BA 322
Michael McGinnis
Reflection Paper
Aaron Haynes
12/11/2014
Introduction
When I registered for this course, I had little idea as to what the work would entail. I had a
preconceived notion that because I had been a manager for over ten years, I knew quite a bit about
negotiations; I was wrong. While I did have a great deal of experience dealing with conflict in a variety of
ways and with a variety of people, I do not feel that I was highly effective at reaching optimal
resolutions. The lessons I learned in this course taught me not only how little I knew before the class
began but it also taught me exactly what I need to be a more effective negotiator at work, at home and
at school.
Lesson 1: Personal Bargaining Inventory
Through the completion of this exercise, I gained more insight into what skills and traits I
believed I possessed that would be beneficial in negotiation. I also discovered some characteristics
about my own negotiating style that I had never truly considered before. I found that I am largely
concerned with ethical behavior during negotiation, I enjoy winning by the highest possible margin and
that I do not believe I am negatively affected by criticism. I also identified that I enjoy persuading others
to my own view regardless of the setting. This exercise was just the beginning of my exploration into the
world of negotiations and hardly prepared me for the role plays that were to come.
Lesson 2: “Used Car” Role Play
This first introduction to negotiation challenged me to apply the distributive negotiation tactics
that were covered in Chapter 2 of the textbook. Prior to the negotiation, I identified my target,
resistance and walk away points and reviewed my BATNA in order to prepare for the bargaining session.
After soliciting an opening offer from my opponent, I worked toward influencing her resistance point.
From this exercise, I found that it was not particularly easy to get another person to move substantially
in the direction I wanted. The BATNA in this case did not provide enough leverage to allow me to my
most desirable outcome. When entering into distributive negotiations in the real world, it is important
to understand what can be used as leverage in order to persuade others to move their position. Strong
BATNAs can be useful but do not guarantee that you will get exactly what you want.
Lesson 4: Trust Scale
Having completed the trust scale, I realized that I generally go into a negotiation with a
reasonable amount of trust in the other party, unless I have a specific reason to distrust them. I am also
not prone to identification-based trust or mistrust. I find that regardless of whether I identify with the
other party or not, I am not biased by my feelings toward them. However, I do find that I develop
calculus-based trust or distrust when another party exhibits behavior that I know to be true or that I find
out is dishonest. Understanding my own prevalence toward trusting others, at least initially, is important
in real life situations. I have to be careful not to allow myself to be taken advantage of, especially in high
stakes situations. I must make sure I allow myself adequate time to research both the terms of
negotiations as well as the people I will be negotiating with.
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Lesson 4: Bestbooks/Paige Turner Role Play
During the Bestbooks/Paige Turner role play, my partner and I ended up utilizing mostly
distributive negotiation tactics rather than the integrative tactics the exercise was geared for. Knowing
what I do now, it would have been much more beneficial for us to be more open as far as what our
overall goals were as well as how we could both benefit. A free flow of information was not established
and we worked sequentially through the issues claiming value along the way. As we finished the
exercise, I realized that several points we discussed worked out to our mutual benefit. When applying
this to my life, I will be sure to work toward a more beneficial information exchange when working in
integrative negotiation situations. Often times at work or at home, it is in my best interest to make sure I
am working with the other parties rather than working against them or simply trying to get more of the
pie than they do. I was not able to maintain this posture during the exercise but it will be imperative to
my success in the real world to take what I learned at to apply it frequently.
Lesson 5: SINS II Scale
This lesson reinforced what I already had learned from Lesson 1 of this course; I display a
propensity to act in a manner that I feel is ethical. I find it unappealing to utilize tactics that would
intentionally deceive or mislead another in order to reap greater rewards for myself. I also find it
distasteful for others to utilize such tactics against me as well. The fact that I generally trust people and
my adherence to ethical behavior may leave me vulnerable to others that do not hold similar views. In
my own life, I have had experience with co-workers and acquaintances choosing to use questionable
means to achieve their goals. When this has happened, I did not have trouble expressing my displeasure
with them. As I enter into future negotiations, I will likely continue to speak my mind about such issues
as they arise.
