Negotiation Skills Report

Introduction

1.1 Background and Context

The main objective of the project was to understand the leadership styles in negotiation and the reasons
why it is essential for a leader to use the skills and mindset of a negotiator. We also aimed to understand
the different situations a leader might have to encounter and how the art of negotiation can be used in
each case. For our primary research we took an in-depth interview and surveyed leaders from the mid
and top management level of various organization. This data collection procedure focused on the
following parameters: -
· Negotiation tactics used by the leader – This was done to understand what strategy does
the leader have in mind when negotiating – do they follow a win-win strategy and try to
resort to integrative bargaining or they follow a win-lose strategy. The situation
corresponding to each of the tactics followed was also noted and analysed to understand
the rationale.
· The importance of ethics and values in a negotiation – This was done to understand what
role does ethics play in negotiation. For leaders dealing with high value deals and lots at
stake, which way do they resort to in case of an internal conflict and how does this affect
their negotiating skills.
· Leadership style – This focused on understanding what leadership style is followed by the
individual while negotiating – a people emphasis style or a task emphasis style and how the
style works out in a negotiating environment
· Way of negotiation – This was done to understand the different situations in which a single
person negotiation or a team negotiation must be chosen over the other
· Most important attributes for negotiation – This was to understand what qualities does the
leader believe are a must for skilled negotiations.
1.2 Overview of Report
This report provides a detailed analysis of the methodology, facts and findings and a conclusive
summary of the work done by us for the topic – “Leadership and Negotiation”. The methodology used to
collect data was a survey of different leaders and an in-depth interview of Mr Kartikeya Tiwari, Vice
President of Creative Strategy at Social Konnekt, a Mumbai based digital marketing agency. Through this
we aimed to understand what tactics does he follow in different negotiating scenarios and his first hand
experiences of some instances at his workplace. Based on our interaction and analysis of the survey
results, it was found that majority of leaders tend to resort to a win-win solution without compromising
on their ethics. Information is vital in the process and leaders are usually cautious before letting out too
much. Almost 50% of the respondents said that they would not disclose information unless absolutely
necessary. Patience and listening skills were found to be the most important attributes needed for
negotiation. Based on this we could draw clear conclusions as to the behaviour of managers in different
negotiation related situations at workplace and the methods adopted by them for the same
Methodology
An extensive and detailed methodology is followed to cover the topic of leadership and negotiation to
be fairly represented. Every step has been mentioned in detail in this report from conception to ideation
and finalization.
Literature Review
Different Published articles are mentioned in the reference section had been read in the group and
discussed to get the gist of the article. How industry experts approach the topic of Negotiation and
Leadership gave us a direction of how to formulate and test the fundamentals of the topic. Different
sources like HBR, editorials were read for the same.
Selection of Idea or Hypothesis establishment
Based on the classroom activities and discussions and a thorough literature review, fundamental
hypothesis were established. This hypothesis would be tested based on the survey and interview
findings.
Identification of Research Methodology
As the hypothesis was established, next step was to gather data which could be extrapolated and
conclusions could be drawn to test the validity of the hypothesis. We identified that primary research
will be the best source of information gathering. Secondary Research will be performed based on the
data that is already collected.
Primary research
Questionnaire
Based on the Hypothesis, set of Questions which included both questions from demographics and the
topic was prepared. This questionnaire was created in the Google Forms so that the data is easily
available to every member and is readily available.
In preparing the questionnaire objectivity was always kept as priority.
Interview
To further understand better a perspective directly from a leader in the industry was taken. In the
telephonic interview questions based on the cues and pre-set were taken up and a detailed 15mins
conversation was recorded. This recording is also attached with this file.
Analysis
After primary and secondary research the validated hypothesis was verified and checked with the data.
Co-relation with the understanding and the topic was established and any ambiguity is also highlighted
in this report.

Hypothesis :
1. People in high leadership positions are capable of separating people form the problem
2. People in High positions would generally want the best bet which is Win-Lose position
3. People high up the ladder would go for full disclosure of information at the start
4. People tend to set an example for their peers while negotiating.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B