NAME: EGBALOSHU SADIQ ABDULAHI

I.D NUM: BBM-F1308-0314

COURSE NEGOTIATION TECHNIQUES
LECTURER: MR. SUREN DEV

2 | P a g e

Table of Content
Topic Pages
Q1: Define parties and their goals and issues. 3
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
countries? 4-5
Q3: Should company accept the requests? What is your suggestion? 6
Q4: Compare and contrast the negotiation techniques used for two different requests. 7
Q5: What kind of preparations would you have for the negotiation meetings? 8
References 9

3 | P a g e

Question 1
Negotiation is dialogue between two or more disputant who are trying to find solutions to their
problems. Parties involved in negotiation admit that their problem that needed to be solved.
The negotiating parties will meet with each of them stating their desired outcome but often
they are well negotiated before both terms agree to terms (Roy et al, 1999). In Petro Trans
context, the two parties involve here is the employees and employers.
An employee is a person who works in the service of another person under an express or
implied contract of hire, under which the employer has the right to control the details of work
performance while an Employer is a person, firm, corporation, contractor, or other association
or organization that employs individuals for payment. However negotiation without a desired
or envision goal is like a running in the without shoes, the goal of two parties in question here is
to achieve best possible result that will favour them. The employees goal here is an increment
in their salaries and wages and a face lift in their quality work life while the employers goal is to
maximally retain profit by making optimizing the use of employees. The combination of issues
and importance from each side decides the negotiation agenda. It is also important to keep
those agendas low at first and share the information strategically later on (Fisher and Ury,
1991).

4 | P a g e

Question 2
In these two branches which is India and America, there are vast differences between these
two when it comes to negotiation and the only important similarities between them is that they
both want to achieve the best possible outcome in the negotiation. Achieving the best they can
they get from a best negotiated agreement is very important to both branches negotiation
culture as the priority of every negotiation is a win-win situation (Fisher and Ury, 1991).
However, it is important for to keep in mind that these negotiation involve two international
branches with different culture, beliefs and ways of life, therefore, it is certain that the
difference in their negotiation methods will be divers (Salacuse, 2003). Some of the differences
are considered here
(a). Negotiators from different cultures view the purpose of a negotiation differently. For
negotiators from India, the goal of a business negotiation is personal and they try to establish a
relationship using the Co-opt the other party approach which is based it is hard to attack or go
hard on your friend while Americans only establish rapport quickly and then move in to
negotiation proper.

(b). Negotiating attitude: win-lose or win-win
Due to the differences in culture, personality or both, Americans only negotiate for a mutual
gain whenever is possible reflecting their less greediness attitude towards the outcome in
which both can gain while Indians always are the win-lose type which makes the process one
sided and hostile. Although, they are tough in negotiating with because of their culture and
beliefs such as been a mixture of nationalist and combination if different religious beliefs.
(c). Americans are time sensitive, therefore they are always on time, make decisions quick
because they belief in the saying of time is money while Indians conduct their negotiation
process with pleasure and in a slow pace (Salacuse, 2003).
(d). Personal style: informal or formal. This refers to the way in which negotiators talk and
interact with others, use titles, and dress. Negotiators from India practice and adhere to formal
procedures but the atmosphere is friendly and much more relaxed while US negotiators does
5 | P a g e

not like formality in negotiation. All they concern themselves about is for their interest to be
realized (Salacuse, 2003).

6 | P a g e

Question 3
I suggest that the company should accept their request to some extent after considering some
factors. Petro Trans should listen to its employees and negotiate with them by using Collective
bargaining which is the most appropriate negotiating process between management and
unions to settle a variety of issues, including wages, hours, plant and safety rules, and grievance
procedures(Fisher and Ury, 1991).
As the chief negotiator, it is important to let the employees know the present situation of the
company financial state despite failure in the past promises. Although, each side is obligated by
law to negotiate in good faith, which generally means openness and fairness and because of
that the company must negotiate to terms with the employees by listening to their plight,
giving them opening an offer on the and from there discover their resistance point. Also, the
organisation must not forget the labour laws protecting employees, so they must be treated
fairly. Both sides lay out their positions, which usually start far apart to give each side plenty of
bargaining room. If everything works, the two sides come together and sign a new contract, but
if nothing binding happens, if the employees do not get satisfaction, it can resort to
continuation in the strike which will definitely affect the company more.

