Reflective Journal of Negotiations - Coursework Example

Refelctive Journal Part One - The first negotiation The venue is the class and the people involved were 8 students from China and us. The negotiation that took place is about purchase of a plot of land in the country side of Brazil. Chinese students were little poor in English and we had a peculiar accent and moderate language skill. They were real estate agents (Green Agents.) and were explaining to us, who are business group (Sam Co.)about the nature of the land and the benefits of purchasing the land in that area. They started describing about the country, and why it is important to own that land as it might help us in expanding our business. They explained to us the terms and conditions of purchasing the property in Brazil and also about the tax structure. We were planning for a farm in that land and were looking for a deal in price. It was a good scenario as we could experience the strengths and weakness of our communications skill during the argument and conversation. The argument was going on for the problem in the nature of land. The land was not in a good condition and we want the land to be flat and without rubbles. They wanted to sell it in the same state it was. We argued to them that we want reduction in price if the land is sold in the rugged manner. But the real estate agents were not listening to our point and want to make the deal at their own terms. This was not a good deal for us as we need to spend money and time on land to make it usable. But after some explanation about the business we are dealing in and difficulties we would face in stabilizing the land they agreed to our terms and agreed to improve the land condition .The negotiation we conducted was carried out very well and it was a win- win situation. We all communicated well with each other and showed no hesitation in pointing out our main points. There was some strong argument at some points but finally everything ended on a positive note. The main objective of the arguments was to develop our planning and negotiating skills. It was a very helpful experience and boosted our confidence level to a certain extend. And the interaction with people from a different cultural background gave us an insight about their behavioral and communicational pattern. The second negotiation The second case which we undertook was the commercial project in the suburbs of china.We enacted as the business entrepreneurs who wanted to start some business units in china with the participation of village people .We needed land and also some good manpower to start some commercial units. But for this, we needed support of the villagers and the administrative heads of the province. We needed to meet the administrative people in the area and had to discuss our plan with them. We made a blueprint of the project and the land we require to start our project. The estimation of the manpower was also made and submitted to the officials. Gorman(2002 p.10)refers “An entrepreneur needs a business plan and needs to think like an owner ,not an employee”. We were planning for: Silk worm farm. Silk weaving unit Handicraft production unit Carpet weaving house. We were having doubts about the carpet weaving unit as it requires a lot of skilled workers and at this age there can be difficulty in finding the one. We approached the needed officials in the area and had a meeting with them and elaborated about the plan. They were pleased about it but pointed out that we could face problem with manpower and skilled workers. They informed that the handicraft makers and carpet weavers are already committed with other firms and would show difficulty in joining us. So our next step was to have a gathering of workers and village people with the assistance of regional officials. At the meeting we needed to convince the workers to join us and to contribute a quality work. Since most of them were already engaged with other we had to offer them some better pay and facilities like medical and bonus. But it was very hard to get carpet weavers and we had to drop that idea. We discussed with them the aim of project and what we expected from the regional people. The discussion went on smooth as we had the officials as mediator and villagers were polite with them but some argued about the wages we offered and wanted remuneration raise. They also argued that they want proper safety measures at work and we should guarantee health at work place. The third negotiation This negotiation was different from the other ones as it was done through a video conferencing. We were representing the Patriotic Dealers, and we were dealers of lubricants. We wanted to start a dealership firm in Africa and for this purpose we were trying to acquire a dealership firm already operating in Ghana. We discussed with them that we want to buy the firm as soon as possible and start our business. But there was argument regarding the price of the firm and we could not give buy the firm at that price. They were asking more price as they think their firm is a known one in the locality and we had to pay the price for the goodwill they have created. But when we enquired in the locality they were complaints about the dealership firm and we had to be cautious in the dealing. We pointed out that us r ready to pay what is deserved by the firm and also we had to refurbish the office and other things which would incur us more expenditure. We even pointed out some defect in the office premises and things needed to be done to correct the building structure .So they were convinced and agreed to the price level set by us. So there were some really argument and we were not able to influence them easily as we were not in real face to face conversation with them. Part two The final negotiation was a crucial one and we had to do lot of preparation for the