Molly Cannon Cannon 1

Dr. McCafferty
HNR 304
4/17/2023

In negotiations, especially ones that will change someone’s livelihood, ethical concerns

can arise. Is your goal in the negotiation to “win the case” or to be a good person? Are you still

winning if you don’t consider ethics in your negotiation?

One case we had where ethics had to be considered was the Oil Pricing negotiation. This

negotiation was a group negotiation between two countries that were trying to set a price on their

oil. The twist, in this case, was that there was hardly any communication between the two

countries. If one country priced its oil lower than the other, then it would make more money, but

in return, if both countries set their oil price to the lowest available, then both countries would

make the least money possible in the long run. This caused the dilemma of having to trust that

the other side would not try to lowball their oil price so that both countries could continue to

price their oil at the highest price to make the most money. In the end, this is not what happened.

In my group, our reasoning was to start at the middle price point. We thought that the other

group would start with this too. They didn’t, instead, they started with the lowest price point. We

tried to set our price in the middle again in the next round and in that round, they met us in the

middle. This went on for a couple of rounds until the first round of communication occurred. In

this communication, both groups sent a representative to discuss with each other and determine a

price to set their oil at. The catch was that the profits this round doubled. We decided in our

group that if we both set our oil price to the highest price then both countries could make a

significant profit. We sent our representative out and they told the other our plan. They agreed

and shook hands. When we saw what the other country decided to price their oil at after this

negotiation we were surprised to see that they priced it at the lowest price possible, instead of the

highest price we agreed on. This made them gain way more profit than us. Obviously, the groups
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in this case had a very different ideas of ethics. Our group wanted to remain honest to build trust

throughout the negotiation which would make the most money for both sides if carried through

all the rounds. The other group was concerned with lowballing our offers and making the most

money instead of maintaining a good relationship. After the other country lied to us that round

both countries continued to set their prices at the lowest possible price because we could no

longer afford to trust them. This made the least money for both countries.

Another case where ethics had to be considered was the Author! Author! Case. This case

was a dispute between characters named Alex, Randy, and Mooki. Alex had told his idea about a

prosperous film plot to Randy and they agreed to work on this project together. Alex got caught

up in his internship and did not dedicate a lot of time to the project, but he also thought Randy

was in the same boat since Alex had not heard from Randy in a long time, even when Alex

would call and leave long-winded ideas for the movie on Randy’s answering machine. One day,

Alex discovered that a movie with an idea and name similar to his was being sold. He didn’t

understand how that could be happening and met with Randy.

At this meeting, Alex discovered that Randy had been working on the plot of Alex’s

movie this whole time with the assistance of his ex-girlfriend Mooki. Alex was obviously angry

about getting his idea stolen, and Mooki was upset at Randy for hardly helping with the work. In

this case, ethics is considered when deciding how to split the money between each person. I

played Alex in this case and my character has a very prosperous film internship that will most

likely make him a lot of money in the future if he continues to work hard and come up with good

ideas. On the other hand, Randy and Mooki are both struggling financially and are nowhere as

close to a big break in the film business. Do you have sympathy for Randy and Mooki and give

them a large portion of the money that this film will make? Or do you demand a larger portion of
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the money because you created the idea originally? In my case, I decided to let Randy and Mooki

get the larger portion of the money if I was allowed the “Story by:” credit. This credit was

important to get my name out in the film industry so I was not concerned much about the money.

Mooki and Alex would get the “Screenplay by:” credit which is arguably less noticed in the film

industry, but in return, they would get the bigger portion of the money.