7 | P a g e

Question 4
As the Petro Trans chief negotiator, starting with an offer that is reasonably low to negotiate
the requests, that they will never agree to and from there the company can re-consider the
opening offer by moving close to their resistance point or beyond the point; this is often called
Low ball tactics (Roy, J. et al 2010). Negotiations like this involving creating and claiming value.
First, the negotiators should work cooperatively or use interest based approach to create value
that is enlarge the pie but then they must use competitive processes to claim value that is,
divide up the pie which means this negotiation is involving claiming value by the employees on
their right, therefore cooperative approach must be use and then split the pie while negotiating
probably for both parties and be on a win-win situation (Lax and Sebenius, 1991).
Negotiating separately is the best option in this situation even though they are requesting for
similar thing but because of the differences in culture, ideas and customs which are always
consider first in every international negotiation. In order for the best outcome to be achieved,
each branch must be addressed and well evaluated based on their society. (Salacuse, 2003).
The standard of living in India is quite low compared to the US, which will be in benefit of Petro
Trans and on the other the increment in wages and salaries will also be low as a result low
currency power. Reverse is the case when negotiating with US because of their effective Labour
Union which will make it impossible for Petro Trans to treat the employees below the set
standard of the union. Also, in the US culture, equal right is the order of the day making it more
difficult to overlook some employee complaints. Therefore, it will be of benefit if the company
negotiates separately with the two branches because it will reduce the monetary commitment
that will be needed by the organisation to put this request into action.


8 | P a g e

Question 5
Effective planning is crucial to meeting negotiation objectives. If the parties are to reach a
stable agreement, specific events must take place before the parties ever come to the table.
(a). It is vital to conduct some background research on the issues on ground. The negotiator can
go as far as reaching on what their counterpart are doing for the quality work life of employees
and percentage of wages and salaries.
(b). The problem or issue must frame the problem, and recognize that they have a common
problem that they share an interest in solving. Frames are the conceptions that parties have of
the situation and its risks. They allow the parties to begin to develop a shared definition of the
issues involved, and the process needed to resolve them (Lewicki et al, 1999).
(c). In the early stages of framing, as the chief negotiator of Petro Trans the goals must be
determined, anticipate what they want to achieve, and prepare for the negotiation process.
They must define the issues to be discussed and analyze the conflict situation.
Finally, planning involves assessing the other party's priorities and interests and trying to get a
better idea of what that party is likely to want. Negotiators should gather background
information about the other party's current needs, resources, and interests. This can be done
through preliminary interviews or consultations with those who have dealt with this situation
with the Labour party in the past. In addition, negotiators need to understand the other party's
objectives. Professional negotiators will often exchange information about targets or initial
proposals before negotiations begin. And the BATNA must be made known and well
communicated to all the parties involve for it will promote better position for the part with
highest alternatives (Lax and Sebenius, 1991).


9 | P a g e

REFERENCES
Fisher R., and Ury W., (1991) Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. 2
nd
edn,
Bruce Patton, New York: Penguin Books
Lax D., James K., and Sebenius, (1986) The Manager as Negotiator: Bargaining for Cooperation
and Competitive Gain. New York The Free Press.
Roy J. L., David M., Saunders and John W. M., (1999) Negotiation, 3
rd
Edn, San Francisco: Irwin
McGraw-Hill
Salacuse J., (2004) The Global Negotiator: Making, Managing and Mending Deals Around the
World, Palgrave, MacMillan Publishers
Salacuse, J. W. (2003) The Global Negotiator: Making, managing, and mending deals around the
world in the twenty-rst century. New York, Palgrave Macmillan Publishers