NAME: I.

D NUM: COURSE: LECTURER:

Prisca amaten bango bba- f1308 - 0322 NEGOTIATION TECHNIQUES MR DEV

TABLE OF CONTENT Topics Pages

Introduction...3 Define parties and their goals and issues. 4-5 Q2. Compare and contrast the negotiation situation in these two branches. Culture& ways of negotiation. How different do you see negotiation situation in these two countries6-7 Q3. Should company accept the requests? What is your suggestion? ..8 Q4. Compare and contrast the negotiation techniques used for two different requests. ..9 Q5. What kind of preparations would you have for the negotiation meetings? ....................................10 Conclusion .11 References...12

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Introduction This case study is written and evaluated to give better knowledge about what is negotiation and how culture background affects negotiation process.

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Question 1 Employee is a person who is hired to provide services to a company on a regular basis in exchange for compensation and who does not provide these services as part of an independent business. The major aim of an employee is to work at their best and get good pay for it. An individual who works part time or full time under a contract of employment, whether oral or written, express or implied, and has recognized rights and duties. They are also called worker. In this case, both parties are interdependence on each other. An employer owes their employee the following duties, which again can be implied by the law or may be found in the employment contract such as duty to pay the employee the agreed amount if the employee arrives for work and is able to work, provision with work to do but if the employer does not give the employee any work or if not working could damage the employee's reputation, observe health and safety regulations, give employees correct information about rights under their contract, give employees reasonable opportunity to have their complaints looked at and basically they must show respect for each other. The major issue the employees are having is the poor quality work life and inability of the employer or organisation to fulfill their promises on the increase in wages and salaries as earlier agreed. Therefore, they embark on strike in order for their goals to be achieved which is quality work life and substantial increment in their salaries and wages. On the other part which is the Employer; is a legal entity that controls and directs employee or worker under an implied contract of employment and pays him or her salary or wages in compensation. These may be explained in the contract of employment, but there are certain obligations and duties owed by an employee to their employer, even if the contract does not mention them. These include doing what a reasonable employee would do in any situation, duty to be honest, not to disrupt business, for example, taking part in industrial action, disclose wrongdoing, carry out and follow orders of the employer as long as they are legal, not to disclose the employers confidential information, work with reasonable care and skill, look after the employers property if using it, not to compete in business against the employer while still working for them as an employee, not to take bribes and be prepared to change when the job changes. The goal of an employer is to make maximum use of the employees, low overhead cost and production of goods with zero defects and maximization of profit but this goal is hampered by the global recession causing revenue reduction and making it difficult for the employer to

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keep to it promises with the employees. Things became worse when the employees in the US and India branch embark on an indefinite strike in a bid to achieve their goals.

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Question 2 Negotiation is a form of social interaction. It is the process by which two or more parties try to resolve perceived incompatible goals (Carnevale, et al. 1992). The only similarities between these two countries in negotiation is the Goal in negotiation whether contract or relationship. This dimension refers to the primary goal of a business negotiation to arrive at a signed contract or to build a relationship between the two parties (Salacuse, 2003). The two countries always want to build relationship after a successful negotiation leading to win-win situation for both parties. They exchange contacts and always want to do business again with each other. While the Differences between India and United States during Negotiations are: Attitude: winlose or winwin? Business negotiators tend to approach a negotiation with one of two basic attitudes: it is either a process where both parties can gain or a struggle in which there is a winner and a loser (Salacuse, 2003). Indian negotiators are known for winlose or winwin outcomes, whereas US demonstrated a greater preference for winwin results. Time sensitivity: high or low? It is important to check whether negotiators from a given country are punctual or late and whether negotiators from a particular country negotiate slowly or are quick to make a deal. Americans always like the parties to be punctual because they make decisions fast and believes time is money while Indians conduct it with leisure and in a slow pace (Salacuse, 2003). Personal style: informal or formal? This refers to the way in which negotiators talk and interact with others, use titles, and dress (Salacuse, 2003). Negotiators from India practice and adhere to formal procedures but the atmosphere is friendly and much more relaxed while US negotiators does not like formality in negotiation. All they concern themselves about is for their interest to be realized. Communication: direct or indirect? This is referring to the mode of interaction between the negotiators because some countries prefer direct and simple communication, while others employ an indirect (Salacuse, 2003). The patterns of response in USA is direct and straight to the point while negotiators from India belief

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that use of some words such as No, Never is harsh and disrespecting but instead they respond with soft and gentle tone but still responding indirectly. Emotionalism: high or low? This is the tendency to act emotionally and to display emotions while negotiating is captured in (Salacuse, 2003) sixth dimension. Indian most time have the tendency of letting their emotions overrule them and affect the negotiation process but the Americans do not operate with emotions instead they prefer facts with good Batna.

