Question

Think about a negotiation in which you have been involved that yielded a win-win-win resolution. How did you get to the win-win-win solution? Think about a negotiation in which you have been involved that didn’t result in an agreement. Why do you think the negotiation wasn’t successful? What would have made it more successful?

Answer 1

Negotiation can be understood as a strategic discussion to resolve an issue or trying to reach to an agreement which is acceptable to both parties & they do it by trying to persuade the other party to agree with their point of view.

Successful Negotiation case:

I applied as research intern in company. My motivation was to enhance my learning & to gain experience. Earnings were not primary motivation still I wanted to negotiate best possible amount as it might create base or reference point for my full-time job.

Achieving the win-win solution:

I prepared my arguments accordingly to discuss & I was clear about goal. It turned out that recruiting company wanted best possible resource with least remuneration as they were a start-up. I negotiated towards an agreement which provided me with good profile but low fixed pay & high variable pay. In this case we reached to an agreement where company found resource in low cost whereas I got good profile as well as nice remuneration package.

Both parties were clear about their goals & were prepared. Their approach was structures in a nice discussion which made them reach a mutually beneficial win-win negotiation.

Failed Negotiation case:

There was a contract regarding Operation & management, which was to be signed after agreement. Both parties sat for discussion; they were clear about their goal but contract giving company tried to extract more value based on their brand by not being specific about work being included in O&M. It failed to materialize as without being specific about scope of work, other party was not ready to take contract & they were clear that without clear scope, this deal may be a loss-making deal.

The WHY of failure: Negotiation failed as there was expectation mismatch & goals were different. The stronger party did not care for benefits of other party & behaved unethically too; tried to coerce them for making a win-lose agreement.

Things which could have saved it: Knowledge about other parties’ work culture could have been a great help to prepare the discussion. Clarity of agreement is very much desirable in negotiation which could have helped this case. Lastly, any third-party intervention can help in saving the deal.

(Original, 369 words)