N12 Best practices in Negotiations

Chapter 12 Best practices in Negotiations

This chapter examines various aspects of a growing field of negotiation that explores the complexities of international and cross-cultural negotiation. International negotiation has become the norm rather than an exotic activity that only occasionally occurs. It begins with two important factors that make the international negotiation different. They are environmental context and immediate context. Both of them have the significant effect on the processes of international negotiation. The chapter discusses how to conceptualizing culture and introduce two approaches to examine it. One is to understand the values and norms of culture and another is to understand all cultures contain dimensions. It illustrates the effect of culture on negotiation outcomes, negotiation process, and negotiator cognition and negotiator ethics.

L12 Leading through Effective External Relations

Chapter 12 Leading through Effective External Relations

In this chapter we will learn to do developing an external relations strategy. Leading through effective external relations points out that a positive public image or reputation affects a company’s ability to achieve success. It provides approaches to projects a positive image in public from four aspects. First, there are seven steps to guide you in addressing the entire range of external audiences. Second, leaders of organizations must have high consciousness to building and maintaining a positive corporate image. Third, good relationship with the news media also can bring a positive effect on corporation because the news is an important media to publicize the company’s reputation. Final, every company will face the crisis. The fact shows that positive relationship with the media can make it easier in managing the crisis.

N11 International Cross Culture Negotiation

Chapter 11 International Cross Culture Negotiation

This chapter examines various aspects of a growing field of negotiation that explores the complexities of international and cross-cultural negotiation. International negotiation has become the norm rather than an exotic activity that only occasionally occurs. It begins with two important factors that make the international negotiation different. They are environmental context and immediate context. Both of them have the significant effect on the processes of international negotiation. The chapter discusses how to conceptualizing culture and introduce two approaches to examine it. One is to understand the values and norms of culture and another is to understand all cultures contain dimensions. It illustrates the effect of culture on negotiation outcomes, negotiation process, and negotiator cognition and negotiator ethics.

L11 Leadership Through Strategic Internal Communication

Chapter 11 Leadership Through Strategic Internal Communication

This chapter focuses on establishing leadership through communicating effectively with an organization’s internal audiences. It describes the strategic role employee communication can play by ensuring that employees are well informed and, therefore, positioned to contribute to the success of the organization.

The leader in this situation will be inspiring cultural change, a transformation in the way group decision makers think about their own operations and behave toward other group leaders.

Communication helps shape the culture of any organization, and effective internal communication is absolutely essential to bring about any transformation in that culture.

In Conclusion, from the day-to-day exchanges to the major efforts associated with organizational change, internal communication is important to success of any organization. The strategy for internal communication consists of the basic components of any effective communication strategy, such as audience analysis, targeted messages, and appropriate media, but it is also much more than processes and products. Leaders need all their leadership communication abilities to inspire, motivate, and guide employees to support their visions and their goals for the organization.

N10 Multiple parties and teams

Chapter 10 Multiple parties and teams

Multiple parties and teams in this chapter, we examine how dynamics change when groups, teams, and task forces have to present individual views and come to a collective agreement about a problem, plan, or future course of action.

One theme that runs through all forms of multiparty negotiation is the need to actively monitor and manage negotiation process situations that are significantly more complex than two-party negotiations. There is a brief set of questions that any participant in negotiations involving coalitions, multiple parties, or teams should keep in mind:

:  What are the consequences of the parties failing to agree due to the increased complexities? What happens if there is no agreement?

:  How will the parties involved actually make a decision? That is, what decision rules will be used? Why are these the best possible rules?

: How can the parties use iterations-multiple rounds of discussion-to achieve their objectives?

: Do we need a designated chair or facilitator? Should it be a neutral outsider, or can one of the parties fill this role? What tactics can a facilitator use to manage group process in order to ensure that the best decision is reached?

L10 High-performance team leadership

Chapter 10 High-performance team leadership

            In this chapter, we learn that, because teams are so commonly found in most organizations today, there is need for managers to learn how best to work with teams and to help ensure that teams perform at their peak.

            There is need for careful thought to be put into deciding whether to form a team for a particular purpose to meet a particular need, or to work through individuals acting alone and once the decision to form a team is made, there is need to ensure that the team has focus and delivers the results for which it was formed.

