Management Assignment on Communication & Negotiation Skills

Question

Task:Prepare a report on management assignment addressing the following case studies:

Case study 1
You are currently working as full-time supervisor at a large sized company, and you want to negotiate with the head manager (Mr. Raymond) to work flexible hours from home on a longterm basis. However, you also want the company to implement these flexible hours, (working remotely) with a formal policy, such that everyone in the company can benefit.

You want to work remotely because you recently got married, and now have your first beautiful newborn daughter, who just turned four weeks old. Because of your newborn child, you have been working from home for the past four weeks and “you enjoyed it.”

You found that working remotely gave you flexibility and you were able to concentrate a lot more compared to the office. You achieved and completed a lot of work from home (increase in productivity). In the past four weeks sales increased by 8.6% and customer complaints decreased by 12.3%.

It is worthwhile mentioning that the case study is taking place at times where Covid 19 pandemic has become a national challenge and that the local authorities are about to activate restrictions on movement of the public to decrease chances of viral spread.

Your head manager appreciated your personal performance during the remote flexible working model. However, he is concerned that this may not be sustainable in the long run, and he has doubts that this will be workable for all staff.

Answer all the following:

1. What style of negotiation would be appropriate in this instance? Give reasons.
2. What questions as a negotiator are you likely to ask your head manager?
3. What elements will you consider when calculating your BATNA?
4. What is your BATNA?
5. What do you anticipate will be the possible objections from your head manager?
6. What proposals would you prepare?

Case study 2
Two suppliers X and Y provide your company with critical supplies of starting materials for the manufacturing of a product Z. Last year, you managed through the tender system to procure an engine from supplier X with a dream price equal to 400,000 USD. While you recognize that this price was significantly discounted, you cast doubt over the possibility to replicate that this year as you recently have announced another bid for both suppliers about the need for another similar engine. You discover that you can easily build from scratch that same engineer with a cost equal to 450,000 USD. At the same you managed to know informally that the both suppliers are willing to submit separately an offer with at least 50%, increase the price you had last year due to materials prices mark up in the market. You also know that suppliers X is in great need of this deal this year as it was a stagnant market with no other buyers for 7 months. Supplier Y and X also prefer cash as they had cash flow issues which you can provide for this tender.

Answer all the following:

1. What would be your negotiations strategy? Why?
2. What are your expectations about the negotiation’s styles from supplier X and Y?
3. What is BATNA for suppliers X and Y?
4. What is BATNA for your company?

Answer

Executive Summary
The management assignment is based on negotiation and communication skills and reflects how negotiation skills and strategies are implemented in an organizational context in a different setting. In the first case, the negotiation between employer and employee is reflected, whereas in the second case, the negotiation between buyer and seller is reflected. The role of BATNA and its application in both scenarios are reflected effectively.

Introduction
The assignment is about communication and negotiation skills; the two case studies in the assignment are based on negotiation skills and their application in two different contexts. The assignment is mainly divided into two parts, and in each part- the questions related to each case study are answered. The negation skills and its application are the key things in the assignment, and the application of BATNA (Best Alternative to a negotiated agreement) is also considered in two case studies, and while answering the questions of two case studies, the application of BATNA in two scenarios will be discussed in detail. BATNA is an action that acts as an advantageous alternative if an agreement cannot be made due to failure of negotiation (Corporate Finance Institute, 2019).

Case study 1
1. There are different styles of negotiation based on different negotiation models. According to Thomas-Khilman's conflict management instrument, there are five types of negotiation styles to avoid conflict- avoiding, competing, collaborating, compromising, accommodating (Miller, 2014). Based on the current scenario, collaborating negotiation style is the way to resolve the situation as it is cooperative and assertive. The use of a collaborative style is helpful when the party wants to resolve the negotiation peacefully and consider the concern of both parties. In the present case, the individual perspective has some point to get the work done from home, but for the entire workforce to do the same thing for the long-term would be problematic. In this situation, considering both sides (individual and perspective of head manager) is the best way to negotiate.

2. The questions that will be asked as a negotiator are the following:

• Which part of my negotiation has increased your concern the most?
• Is there is a lesser possibility to implement the negotiation for the entire workforce?
• If there is possible to accept the remote working negotiation for the entire workforce, what will be the period (how many months)?
• If there is no possibility of agreeing on the remote work for the entire workforce, then what is your alternative suggestion?
• Would it be better if we consider the perspectives of other employees in this specific context?

