Law Book Case

Debriefing – Law Book Case (23 Sep 2006)

General: What happened; what was the outcome; were you successful or not; why and why not;
We first tried to build a rapport before we even started speaking about books. We were successful because we reached an agreement even though it seemed like a difficult task.

· who was satisfied (answer this before comparing walkaways or comparing information);
We both were satisfied. We both felt we had achieved what we had set out to achieve without burning bridges. We did not treat the negotiation as a transaction.

· did either violate his/her walkaway; if so, why?
No we did not violate our walkaway price.

· if there was a gap in walkaways, how did you bridge (or try) the gap.
There was a ZOPA so there was no gap.

· did we get near the “Pareto Frontier?” or …did we “leave money on the table”…where are we on the graph?
We did not leave money on the table.

· was there anything that surprised you about the negotiation
I thought that I would Anchor the negotiation but Sara instead went ahead. I had to adjust my strategy.

Negotiation Process: What was the process of negotiation- opening offers, sequences of offers, counteroffers, anchoring, initial offer, counteroffers? Did the other side start high/low? What effect did this have on the negotiation?
Sara (buyer) opened the negotiation with the first offer that was below my target ($5500). Then I made a counter offer of what I had already decided on in my strategy ($15000 without shipping). She said that it was high for her. She then gave me another offer ($ 6k -7 k) and then I countered that offer by bettering my previous offer ($13k without shipping). This as well, she found high and informed that since they were a new company they could not afford to spend so much. I gave another offer thereby bidding against myself ($12 k with shipping).Then she quoted $7000 and then I gave her an option of using our library space when they come to DC and we would refer clients to them because relationships are important in the end. Finally, we agreed to 9000 including shipping. The low offer initially in a way made me think if I should follow my decided first offer.

A test: was my negotiation effective? (some of these may not apply in a particular exercise)
Score yourself from 1=poor to 5=excellent
_3_ Planning and Strategy: did I have a strategy; was my walkaway right; did I estimate the other’s well?
_4_Did I establish my own priorities and potential trade-offs
_4__First approach: were we win-win, positive; try to establish rapport; did I deal with first offers effectively?
_4__How well did I develop a plan for managing the process of negotiation?
_4__Did I actively shape the agenda and manage the process to my advantage?
_4__How well did I try understand the other person:
_4__Exploring Interests: did I communicate my interests;
_4__Persuasion: How well did I persuade the other side about my legitimate needs and limits and the value of what I offered
_3__The Other's Interests did I find out the other side's real interests and constraints
_4__Creating Value (integrative or win-win) vs Claiming Value (distributive or win-lose)
_5__Options: Did we explore "expand the pie" options: did we try to find ways of meeting each party’s needs
_3__Inquiry vs. advocacy: did I ask (inquiry) a lot of questions, or just advocate my position
_2__Alternatives: Was I clear on my BATNA; was I clear about what happens if there is no agreement
___Legitimacy: was the agreement considered fair by some external benchmark
_3__Commitments: did the agreement avoid problems in the future; were any “strings left untied?”
_4__Communication: did we practice effective two way communication…did we listen…did we rephrase…
_5__Focus on the problem, not the person: did we avoid attacking or threatening the other person
_5__Relationship: did we deal well with differences; is our relationship better off now than before
_2__Psychological factors: did outside factors (eg. emotions) affect the outcome (their efforts or ours)
_5__Did we reach an outcome that maximized potential mutual gains; did we come close to the "Pareto Frontier?"
_5__Other factors: did anything else affect the negotiation-physical space, time pressure, etc.


Did we use the Techniques of Principled Negotiation: (did the other party?)…If not, what blocked it?
· listen, be warm and friendly; avoid quarreling; ask questions, ask questions, ask questions, ask clarification, rephrase
· be open to persuasion
· be principled (“You want to pay….I need …Can you think of ways that is fairer than splitting
· turn the interaction from adversarial haggling into side-b-side solving of the problem of what is fair.

For Yourself: General Conclusion: In areas where you felt you were less than totally successful, how might you be more effective next time. From this exercise, what did you learn that you are going to try to do better next time you negotiate;
I thought I was not as good an active listener. Next time I would like to improve upon this aspect which will help me to get more information about the other person. I learnt that setting the anchor is very important and becomes easier and is a physiological advantage.

· What were keys to the negotiation being successful or unsuccessful
The key to the negotiation being successful was the problem solving approach that both of us took and that worked beyond just price, which was the distributive factor. We worked toward building a relationship.

· What would you do differently if you were to do this same negotiation again
I would not keep my walkaway so high because there was a huge chance that there would have been no ZOPA.

· what did you learn about yourself? About negotiations What tendencies do you have in negotiation that you need to be careful about (too aggressive, too likely to quit searching for solutions once your; What do you feel you need to work on? What would you do differently next time?
I learned that I could be effective if I am not afraid of setting higher standards for myself and am not scared of failure. In addition, winning is not the goal but a mutually beneficial agreement is better than going into a negotiation and treating it as a transaction. I have a tendency to smirk and laugh at the other person’s offer, which can be rude which I should avoid. I would probably be a more active listener, which I feel I did not do as much in this negotiation.

· What did you learn in general?
I learnt the importance of building rapport; relationship building. I learnt that I should at all times be aware of my BATNA and accordingly take risks. I learnt that in any negotiation I should try to move toward integrative negotiation.

· If this were a real case, what obstacles to joint problem-solving might you encounter; how would you overcome them?
If this were a real case I might encounter problems of implementing some of the things that were part of the add ons that were thrown in and I might have to go back to the headquarters to get those approved before I can agree to those. In addition, my walk away that I had put down was way up which could me in a difficult spot. I would in future be more realistic but still have an aim that is high but is justifiable.