            Managers need to understand the people side of teams and learn how to address issues such as cultural differences, different personality types within the group and varying expectations of members from the team and the team experience.

            In the organized private sector here in Nigeria, there is a prevalence of teams in many organizations. There are sales teams, marketing teams; production teams etc. focused on helping organizations achieve their set goals and objectives. Hence, understanding team dynamics is crucial to one’s success as a manager.

N9 Relationships in Negotiation

Chapter 9 Relationships in Negotiation

Negotiation is about the relationship between two or more parties. Those relationship always affect the negotiation process. Here are several ways that an existing relationship context changes negotiation dynamics. First, negotiating within relationships takes place over time. It is a way to learn more about the other party and increase interdependence. Relation of simple distributive issues has implications for the future and it can be emotionally hot. Negotiating within relationships may never end. In many negotiations, the other person is the focal problem and in some negotiations, have relationship preservation

Key elements in managing negotiations within relationships are reputation, trust, and justice. First, reputation is how other people remember their past experience with you. Second, trust is an individual’s belief in and willingness to act on the words, actions and decisions of another. Final, the third major issue in relationships is the question of what is fair or just.

Those three elements in relationships interaction in shaping expectations of the other’s behavior. They are all central to relationship negotiations and feed each other, we cannot understand negotiation within complex relationships without prominently considering how we judge the other on these dimensions.

L9 Meeting: Leadership and Productivity

Chapter 9 Meeting: Leadership and Productivity

This chapter will help leaders and other meeting planners avoid the seven deadly sins of meetings.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Meetings

1.       People don’t take meetings seriously.

2.       Meetings are too long.

3.       People wander off the topic.

4.       Nothing happens once the meeting ends.

5.       People don’t tell the truth.

6.       Meetings are always missing important information, so they postpone critical decisions.

7.       Meetings never get better.

Meetings can be small or large, internal or external, frequent or infrequent. Meeting leaders or planners need to define a clear purpose and analyze the audience to determine whether a meeting is the best forum for what they want to accomplish.

Meetings often have multiple objectives, but effective meetings, like good presentations and e-mails, usually have one main overall purpose. The purpose of an informational meeting could be as significant as introducing a new vision or as mundane as providing a progress report intended to expedite a project.

In determining the agenda topics and the meeting tasks, leaders need to estimate the time it will take to cover each topic and accomplish each objective as realistically as possible.

Selecting the right attendees is important to the success of a meeting. The attendees we invite should be the ones who can contribute to achieving our objectives.

Leaders will want to consider the best setting for the kind of meeting they plan to lead. The setting considerations should include locations, equipment, and layout of the room.

The meeting will be more productivity if the attendees know and use common problem-solving tools: Deciding on the Decision-Making Approach, Clarifying Leader and Attendees Roles and Responsibilities, Establishing Meeting Ground Rules, and Using Common Problem-Solving Approach.

Leaders will be able to stop or at least minimize most of the usual meetings problem by careful planning and by developing and enforcing ground rules. Skilled facilitators should be prepared to (1) handle some of the most common meeting problems, (2) manage meeting conflict, and (3) deal with issues arising from cultural differences.

Ensuring That Meetings Lead to Action: Assign specific tasks to specific people, Review all actions and responsibilities at the end of the meeting, Provide a meeting summary with assigned deliverable included, and Follow up on action items in a reasonable time.

N8 Ethics in Negotiation

Chapter 8 Ethics in Negotiation

In this chapter shows what the ethical standards for behavior are in negotiations. A successful negotiator should choose the moral behavior when negotiate with people and should understand what factors must be considered. The chapter begins with the nature of ethics and it discusses negotiation tactics that bring issues of ethicality into play. Then it turns to a discussion of why such tactics are tempting and what the consequences are of succumbing to that temptation. Final, the chapter suggests several options to choose when we think the other party may be using deceptive tactics.

L8 Building and leading high performance teams

Chapter 8 Building and leading high performance teams

In this chapter, we learn that, because teams are so commonly found in most organizations today, there is need for managers to learn how best to work with teams and to help ensure that teams perform at their peak.

There is need for careful thought to be put into deciding whether to form a team for a particular purpose to meet a particular need, or to work through individuals acting alone and once the decision to form a team is made, there is need to ensure that the team has focus and delivers the results for which it was formed.