3. There are seven key elements for effective negotiation, and for the current negotiation, the key elements that need to be considered for calculating the BATNA are effective communication, the interest of two parties, alternatives, and commitment (Slavik, 2008). Effective communication will be considered for BATNA as it is important to listen to the opinion of the other party, and clarification about the opinions is also provided with clear communication. The interest of both parties needs to be considered while calculating BATNA to find out a suitable solution. The alternative element will help to find out the best alternatives to the negotiation, such as short-term remote working for the entire workforce or batch-wise remote working for the long-term. Finally, the commitment element of negotiation will help to implement the BTANA successfully. The commitment element will ensure the acceptance of final agreement conditions by both parties and committing to act according to the conditions.

4. My BATNA includes two alternatives-either the remote working facility for all employees at once or the remote working facility for small groups. In the case of time- period, apart from long term remote working for the entire workforce, there are three alternatives- short-term remote working for the entire workforce, long-term remote working for by groups wise, and long-term remote working for only those who requires it specifically. The alternatives are developed based on time period, amount of workforce involved in remote working.

5. There are certain possible objectives that can be made by the head manager, such as the manager may not allow the entire workforce to work from home for a longer period as there are some employees required at the office who can get the work done. All of the tasks may not be possible from remote working. Another objection from the head manager may raise for newly joined employees, whose trained are not properly done yet, and providing them remote working facility may cause a problem in coordination.

6. There are two proposals that need to be prepared if the current negotiation does not work. The first proposal is allowing remote work for the entire workforce based on groups for the long-term until the viral spread of covid is controlled. As for newly joined employees they need to be trained, so some of the senior employees should be present at the office. Another proposal is allowing remote working for longer-term for limited staffs who need it specifically and rest of the employees will remotely work for short-term.

Case Study 2
1. Based on the scenario, it can be said that both suppliers are in a cash flow problem, and they may offer a 50% increase in the deal price due to high material value in the market. The key negotiation strategy is to get the deal done at the best price and with better quality; the suppliers will be asked to provide their work schedule for completion of the engine and the quality of materials they can provide a limited budget. There are three types of negotiation strategies that are considered between buyer and seller relationship-integrative, distributive, and compromise (Prado and Martinelli, 2018). The integrative negotiation strategy is suitable in the context as the deal has fewer conflicting ideas and can be easily agreed upon by both parties to gain mutual benefits.

2. It is expected that supplier X will follow an accommodating style as supplier X is in great need of the deal due to a stagnant market with no buyers for seven months. Another reason behind implementing the accommodating style is supplier X previously dealt with the company for procuring the engine, so the relationship between supplier X and the company is strong, so supplier X may try to satisfy the concern of the company first rather than considering own concern. The self-sacrificing nature of the accommodating style relates to the current situation of supplier X (Miller, 2014). On the contrary, supplier Y may follow collaborating style, in which it may ask for a solution that can satisfy both people rather than sacrificing its own concern.

3. BATNA for supplier X is getting the deal done with 430,000- 440,000 USD using mid-range quality of materials based on market price. The desired price of both the suppliers is a 50% increase from last year price, but the company has the option to complete the engine procurement within 450,000 USD, and in such a situation, the increase in deal price than a certain limit may lead to cancellation of the deal from the end of the company. Supplier X is in a critical condition, and the deal will be beneficial for the supplier, so the alternative for BATNA cannot be increased based on price factor than certain limit (450,000 USD). In the case of Supplier Y, the BATNA can be the use of good quality material within 450,000- 480,000 USD.

4. For the company, the BATNA is the increase in deal price from 450,000 to 490,000, in the case of the suppliers are not ready to agree on the deal price. The desired price for the deal is 450,000 USD.

Conclusion
The study discusses in detail how the negotiation skills, strategies are implemented in a different scenario and the importance of BATNA as alternatives for negotiators. In both cases, the effective way to negotiate and better solutions to the negotiations are provided based on BATNA, negotiation skill, and negotiation strategy.

References
Corporate Finance Institute (2019). BATNA - Definition, Importance, and Practical Examples. [online] Corporate Finance Institute. Available at: https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/deals/what-is-batna/.

Miller, O. (2014). The Negotiation Style: A Comparative Study between the Stated and in- Practice Negotiation Style. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, [online] 124, pp.200–209. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042814020266

Prado, L.S. do and Martinelli, D.P. (2018). Analysis of negotiation strategies between buyers and sellers: an applied study on crop protection products distribution. Management assignment RAUSP Management Journal, [online] 53(2), pp.225–240. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2531048818300129.

Slavik, J. (2008). SEVEN ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE NEGOTIATIONS. [online] Available at: https://hms.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/assets/Sites/Ombuds/files/HMS.HHSD_.HSPH_.OmbudsOffice. SEVEN%20ELEMENTS%20OF%20EFFECTIVE%20NEGOTIATIONS.pdf.