The activity that we did in class on Monday was very fun.  We spent the class negotiating a contract for a book company and a new author.  Before negotiating the deal I made sure that I looked over the point system on the back of the chart and got a feel for what I wanted to ask for.  During the negotiation I let the author tell me what she wanted, and then we tried to find a common ground.  My partner demanded a lot out of the deal, but I stood my ground to make sure that I could make as much money as I could for my company.  In regards to how many countries she wanted to release her book to as well as the number of book clubs that will adapt her book, I let her believe that I was complying with her needs, even though I was benefiting from the decision as well.  This way, when I wanted something more from the deal, I would be able to tell her that I had thus far complied with that she wanted.  Before reaching the final agreement, we had some difficulty figuring out how much the author should receive for the signing bonus and the advance.  She wanted both an advance as well as a signing bonus.  I told her that I was not going to be able to do that.  However she then wanted the maximum amount for the signing bonus since I said I was only giving her one or the other.  We both sat in silence for a little bit each of us hoping that the other would give in.  After about five minutes of silence she finally spoke and said that she would settle with no advance and a $20,000 signing bonus if I gave let her only produce 3 books.  I agreed to this because this is what I wanted to begin with. 

When analyzing the classes results for this negotiation, I was able to see where me and my partner fell in terms of creating value for us individually, as well as collectively.  I was pleased to see that I did pretty well with creating value for myself and my company (bestbooks).  In terms of creating value for me and my partner collectively, we didn't do so well.  If we had communicated more and found out our common interests we would have been able to help each other out hand in hand and possible maximize profit for the both of us.  Even though my partner and I were unable to create value for each other collectively, I was still pleased to see that I did well with creating value for myself.