analyze a real-world negotiation that you have participated in during the second half of the course. For this negotiation you should negotiate something of personal value to you. Your paper should report on your plan, your strategy, and the negotiation results. You can negotiate for anything you would like—a salary from a potential employer, your monthly rent, a hotel room, a fancy new watch, the location of your next vacation, etc. I only ask that you take it seriously, make it something relevant to your life, and have concrete learning objectives in mind.
NOTE: If you want, you can also negotiate several separate things, although if you choose to do this, you need to link the different experiences together in your paper. For example, you could negotiate several smaller things with different strategies and compare and contrast the results. Or you could negotiate one consumer item and one personal issue and explore the differences. Again, the specifics of what you do are less important than doing something that is of value to you and putting in a reasonable amount of effort.
Here are the rules:
Do not reveal the assignment: You can’t use lame pleas like, “Please just help me out, this is for a class….” You may not disclose this information until the negotiation is complete.
No purchase necessary: You do not have to buy anything to complete this assignment. You may choose to be the seller or enter a negotiation that does not involve financial terms.
Good faith effort: It must be possible and you must be willing (at some price or under some conditions) to acquire the item for which you are negotiating. Don’t try to buy a house for five bucks or convince your friends to go to Siberia instead of the Seychelles for winter break.
New negotiation: You are required to conduct this negotiation during the next four weeks so that you can apply the knowledge that you have gained in the course.
Boundaries: You cannot use negotiation tactics that may be considered unethical, illegal, or potentially harmful to yourself or others.
Failure is an option: Often, we learn as much from negotiations that fail as those that succeed. However, if you do fail, please seek feedback from your counterpart on how you could have negotiated more effectively—and write about what you learned.
Guidelines for Writing the Final Paper:
Facts. Give a basic descriiption of the facts of the negotiation. What interesting or surprising things happened? Give enough information for me to understand your subsequent reflection and analysis, but do not spend more than a quarter of the paper simply reciting the facts.
Reflection and Analysis. This should be the most significant aspect of your paper. We have been practices post negotiation analyses in reflective writing for the past several weeks. Some issues to address include:
Mistakes. What did you do that you should not have done (i.e., opened too soon; trusted too much, made a concession too quickly) and/or what did you not do that you should have done (i.e., asked more questions, closed with more clarity, etc.)?
Insights into your personal style/habits/instincts. What personal insights can you take away from this experience to improve for next time? Use the facts to support your analysis.
Insights into your negotiating counterparty. Analyze your counterparty’s behavior in detail. Was your partner skilled? What did he or she do well? How did you size up your counterparty and adjust your strategy? Did it work?
Tools/Concepts/Models/Readings. This part typically distinguishes your grades between A and B. How, if at all, did this negotiation relate to the negotiation tools, tactics, concepts, readings, research, or conceptual models we have learned about in class?
Formatting Requirements: Your submission should follow all academic writing rules including appropriate in-text citations and references. 4-5 double-spaced pages. 12-point Times New Roman font. Files must be in Word (.doc or .docx).