Managers need to understand the people side of teams and learn how to address issues such as cultural differences, different personality types within the group and varying expectations of members from the team and the team experience.

In the organized private sector here in Nigeria, there is a prevalence of teams in many organizations. There are sales teams, marketing teams, production teams etc. focused on helping organizations achieve their set goals and objectives. Hence, understanding team dynamics is crucial to one’s success as a manager.

N7 Finding and Using Negotiation Power

Chapter 7 Finding and Using Negotiation Power

There were two major ways to think about power: "power over," which suggests that power is fundamentally dominating and coercive in nature, and "power with," suggesting that power is jointly shared with the other party to collectively develop joint goals and objectives. There is a great tendency to see and define power as the former, but as we have discussed in this chapter and our review of the basic negotiation strategies, "power with" is critical to successful integrative negotiation.

Five major sources of power:

1.             Informational sources of power (information and expertise).

2.             Personal sources of power (psychological orientation, cognitive orientation, motivational orientation, certain dispositions, and moral orientation and skills).

3.             Position-based sources of power (legitimate power and resource control).

4.             Relationship-based power (goal interdependence and referent power and networks).

5.             Contextual sources of power (availability of BATNAs, availability of agents, and the organizational or national culture in which the negotiation occurs).

Two key points. First, while it has presented many vehicles for attaining power in this chapter, it must be remembered that power can be highly elusive and fleeting in negotiation. Almost anything can be a source of power if it gives the negotiator a temporary advantage over the other party (e.g., a BATNA or a piece of critical information). Second, power is only the capacity to influence; using that power and skillfully exerting influence on the other requires a great deal of sophistication and experience. 

L7 Leading productive management meetings

Chapter 7 Leading productive management meetings

With managers spending between 70 and 90 percent of their workday communicating, a great deal of this time is spent in business meetings.

When meetings last too long or attendees fail to take meetings seriously or wander of topic during meetings, meetings tend to lose their value in organizations.

Hence, it is essential that managers learn how to plan properly for meetings, manage meeting problems and conflicts effectively and ensure that meetings to into positive action for the organization.

L6 Graphics and PowerPoint with a Leadership Edge

Chapter 6 Graphics and PowerPoint with a Leadership Edge

As being mentioned on the step of presentation, adding appropriate graphics to a presentation could help individual reach audience easily. The leaders can use graphics to improve presentations and documents, particularly if the material is structural, so complicated that it can be illustrated more efficiently and more effectively with a visual aid that with words alone. When select appropriately and designed carefully, graphics embody and carry the meanings that create the messages. Also, leaders use visuals that are integral to the communication of their intended meanings.

Also, graphics will contribute to the success of the oral and written communication because it makes presentation more persuasive. Knowing how to deliver messages effectively with words and pictures is a powerful tool for leader.

When using graphics and PowerPoint in the presentation, they should always be purposeful. In other words, graphics should make the content more understandable; emphasize the main ideas expressed by the speaker. Concept graphics are also useful in clarifying ideas and in creating mental pictures for the audience. Graphics normally work better to help an audience understand relationships and concepts of presentation.

For graphics adding to the presentation, the data and text charts should be simple enough for audience to understand easily, and convey the messages clearly and effectively to the audiences. Individual should ensure choosing the most effective colors and fonts, which do not distract audiences.

To summarize, the goal of having graphics in presentation is to aid the audiences in understanding the data and central message of presentation. Graphics should be chosen purposefully and make the presentation more persuasive. Leaders should use graphics to support the message and PowerPoint as the tool it is intended to be. Using correct graphics design will provide a leadership edge and help individual project a positive ethos.

N6 Communication

Chapter 6 Communication

In this chapter, have considered elements of the art and science of communication that are relevant to understanding negotiations. Began with model of two-party interaction that shows communication as a transactional that cycles between the parties and is prone to error and distortion at various points. Such distortions are more likely to occur when communicating parties have conflicting goals and objectives or strong feelings of dislike for one another. Distortion may occur as information is encoded, transmitted, decoded, and interpreted. During all stages of the communication cycle between two parties, problems of "noise" or interference potentially affect the accuracy and clarity with which messages and responses are sent and received.

