Week of 2/1/2012

This week in class we did two negotiations exercises.  The exercise that we did today (2/1/2012) was very different from past exercises.  Before even participating in this exercise I found the content of the case to be very confusing.  This exercise was different because we weren't negotiating on a selling/buying price.  We had to really understand the detail of the case before even starting to negotiate.  In the Phillips Crawley case I played the role of Crawley.  I ended up compromising to what the Phillips representative wanted as soon as we got to meet.  I was under the impression that I needed to comply with the Phillips representative because a) it seemed that the issue that we were facing what my fault.  b) we were a team working under the same "umbrella" and regardless it didn't matter who was right or who was wrong because in the end both of our efforts are what makes the final product, which ultimately makes both of us money.  I felt that by some of the other teams going in and really looking to be competitive and do what was best from them really wasn't going to work out for them.  I did realize that I was a little bit taken advantage of in my particular negotiation.  I agreed to have my modules screened before they are delivered to the Phillips plant.  That was probably not the most cost effective way to settle this dispute.  This negotiation really taught me that there are a lot more things that we as business men and women will have to negotiate about other than a buying/selling price.  As well as that you really have to pay attention to every single detail on your end so that you are able to put up a better argument.