came around. When we would go to office hours to ask questions or ask questions in class he would not even know how to answer them, which left the classes even more frustrated and mad. A couple of us formed a coalition to go to the dean of marketing and expressed our concerns. We were all seniors at Shippensburg and needed to pass this class in order to graduate. After we spoke to the dean he did not do much, but told us to go talk to the professor about it. So we took our group and went to speak to the professor about how we felt. Unfortunately, nothing changed. The average test scores were all within the 50%-60% range so we knew as students we were not doing anything wrong.

Monday, March 18, 2019

Post #4

Job offer negotiation:

I was just recently offered a job with a company located in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, no negotiating went on with this process and I personally did not feel like I had the right to negotiate anything because I am going to be fresh out of college with not much experience.

I still would like to use this job offer as an example though. If i went into this job with experience in the industry I would have absolutely felt the need to negotiate the salary. Especially if the job I was at before paid me more than I was offered.

I was offered a base pay of $32,500 plus uncapped commission. This job has great benefits such as insurance, payed time off, and a discount on a gym membership at a gym near by. I also will have plenty of opportunity to receive bonuses/promotions. If I went into this job interview with more experience and was offered 32,500 I would negotiate this salary and ask if I could get it raised to $45,000 plus commission. $45,000 would be my aspiration price for this job starting out. If they are unwilling to give me that my BATNA would be $42,000 a year. If this price did not work out my reservation price would be $40,000. I would also negotiate the amount I was making at my previous job because I think this would help them realize what situation I am in and why I would not want to take a lower paying job. After negotiating a price I would negotiate how many vacation I days I have since I am not close to home and would want to see my family. As of right now I have two weeks of vacation/ paid time off. I am okay with this but if I had a family of my own I would probably negotiate a few more days. Having paid time off is important to me especially if a family emergency comes up and I have to be home for it.

Other than these few things I think the opportunity I was given is great for someone without much experience. Also, the position I am in has great opportunities to move up. I have a chance to make $45,000 as a base salary if I work hard enough and get promoted within a year. Once I get a few years experience and potentially moved to another job I would feel more comfortable with negotiating the pay and benefits I receive.