Deck 11: Resolving Conflict Through Negotiation and Mediation

Question 1

Are there any special steps to be taken if you know you are lower in power than your other negotiating party?

Answer 1

Negotiations may be between people with same power or different power. Conflicts arise due to difference in opinions and reasonable conflicts should be resolved logically.
The following are the special steps that could be taken if the other negotiating party is higher in power-
Clarity in logic - If the party lower in power presents the conflict in a logical way, by keeping all the facts clear, the power factor won't be able to influence the situation much.
Asking more questions - By asking more question, it is obvious that the parties will have more clarity on what they want to achieve and thus, it will avoid unnecessarily wastage of time or power play to creep in.
Agreeing to hire an impartial arbiter - When the party lower in power feels suppressed or not being heard, they should request for hiring an impartial arbiter so as the party could be given an equal opportunity to present their part of grievances.

Question 2

If negotiation does not work in this example, would you recommend going forward to the mediation process? Why or why not?

Answer 2

Conflicts are inevitable part of an association. The individuals may disagree over the priorities, distribution of resources, the excellence of work, feasible solutions of problems and over many more issues. Conflicts and disagreements including arguments over the important features of a work that clients may require may enhance the end result of the project. Negotiation is considered as the most usual and easily applied solution of such conflicts. Negotiations includes and series of steps. The prospect of success would enhance with the proper implementation of these steps of negotiation.
Considering marriage proposal as a negotiation is basically not a good idea because the aspects which are essential for a marriage are love, trust and respect. One should not negotiate with such aspects. For a marriage, understanding each other viewpoints, likes and dislikes are far more important than negotiating the venue, date, time and number of invitees of the event. Negotiation is possible in case of dealing businesses where success and failure of negotiators are more financial than emotional. Marriage is all about emotions.
But when negotiation failed, the direct option for facilitating conflicts is mediation by using a third party. Mediation delivers the parties the opportunity to express what is most feasible for their specific situation and to make an agreement that highlights their own circumstances. Both the conflicting parties involved in marriage proposal should approach to a mediator as the process of mediation is usually used to solve interpersonal problems in a structured way. A mediator is sometimes an outside party whose motive is to help individuals in conflict to find out an amicable settlement. When two parties are not in a state to express their feelings directly to each other, in such cases a mediator can help them to highlight their viewpoints about the conflicting issues. Therefore, there is a high possibility of solving issues with the help of a mediator through the process of mediation.

Question 3

Starting from a Position of Strength
Although you are very young, your boss has a lot of faith in you. She has scheduled a long-planned African vacation and has asked you to lead the contract negotiation with a potential new vendor which will take place while she is gone. You have never managed a negotiation like this and you know you tend to seek compromise too quickly. Recognizing that you have to get the best deal possible for the firm, and your reputation and your boss's are on the line, what steps should you take to be sure you go into the negotiation with the best chance of success?

Answer 3

Negotiation is considered as the most usual and easily applied solution of such conflicts. Negotiations includes and series of steps. The prospect of success would enhance with the proper implementation of these steps of negotiation. The key aspects of an ideal negotiation are the facts that all parties consider that they made a good deal, the association among the parties should enhanced due to the negotiation and the components of each party should be contented with the agreement.
Consider a situation where a boss of an organization asked a young but trustworthy individual to lead a contract negotiation with a potential new vendor on behalf of her. The individual is new to such responsibility and may tend to search for compromise quite early. Now the individual is responsible for achieving the best deal for his/her organization and to maintain his/her as well as the boss's reputation by leading a proper negotiation process.
Negotiation is considered as the most usual and easily applied remedy for resolving any conflict. The most vital part of negotiation process is the planning and preparation. If there is any carelessness in the planning procedure, then the negotiators may fall into traps in future.
First the individual needs to recognize and define the issues and organize those into priorities. Understanding the requirements of other groups is very essential for resolving conflicting issues through negotiation. After the parties understand the requirements of each other, the individual must move to the next step of discussing options. He should offer multiple creative options to the parties based on their requirement which help them to find out a near solution. But in this stage, he may pause the negotiation process and allow the parties to discuss their own needs among themselves. Once these possible options are available he should apply process tactics to solve the conflicts.

Question 4

Getting Beyond Failed Negotiations
You are assistant manager at a large retail store where two of your sales associates, Chris and Terry, have been at each other's throats to the point where the conflict is now affecting work at the store and bothering others. When it first started, you brought the two together for a meeting, but you did not really know what to do and did not take an active role, and the meeting was essentially a disaster. Because they are part of your unit, the store manager has told you to "please deal with this ASAP and let me know what I can do to help."
So what would you do? What would be your first actions? How would you structure a mediation meeting that would be more likely to yield better results than last time? Any traps to avoid? Would you ask your boss to help in some way?

Question 5

Why was Mr. Smith's move to confidentially secure an insurance policy so valuable as a negotiating tool in this case?

Question 6

Describe the concept of BATNA and how it applies to the NFL Players position in this case? Why is it such a powerful idea?

Question 7

Do you think that viewing a marriage proposal as a negotiation is a good idea or not? Support your answer by providing likely outcomes.

Question 8

Resolving a Team Dispute
You are a team leader and just returned to your office after a miserable meeting. At the end of the meeting, one of the members, Pat, stood up and said some very offensive and controversial things. Jordan briefly responded and stormed out. You asked for other feedback and rebuttal, but no one else said anything and the meeting was adjourned. But you have already gotten an e-mail from two other members claiming they were offended and felt "silenced" and that you better do something about this or they will take their concerns to a higher level.
Given that this has been a very productive team, how do you go about holding it together? What steps should you take? Would you bring Pat and Jordan together, and if so, how would you mediate the meeting? Would you involve others? What traps would you want to avoid that would likely only escalate the dispute?

Question 9

What strategies can you use to help determine others' positions?

Question 10

What are the first steps in "getting your way"?

Question 11

Using the material from the chapter, can you build on the case to provide other "nontraditional" examples of where win-win negotiations may be possible?

Question 12

Question 13

How do you determine your own starting position?