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Question 3 As the Petro Trans chief negotiator, I suggest that the company should negotiate with the employees or the union first before accepting their request. The purpose of this negotiation is to resolve the pending issues amicably in other for both parties to win and operations can start again in both branches. Despite the current financial state of the organisation as a result of economy breakdown, the company cannot afford to lay off all the employees because of their know-how about the company work and amount of resources that has been invested in them. Also, the organisation cannot afford to jeopardize the goodwill built over the years. Another critical reason why the organisation should accept their request is to avoid going public in terms of filling a law suit against the company for extortion and poor quality of work life which they are likely to win and the organisation may not recover from it again. For example, now many Americans are striking back in court, since the height of the recession in 2008, more workers across the nation have been suing employers under federal and state wage and hour laws. The number of lawsuits filed last year was up 32% vs. 2008, (USA Today, 2012).

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Question 4 This negotiation can kick off by using lowball tactics on the union representatives by starting from an extreme offer which is far away from their request. The main motive of doing this is to get the union representative to reduce their request, state their resistance point or move beyond. Although using this tactics can be risky, as the union might see it as a waste of time but both parties having it mind how hard it is to get job as a result of the economy recession especially the Indians because of the unemployment rate. A little bit of chicken tactics can also be added if they are not ready to come down on the opening offer, which if the agreement is not reached the company may decide to close down its operations because of its present state financially. (Roy, J. 2010). As the chief negotiator, I will desire to negotiate separately because of the differences in culture, currency, exposure, level of education, economy, labour laws and standard of living. Negotiating differently with the union representative from both branches will enable each branch to be addressed based on their laws and standard of operations in their location. In India, they belief everything is negotiable, so they know that the company will still negotiate and they are open to it unlike the US where not all things are negotiable. Also, there are no stricter measures to their labour laws and policies and their standard of living is quite low compare to their counterpart while in the US they have high preference for quality work life, currency is high, well exposed, employees are well educated, individual rights is protected at all times and their labour union is functioning and active. Therefore, negotiating separately will make things easy for the company as India branch is likely to be more of advantageous to the company but otherwise is the case in the US (Kurz, 2000).

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Question 5 Be clear about what to achieve before starting the discussions and do some research and get advice about the situation before negotiation (Roy, et al 2010). For example, checking the industry to see how other companies packages are in terms of quality work life and wages paid to their employees. General knowledge of labour union laws in each branch must be understood including how they negotiate. Company financial situation must be properly checked to be sure if the outcome of the negotiation will not affect its existence. From all this, as a negotiator, it would be able to gather its best alternative to a negotiated agreement.

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References Carnevale, P. and Pruitt, D.G (1992) Negotiation and Mediation. Annual review of Psychology. Vol 43, pp. 531-582. Kurz, W. C. F (2000) International business negotiations in the United States: In James R. Silkenat, and the ABA guide to international business negotiations: A comparison of cross cultural issues and successful approaches. Chicago: ABA Publishing. Kras, E. S (1989) Management in two cultures: Bridging the gap between U.S. and Mexican managers, Yarmouth Mexico Intercultural Press Roy, J. K., Bruce, B., and David, M. S (2010) Negotiation, 6th Edn New York, McGraw Hill International Salacuse, J, (1991) Making global deals: Negotiating in the international marketplace, 2nd Edn Boston, Houghton Mifin Publishers Salacuse, J., (1998) Ten ways that culture affects negotiating style: Some survey results. Negotiation Journal, vol. 14(3), pp. 221235. Salacuse, J. W. (2003) The Global Negotiator: Making, managing, and mending deals around the world in the twenty-rst century. New York, Palgrave Macmillan USA today, a daily Newspaper 19-4-2012- more American workers sue employees

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