Negotiation Skills Tamera Froese
Question: How would the principles of interest-based negotiation apply in
this situation? Your answer should address the following:
• Why should Mitch engage in interest-based negotiation instead of
positional bargaining? What are Mitch’s interests, and what are some of the
non-profit’s interests? What might some options for mutual gain be? (The
ability to generate creative options is a skill worth developing, so give it a
try here!) What kind of objective standard(s) might be useful in this
situation? What do you think should be Mitch’s Best Alternative to a
Negotiated Agreement (BATNA)? See if you can think of two credible
alternatives. If you were Mitch’s best friend, what advice would you give
him as he embarks on this negotiation?
Mitch may want to engage in interest-based negotiation instead of positional
bargaining because interest-based negotiation focuses on the interests instead of
what kind of position one would like to be in when negotiation. This would lead
Mitch to be able to negotiation things according to what he is interested such as the
topics, the amount of money he may be able to negotiate before he may choose to
go after the position. This would also allow for him to focus on picking out what
his interests in the job would be, the aspects he likes and doesn’t like allowing him
to weight his options clearly and negotiate what he might like to do int eh job such
as maybe continuing his freelancing along with doing the job required of him. Or
he could tie some of his freelancing experience into the job as well and negotiation
a higher pay if he utilizes his skills and knowledge of different news from different
areas that might draw in positive attention. And Interest based negotiation also
allows him to focus on different aspects of the job instead of just one piece of it
like a position based negation would do. Position based negotiation is a lot more
inflexible and looks at things from a very specific point of view unlike interest
based negotiation. Mitch can also use interest based negotiation to suit his personal
needs in a more advantageous way so that he can enjoy the job to fullest while
doing what he likes to do.
Mitch’s interests are in: business writing, being economically stable, interest int eh
reputation of the non for profit company, the organizations work, and personal
monetary worth. The interests for the non- profit are the environment in regards to
energy, money saving, a permanent communications expert that is willing to make
the salary they would be willing to offer.
Negotiation Skills Tamera Froese
Some options for mutual gains may be that both parties get what they want, Mitch
would have stable income and the non-profit organization would get a stable
communications expert. This means Mitch would no longer have to wonder where
his next paycheque is coming from and the non-profit does not have to worry about
finding someone for the communications expert every time they want an article
written. Another option for mutual gain is that the non-profit does not have to train
someone and Mitch is able to use his interests and knowledge to work and do his
job to his full potential. Mitch may be able to contribute new ideas to the nonprofit to make their company more successful which would gain the non-profit
more exposure and recognition.
Some objective standards in this situation would be that Mitch wants a higher
salary then what the non-profit wants to pay, it is possible Mitch could negotiate
saying that he is willing to go to, for example it is stated that the non-profit ha
spent $40,000 on various people over the year and he is used to making between
$30,000-$50,000 a year. Mitch could negotiate that he would be willing to do the
work for $45,000 or that he is willing to negotiate what is a fair price if he may be
allowed to still take some time to do some freelancing as well. Mitch might allow
them to state their reasoning for which they want to only pay a certain salary and if
this is something Mitch thinks is reputable he can allow it to sway his interest in
taking the position. Mitch may also use the fact that he has the freelancing
experience and has been writing about the types of things the non-profit would be
interested in to persuade them to meet in the middle when it comes to the salary
and what kind of work he would be able to do for them.
Mitch’s BANTA should include him having a bottom line of how much his salary
should be based on his knowledge and experience he is brining to the job. Mitch
could negotiate that he can start a $35,000 and work his way up to $40,000 by the
end of his probationary period of three months. Having a strong baseline for his
salary based on what he brings to the table would build a strong basis as well as
show he is seriously considering the position. Mitch has the power of facts on his
side int eh negotiation as he is already a communications expert, he would be the
permanent person there costing the company less money, time and effort that
would be needed to keep finding various communication experts to use for their
articles nd news pieces. Mitch also has connections from his freelancing he may be
able to use at the non-profit organizations which would only be advantageous to
the non-profit for getting more recognition and bolster the reputation. An
alternative Mitch could propose to the organization if they refuse to pay the salary
he levies he deserves is that he can work for them half time and still work on his
freelance so that way they would have a semi permanent person who can help them
Negotiation Skills Tamera Froese
out to keep a stable communications expert. A second proposal is that Mitch could
possibly use his freelancing connections that he may have built over time to find
someone who would work for the non-profit organization that his friend could
offer the position to instead and this way the organization would still have a
permanent person working for them in the communications sector.
Advice I would give to Mitch is to make sure he is firm with what he wants so that
they know he is serious about expecting a certain salary due to offering his vast
expertise and his time. I would also tell him to keep reminding the company he is
already able to be a fully trained communications expert and would be permanent
that way they can be reminded that this would be an advantage to them even it
mean paying a little more. I would advise Mitch that he could negotiate the salary
by leveraging some other things such as them allowing him some time for his
freelancing articles and to go out and make other connections for freelancing. As
this would not only help Mitch but it would also help the organization because he
could always bring it up to the people he is writing for or even when he is writing
his articles and news pieces that he works for the non-profit organization and paint
them in a great light. I would also advise Mitch to also be open to giving a little on
his terms so he can still negotiate the best position for himself where he can best
utilize his time and skills.