Then moved to a discussion of what is communicated during negotiation. Rather than simply being an exchange of preferences about solutions, negotiations covers a wide-ranging number of topics in an environment where each party is trying to influence the other. This was followed by an exploration of three issues related to how people communicate in negotiation: the characteristics of language, nonverbal communication, and the selection of a communication channel. We discussed at some length how the decision to negotiate in online environments (e.g., e-mail) alters negotiator behavior and outcomes.

In the closing sections of the chapter, considered ways to improve communication in negotiation, including improvement of listening skills and the use of questions, and special communication considerations at the close of negotiation, where we discussed avoiding last minute mistakes and achieving closure.

N5 Perception, Cognition, and Emotion

Chapter 5 Perception, Cognition, and Emotion

The first portion of the chapter presented a brief overview of the perceptual process and discussed four types of perceptual distortions: stereotyping, halo effects, selective perception, and projection. Then turned to a discussion of how framing influences perceptions in negotiation and how reframing and issue development both change negotiator perceptions during negotiations.

The chapter then reviewed the research findings from one of the most important recent areas of inquiry in negotiation, that of cognitive biases in negotiation. The effects of 12 different cognitive biases were discussed: irrational escalation of commitment, mythical fixed-pie beliefs, anchoring and adjustment, framing, availability of information, the winner's curse, overconfidence, the law of small numbers, self-serving biases, endowment effects, ignoring others' cognitions, and reactive devaluation. This was followed by consideration of ways to manage misperception and cognitive biases in negotiation, an area that has received relatively little research attention. In a final section of the chapter, considered mood and emotion in negotiation, which provides an important alternative to cognitive and perceptual processes for understanding negotiation behavior.

L5 Leadership Presentation

Chapter 5 Leadership Presentation

Using Graphical & Power Point for a Leadership Edge

This chapter gives us an insight to the following;

1. Recognize when to use graphics

2. Select & design effective data charts

3. Create meaningful and effective text layouts

4. Employ fundamental graphic content & design principles

5. Make the most of PowerPoint as a design and presentation tools

Further breakdowns of the above insights on this chapter are stated below. 

1) When to use graphics in presentations are as follows;

• Reinforce the message 

• Provide a roadmap to the structure

• Illustrate relationships or concepts visually

• Support an assertion

• Emphasize important ideas

• Maintain and enhance interest

2) When to select and design effective data charts are as follows;

• Pie = Compare proportions and relative amounts

• Bars = Convey absolute value data, relative sizes, or close comparisons

• Step or waterfall = Convey differences

• Histograms = Show  what’s typical or exceptional

• Line = Demonstrate trends or interactions between variables

• Scatter Plot = Illustrate how well one thing predicts another

3) Create meaningful and effective text layouts; it is important that when developing a presentation slide, the text layout is very visible and clear. It is also important that a slide is not heavily populated with too much information.

4) Employ fundamental graphic content & design principles: there are basic tips on how a slide; see below

a) How to design a slide;

• Keep it simple:  Remember “Less is more” 

• Have only one message per slide

• Make sure the slide title captures the “so what?” 

• Select graphics that support the message 

• Use shading to guide audience to the message

• Use animation only if it reinforces the message

b) How to use colors in slides;

• Dark background (dark blue to black)

• White, cream, yellow, or gold font

• Arial or similar sans serif font

• At least 20 point font size for text, depending on size of the room

• 28+ font size for titles, depending on room

c) Colors and fonts to avoid;

• White background

• Black serif font

• All caps in titles or text

• Initial caps except in titles

• Underlining of text

• Red font on blue backgrounds

In summary, the study of this chapter will help improve your power point presentation skills. 

N4 Negotiation: Strategy and Planning

Chapter 4 Negotiation: Strategy and Planning

Planning is a critically important activity in negotiation. As we noted at the outset, however, negotiators frequently fail to plan for a variety of reasons. Effective planning allows negotiators to design a road map that will guide them to agreement. While this map may frequently need to be modified and updated as discussions with the other side proceed, and as the world around the negotiation changes, working from the map is far more effective than attempting to work without it.