Lesson 6: Island Cruise Planning Document
Planning and preparation are probably the most important tasks that one can perform when
going into any negotiating situation. The Island Cruise planning exercise was, in my opinion, a highly
beneficial exercise in that it challenged me to really dig into the scenario and try to understand not only
my role as the cruise ship captain but also the view and position of the islanders. This is the same type of
analysis that one should exercise prior to meeting with another negotiator or opposing party. By
creating an outline, it allowed me to develop a general strategy as well as to make educated guesses as
to how the other party would react. This sort of preparation can help eliminate surprises once
negotiation commences and it can also help you to better meet challenges and to be more confident
throughout the process. In my own life, I have gone through a similar process when I have interviewed
for various positions. I like to look through my resume and cover letter before compiling a list of the
types of questions I think I am likely to be asked. I develop a general idea of how I plan on answering
situational based questions as well as questions about my experience. While I can never fully predict
how the interviews are going to proceed, the preparation prior to the actual interview helps me to feel
more confident and at ease when I am finally sitting with the interviewer.
Lesson 7: Contemporary Art Case Analysis
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The Contemporary Art case analysis was an integrative negotiation as well as an excellent
learning experience. My teammates and I had to negotiation what parts each of us were going to be
responsible for before we even began our work. We each voiced our wants and interests and were
quickly able to divide the work in an equitable fashion. I think it is valuable to read case studies and to
discern what the issues were, what tactics the parties utilized, what the outcomes were, and what could
have been done differently. This case study had both relationship as well as substantive interests at play
as well as ethical decisions to be made. I think through the process of working this case study, I came to
understand more fully that many choices in life and in negotiations are difficult to make. The choice to
sue over the unpaid pledge had several possible consequences and many were unfavorable at best. I
think the lesson that I learned which can be most readily applied to my own life is that it is important to
understand all sides of complicated negotiations and to take into consideration more than just the
substantive gains or losses to be had. Other ramifications may be even more important in the long term.
Lesson 8: Live8 Role Play
I found the Live8 role play to be one of the most interesting due to the fact that it was done
solely through email. The narrow social bandwidth that comes with an email communication channel
presented some unique challenges during this role play. It took much longer to come to a resolution due
to the forum we were using. There was a delay between a sent message and the response that both
allowed time to ponder what the other party had said previously as well as time to grow impatient or
uncertain about what they would say next. I found that I definitely prefer to negotiate when I can hear
the other party’s voice. While some things were easier to discern through reading the text in an email,
all emotion and inflection was lost. This exercise helped me to understand how messages can be
received in drastically different ways when they are presented in person or verbally rather than in an
email format. Some messages that I need to deliver to my superiors or coworkers are best presented in
person or over the phone while others can be communicated electronically without losing the meaning.
Lesson 8: Communication Scale Questionnaire
By completing the Communication Scale Questionnaire, I was able to take some time to actually
dissect my own patterns of communication. I think that this is something many people, including me,
have not thought to do on a regular basis. However, I found the process to be beneficial in that it
identified areas in my own communication that could be improved. I think having excellent
communication skills, especially verbal communication skills, can be beneficial in every relationship. It is
important for me to continue working on my communication skills at work to be a more effective
manager. If I am able to give clear direction and to speak confidently about what I need my team to
accomplish, they will be better equipped to complete their tasks without confusion or error.
Lesson 11: Baker-Florist-Grocery Role Play
This first foray into multi-party negotiations was different and more challenging that the other
two person negotiations I was a part of during this semester. While no coalitions were formed during my
own negotiation, I gained an insight into how they could be both rewarding and challenging depending
on whether I was in a coalition or facing one. The social and procedural complexity was increased which
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lead to a change in tactics from my previous negotiations. While most my negotiations were almost
purely distributive, this one was entirely integrative. I truly learned the value of information sharing and
how issue framing can work to every party’s benefit during this role play. When placed in group or team
settings at work, I feel that I will have a greater ability to establish more open lines of communication so
my team can work together to reach the most optimal outcomes.
