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IN1226

Double Career Negotiation (B):

Confidential Instructions for

the Medical Doctor

06/2016-6219

This case was written by Serena Wee, Assistant Professor of Psychology at SMU, Horacio Falcão, Senior Affiliate
Professor of Decision Sciences at INSEAD, Heather Grover, Negotiation Strategy Consultant, Cheng Chi Ying,
Assistant Professor of Psychology at SMU, and Tsai Ming-Hong, Assistant Professor of Psychology at SMU. It is
intended to be used as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a
real-life situation.
Additional material about INSEAD case studies (e.g., videos, spreadsheets, links) can be accessed at
cases.insead.edu.
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COPIES MAY NOT BE MADE WITHOUT PERMISSION. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE COPIED, STORED, TRANSMITTED, REPRODUCED OR DISTRIBUTED IN
ANY FORM OR MEDIUM WHATSOEVER WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER.

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You are a doctor with a successful medical practice in your home country of India, which is
also where you met your partner while at university. You have been together for three years
and you truly believe he/she is the person with whom you want to spend the rest of your life.
You are currently living apart while your partner is studying abroad at a top business school.
The two of you agreed that after completing his/her MBA he/she would return to India, but
now your partner is asking you to reconsider as he/she has received an attractive job offer
from a large multinational company. The job would be based in Amsterdam and would
require frequent and extensive travel within the European Union.

Your partner is really excited about the opportunity and has asked whether you could quit
your job and move to Amsterdam. The new job pays extremely well, so well that the two of
you could maintain a comfortable standard of living in Amsterdam and pay off your student
debts even if you didn’t work for the entire duration of the contract. While you would enjoy
living in a cosmopolitan city like Amsterdam, you have no desire to be an unemployed tag-
along in a foreign country where you do not speak the language. Moving would make things
very difficult for you both personally and professionally. Medical licensing restrictions would
prevent you from practicing in the Netherlands until you could pass the required exams. You
would need to spend at least a year studying for the exams, not to mention learning Dutch.
Even then the pass rate is extremely low. You are doing quite well in your current job and
derive tremendous satisfaction from it. You are not keen to give up the promising career path
you see before you.

While you support your partner’s career aspirations, you can’t help but feel angered and hurt
by his/her request. You thought you had a plan for what would happen after he/she graduated.
Now, not only is your partner breaking the agreement, he/she is asking you to sacrifice your
professional goals for his/hers. This seems rather selfish. With his/her knowledge and talent,
there’s no reason why he/she can’t find a good job in India. In fact, you are certain his/her
previous employer would gladly hire him/her back. Your partner might even be given more
responsibility, a better salary and advancement opportunities because of the MBA. While the
compensation would probably not be as good as the offer from the multinational, the amount
you would earn with both of you working would be sufficient to maintain a relatively
comfortable lifestyle and pay off your student loans. However, you think money should not be
the only consideration.

If your partner accepts the job offer, you could continue living in separate countries for the
length of the contract, which is three years. However, the extensive travel requirements of the
job would prevent him/her returning to India more than twice a year. It would be equally
difficult for you to visit him/her given the demands of your work and the difficulty of aligning
with his/her travel schedule. You do not want to be apart from your partner for much longer
and feel that continued separation with infrequent visits is likely to place too much strain on
your relationship. You believe it is in the best interests of the relationship for your partner to
return to India.

The decision of whether your partner should take the job and where to live also impacts other
life decisions you make together. You have talked about having kids and starting a joint
business venture in the healthcare industry—with you as Chief Technical Officer and your
partner as Chief Executive Officer. You had envisioned that your partner would return after
completing the MBA, and three years later you would have a child. This would give your
partner plenty of time to settle into whatever job he/she finds in India before starting a family.

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Then two years after that (five years from now), you would start a business together. This
would provide ample time to develop professional contacts, consolidate your work experience
and get through the new parent phase before launching a new venture.

If you were to give up your current job and move to the Netherlands, you think it would be
best to leave starting a family until you move back to India at the end of your partner’s three-
year contract. This way you would have time to adjust to the foreign environment as well as to
study for the licensing exams and hopefully find a job of your own in Amsterdam. Once back
in India, you can count on the support of your respective families to help with the baby.
Within a couple of years, you could launch your new business venture together (five years
from now) as by then your child would be in day care or at nursery school facility. If forced
to choose between waiting five years to have a baby so that you can start running your new
business, or having a baby once you arrive in Amsterdam while struggling to settle into a new
place, you definitely prefer the latter.