This chapter began with a basic understanding of the concepts of strategy, and presented a model of negotiation strategy choice, returning to the familiar framework of the dual concerns model. Having described the model, we then discussed the importance of setting clear goals, based on the key issues at stake. A negotiator who carefully plans will make an effort to do the following:

1.             Understand the key issues that must be resolved in the upcoming negotiation.

2.             Assemble all the issues together and understand the complexity of the bargaining mix.

3.             Understand and define the key interests at stake that underlie the issues.

4.             Define the limits—the point where we will walk away or stop negotiating.

5.             Define the alternatives—other deals we could do if this deal does not work out.

6.             Clarify the target points to be achieved and the opening points—where we will begin the discussion.

7.             Understand my constituents and what they expect of me.

8.             Understand the other party in the negotiation— their goals, issues, strategies, interests, limits, alternatives, targets, openings, and authority.

9.             Plan the process by which I will present and "sell" my ideas to the other party (and perhaps to my own constituency).

10.         Define the important points of protocol in the process—the agenda, who will be at the table or observing the negotiation, where and when we will negotiate, and so on.

When negotiators are able to consider and evaluate each of these factors, they will know what they want and will have a clear sense of direction on how to proceed. This sense of direction, and the confidence derived from it, is a very important factor in affecting negotiating outcomes.

L4 Creating Written Leadership Communication

Chapter 4 Creating Written Leadership Communication

A leader has the ability to share knowledge and ideas to create a sense of urgency in the people they work with. Professionally written communication falls into one of two broad types: correspondence (text message, e-mails, blog posts, memos, and letters) and reports (including proposals, progress reviews, performance reports, and research documentation). Achieving the most effective communication medium, a leader must know the purpose of the message by creating individual and team written communication, organizing the content coherently, conforming to content and formatting expectations in correspondence, including expected content in reports, and formatting written communication effectively.

Connecting with social network is a good way for us to consider carefully how we want to approach social media and how we wish to present ourselves in these public situations such as writing on a blog. Organizing the content coherently, A professional audience expects order and logic in a document; they expect it to make sense to them, to be coherent, which is what we want our communication to do.

By conforming to content and formatting expectations in correspondence, we will determine the actual content of our letters, memos, e-mails, and text messages based on our purpose, strategy, and audience but these types carry some expectations such as including expected content in reports, Professional audiences also have expectations for longer documents and reports.

Formatting written communication effectively is a very important method in writing your message. Formatting is used in creating a professional appearance for all of our written communication. The frequent using of headings and lists to break up the text, separate main ideas, and avoid long blocks of text will make our documents more attractive to others people.

N3 Strategy and Tactics of Integrative Negotiation

Chapter 3 Strategy and Tactics of Integrative Negotiation

The fundamental structure of integrative negotiation is one within which the parties are able to define goals that allow both sides to achieve their objectives. Integrative negotiation is the process of defining these goals and engaging in a process that permits both parties to maximize their objectives.

The chapter began with an overview of the integrative negotiation process. A high level of concern for both sides achieving their own objectives propels a collaborative, problem-solving approach. Negotiators frequently fail at integrative negotiation because they fail to perceive the integrative potential of the negotiating situation. However, breakdowns also occur due to distributive assumptions about negotiating, the mixed-motive nature of the issues, the negotiators' previous relationship with each other, and short time perspectives. Successful integrative negotiation requires several processes. First, the parties must understand each other's true needs and objectives. Second, they must create a free flow of information and an open exchange of ideas. Third, they must focus on their similarities, emphasizing their commonalities rather than their differences. Finally, they must engage in a search for solutions that meet the goals of both sides. This is a very different set of processes from those in distributive bargaining. The four key steps in the integrative negotiation process are identifying and defining the problem, identifying interests and needs, generating alternative solutions, and evaluating and selecting alternatives.

The various factors that facilitate successful integrative negotiation. First, the process will be greatly facilitated by some form of common goal or objective. This goal may be one that the parties both want to achieve, one they want to share, or one they could not possibly attain unless they worked together. Second, they must have faith in their problem-solving ability. Third, the parties must be willing to believe that the other's needs are valid. Fourth, they must share a motivation and commitment to work together, to make their relationship a productive one. Fifth, they must be able to trust each other and to work hard to establish and maintain that trust. Sixth, there must be clear and accurate communication about what each one wants and an effort to understand the other's needs. Instead of talking the other out of his or her needs or failing to acknowledge them as important, negotiators must be willing to work for both their own needs and the other's needs to find the best joint arrangement. Finally, there must be an understanding of the dynamics of integrative negotiations.