Lesson 12: Magic Carpet Airlines Case Analysis
The second case study that I performed with my team was another interesting experience. As
with the first case study, my team negotiated over tasks prior to beginning our work and we were
equally successful at coming to a resolution. The subject of this case study was quite different from the
first and gave me insight into the world of collective bargaining. The collective bargaining process seems
as though it can be quite lengthy and ugly at times just by reading the interaction between LFA and
MCA. I think the biggest take away from this case analysis was that a great deal of preparation needs to
be done before entering into major negotiations. Weeks or months of planning need to take place and a
great deal of research needs to be done before a position can be taken and an offer presented. There
are also a number of tactics to consider in a situation like this such as utilizing throwaway clauses in
order to leverage more important items. While I may never be involved in collective bargaining
negotiations, the same principles can be applied to major business negotiations that I may take part in
later in my career. Research, planning, tactics and strategies should all be developed well before
entering into the negotiating room.
Lesson 13: Sick Leave Role Play
I really enjoyed this role play because of the fact that it did not focus so much on achieving
substantive goals as it did on persuasion and relationship goals. In order to be effective as Mr. Higashi, I
had to work hard at communicating the situation from the perspective of a Japanese workforce to a
person unwilling to embrace the culture. As indicated in the very first exercise of the semester, I enjoy
persuading people so this particular role play felt quite natural to me. My strategy was to frame the
circumstances in such a way that Kelly would see how she was affecting the entire team around her. This
experience taught me that it is important to be patient and to proceed with tact while simultaneously
being firm in my position. By not relenting, I was able to change my opponent’s attitude about their
behavior. This one scenario would not likely be enough to completely win over a reluctant peer or
employee, but it was definitely a demonstration of the type of progress that can be made toward
reaching a consensus. This is a fairly common type of interaction in the world of management. I have
often had to convince others to alter their views or to follow a plan that they did not initially agree with.
Lesson 14: Movie Analysis
The movie analysis that I completed in lesson 14 of this class was essentially the culmination of
all the knowledge I have acquired over the past three months. The biggest difference between the
movie analysis and the other case studies was the dimension that is added with richer verbal and face to
face communication versus reading out of a text book. While I was analyzing a movie and not a real
negotiation, it still allowed me to interpret facial expressions, tone, and many other forms of non-verbal
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communication that are used in a negotiation setting. In “Wall Street”, several negotiation concepts
were illustrated such as such as overconfidence, intangible and substantive goals, relationship goals,
aggressive behavior, and self serving bias. Throughout the movie, characters interact in an almost
endless series of distributing and integrative bargaining scenarios that help propel the plot. Being able to
identify what tactics were being used and what behaviors each character was exhibiting was only
possible because of the foundation of knowledge I have acquired in this class. This ability to interpret
and analyze negotiations is a valuable tool for school, work, relationships and life in general. Hardly a
day goes by where I don’t enter into some form of negotiation with my wife, my boss, my coworkers of
fellow classmates and now I am better equipped to protect my interests and to reach agreements that
benefit myself and others more fully.
Conclusion
Through the various lessons in this course, I have developed a number of skills and have
acquired a greater wealth of information that I can now use to increase the probability of success in all
future negotiations. I have not by any means become a master of negotiating but I have started down a
path that may eventually lead to that point. By participating in a number of distributive and integrative
negotiations I have gained comfort and confidence in the midst of conflict. I am now more adept at
identifying the goals and underlying motives that others may have in my dealings with them. These skills
and abilities are all immediately applicable to the daily interactions I have with anyone I encounter.
Looking back, it is easy to see that I had only a rudimentary understanding of the fundamentals of
negotiation and can identify why I experienced occasional failures during past negotiations. Equipped as
I am now, I can walk confidently into most bargaining situations knowing that I have what it takes to
achieve more optimal results.
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