If your partner accepts the job in Amsterdam and you remain in India in your current job, you
believe it would be best to start the business venture when he/she returns in three years. By
then your expertise and professional network would be well established, and with your partner
by your side you would be poised for success. After giving yourselves two more years to get
the business going, you would be ready to start a family (five years from now).

You and your partner need to reach agreement on each of the following five issues:
1. The student’s job offer
2. The doctor’s current job
3. Living arrangements
4. Family planning
5. Launch of the joint business venture

Your goal is to come up with the best possible agreement for you and your relationship. The
attached Points Sheet provides a confidential “scoring system” to illustrate which outcomes
are of greatest and least importance to you. Your preferred outcomes are worth more points;
your least preferred outcomes are worth zero or less. You can score up to 3700 points
depending on how each of the five issues is resolved. If you are unable to reach agreement on
all five issues, your total score for the negotiation is zero.

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POINTS SHEET – MEDICAL DOCTOR

CONFIDENTIAL – DO NOT SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT POINTS WITH THE OTHER PARTY

ISSUE OPTIONS POINTS

MBA Student’s Accept offer 0

Job Offer Reject offer 500

Medical Doctor’s Keep current job 1000

Current Job Give up current job -500

If my partner accepts
Live together in the
the job offer AND I 1200
Netherlands
give up my job…

If my partner rejects
Living Live together in
the job offer AND I 1200
Arrangements India
keep my job…

If my partner accepts
the job offer AND I Live apart -800
keep my job…

Now 300
If we live together in
3 years from now 500
the Netherlands…
5 years from now 0

Now 0
If we live together in
Family Planning 3 years from now 500
India…
5 years from now 300

Now 0
If we live apart… 3 years from now 300
5 years from now 500

Now 0
If we live together in
3 years from now 300
the Netherlands…
5 years from now 500

Now 0
Joint Business If we live together in
3 years from now 300
Venture Launch India…
5 years from now 500

Now 0
If we live apart… 3 years from now 500
5 years from now 300

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EXAMPLE OF POINTS CALCULATION

CONFIDENTIAL – DO NOT SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT POINTS WITH THE OTHER PARTY

How many points would you receive if you and your partner agree:
x He/she rejects the job offer
x Your keep your current job
x You both live together in India
x You start a family 3 years from now, and
x You start a joint business venture 3 years from now?

ISSUE OPTION POINTS

MBA Student’s Job Offer Reject offer 500

Medical Doctor’s Current Job Keep current job 1000

Living Arrangements Live together in India 1200

Family Planning 3 years from now 500

Joint Business Venture Launch 3 years from now 300

TOTAL 3500

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PREPARATION WORKSHEET

CONFIDENTIAL – DO NOT SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT POINTS WITH THE OTHER

PARTY AT ANY TIME BEFORE, DURING OR AFTER YOUR NEGOTIATION

The below worksheet can be used to consider options you might select for each issue and the points
you would obtain.

ISSUE OPTIONS POINTS A B C

Student’s Job Accept offer 0
Offer Reject offer 500

Doctor’s Keep current job 1000

Current Job Give up current job -500
Live together in
1200
Netherlands
Living
Live together in
Arrangement 1200
India
Live apart -800
Netherlands India Apart

Family Now 300 0 0

Planning 3 years from now 500 500 300
5 years from now 0 300 500
Netherlands India Apart

Joint Business Now 0 0 0

Venture 3 years from now 300 300 500
5 years from now 500 500 300
TOTAL
POINTS

Remember:
x Options are NOT independent:
o Options selected for (1) the Student’s job offer and (2) the Doctor’s current job
determine (3) the living arrangement.
o Options selected for (3) the living arrangement determine your preferences for (4)
family planning and (5) your joint business venture.
x If you cannot reach consensus on all 5 issues, your score for the entire negotiation is 0.
o Maximum points you can obtain: 3700
x Bring this preparation worksheet with you to your negotiation.
Do not share point values with the other party before, during or after the negotiation.

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