In spite of all of these suggestions, integrative negotiation is not easy—especially for parties who are locked in conflict, defensiveness, and a hard-line position. Only by working to create the necessary conditions for integrative negotiation can the process unfold successfully. 

L3 The language of leader

Chapter 3 The language of leader

For leader, language is a tool of influence, lead and inspire others to take action. The essence of leadership communication is leader’s ability to influence audience positively. Leader needs to understand how to make an effective use of language as well as be confident in using the language. That confidence will resonate in the words and enhance his/her influence with all targeted audiences.

In this chapter, we are learning that in order to project a confident tone, leader needs to possess confident in both knowledge on the subject and in his/her ability to capture the content in the right words used in the right way. It is very important to know how best to use language for positive impact and to avoid a style that might create any negative responses in audiences. Leader needs to know how audiences perceived his/her writing style and tone. The more we can anticipate the audience’s response and hear how we sound to others, the better we will be able to control our tone and use it effectively to influence audiences.

Furthermore, besides creating a positive ethos, in order to make the language a positive tool in persuading others, make them trust and believe in his/her words, leader needs to make your communicating style persuasive, forceful and concise. Having said that, there are rules for writing style leaders can follow to make their communication not too wordy or too vague for audiences; the communication has to be meaningful and make a connection to audiences. Therefore, to develop effective communication, leader needs time to practice and learn how to develop the correct use of communication.

At last, most importantly before communicating words we prepare to audiences, leaders need to make an edit and proofread several times for the best communication. Read back over what you write to ensure that the words are clear and correct. 

N2 Strategy and Tactics of Distributive Bargaining

Chapter 2 Strategy and Tactics of Distributive Bargaining

Distributive Bargaining: Slicing the Pie

-     also known as competitive, adversarial, or win-lose bargaining

-     the goals of one party are usually in fundamental and direct conflict with the goals of the other party

-     resources are fixed & limited, and both parties want to maximize their share of the resources

-     one party tries to give information to the other party only when it provides a strategic advantage

-     negotiation power depends on the information one can gather about the other party

-     negotiating parties focus much on their differences that they ignore what they have in common

Basic Concepts

Target Point – the point at which a negotiator would like to conclude negotiations; his optimal goal or aspiration

Buyer’s Target Point (BT) – the optimal (lowest) price buyers would like to pay

Seller’s Target Point (ST) – the optimal (highest) price sellers would like to set

Resistance (or Reservation) Point – the negotiator’s bottom line

Buyer’s Resistance Point (BR) –the highest price buyers are willing to pay

Seller’s Resistance Point (SR) – the lowest price sellers are willing to set

Asking Price – the initial price set by the seller; seller’s opening bid

Initial Offer – the first price that the buyer will quote to the seller; buyer’s opening bid

Settlement Point – the price that both buyer and seller will agree upon

Bargaining Range – the spread between the resistance points; a.k.a. settlement range or zone of potential agreement

Bargaining Range Absolute Value – the difference between the buyer’s & seller’s resistance points

Fundamental Strategies:

I. Push for a settlement close to the other party’s resistance point

II. Influence the other party to change its resistance point

III. Convert a negative settlement range into a positive settlement range

IV. Convince the other party that your suggested settlement point is the best possible deal

BOTTOMLINE: discover and influence the other party’s resistance point

Positions Taken During Negotiation:

• Opening Offer

• Opening Stance

• Initial & Subsequent Concessions

• Final Offer

Establishing a Commitment:

• Public Pronouncement

• Linking with an Outside Base

• Increase the Prominence of Demands

• Reinforce the Threat or Promise

Closing the Deal:

• Provide Alternatives

• Assume the Close

• Split the Difference

• Exploding Offers

• Sweeteners

Hardball Tactics – designed to pressure negotiators to do things they would not otherwise do; work best against poorly-prepared negotiators

Dealing with Hardball Tactics:

• Ignore Them

• Discuss Them

• Respond in Kind

• Co-opt the Other Party

Typical Hardball Tactics:

• Good Cop/Bad Cop

• Lowball/Highball

• Bogey

• The Nibble

• Chicken

• Intimidation

• Aggressive Behavior

• Snow Job