same. We decided that we would conduct the meeting little bit earlier so that we will not miss on any points and fall out of time. The meeting took half an hour more than expected and became a 31/2 hour disucussion.Primarily, we studied the project and different points of case study was assessed and discussed upon. The second step was to decide the function of each member in the group. We did not want each person become vague about their function and get distracted from the objective about the plan.Higgins(2001,p. 45-50))states that “An organization skilled at creating, acquiring, organizing, and sharing knowledge is able to adapt its goals and behavior to reflect new knowledge”. We wanted all the members to be involved in the project and each one was given specific job as follows: 1. leader( poppy) 2. researcher(Massad) 3. record keeper(Zho bo) 4. decision maker(swilim) The project has three aspects to cover as it was one of constructing a bridge. The bridge is to be constructed in the remote region of china to assist the economic development of the country. Firstly, for this project, architects have to be approached for the design of the construction of bridge. For this we needed to discuss about the area and location of the project .The cost estimation of the construction was the primary thing focused as the structure was designed. Secondly, we had to organize the engineers to do the work of construction and with their help estimation had to be made for the whole project. With regard to this project, I did some research work as to the cost estimation and things to be kept in mind before hand. We had to assure that quality of the raw material was good and we need to get best quality in minimum price. We also needed to negotiate with the workers regarding wages Thirdly, we needed to lease the equipments for the construction works and also other materials for the workers such as safety uniform and shoes. We bid for the same with other companies who supply these products .We wanted the best deal and also wanted good equipment s so that the project successfully get completed. The project was of 3 million US dollar and we wanted to use the finance in the appropriate way. There was chances of increase in production cost because we cannot compromise on the quality of construction by anymeans.The share of profit was 60% for our company and rest 40%for the subcontractor(Techno Group.) who is supplying equipment and the safety materials. In the last meeting we decided the responsibilities of each group member during the negotiation. Every one will have to involve during the negotiation. Poppy the first and the second parts while Massed will help to give them information about the research, Zhu boo will speak the third part. Swilled will speak the last part and every one can give his comment during the negotiation. Part three My negotiation team was very strong, we were two men from Saudi and 2 girls from china. This group was very great as it involved girls which was a unique experience fro me. We started conversing and knowing more about eachother.All of us was very excited about the negotiation and prepared well. The team against us was already known to us because we had confronted with them before as a part of negotiation. The negotiation started out well and we started explaining the design of the bridge to the subcontractors, and they were agreeable with all terms. But some points we could not accept like the time in which the project has to be finished. They asked for more time which we could not allow. So we had to ask for more workers in order to finish the work on time. When it came to discussion about profit, they were not agreeable as they want 50 % profit .We could not afford it and had to fight for it. Eventually they came down to 40% and it was a positive sign to us. But they wanted the other two years profit of 50% and this had to be agreed by us. The main reason we accepted this was that the machinery they supply was of good quality and we opted for quality work. According toHarrison(2005)“The construction industry is unique, and therefore, the application of quality assurance requires an approach that meets the needs of the industry”. Part four Finally, I had to perform some research regarding the construction of bridge, things to be kept in mind regarding cost, worker’s safety est. come across lot of information which gave a deep insight into the experience of people engaged with bridge construction projects, accidents which can happen in this process, cost saving and so on. Some important points were as below: New techniques, raw materials and equipments have to be considered in the construction project. This is to assure strong bridges and avoid destruction of them. In 2002, bridge collapsed in Oklahoma killing 14 people. In Feltham , during 2009 there was a bridge failure but no life harm. So such situation has to be avoided. Maintenance part of the bridge also has to be taken in consideration. Construction time of the bridges should be normal, as delay can disrupt conveyance of public. Working condition of the project should be safe and health of the workers should not be compromised at any cost. There should be a tab on the number of manpower used so as to reduce cost of project. Soil and environmental condition of the land should be considered in order to protect nature and enable quality and reliable work. In Somerset(Australia)due to flooding bridge collapsed and such accident should be avoided Negotiation is a very important aspect of marketing and it depends on the ability of an employee to make the bargaining positive or negative. We had a great experience during the class and it also increased our confidence level. Work Cited Gorman, T, 2002. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Economics. 2nd ed. New York: Penguin Group. Higgins, S.E, 2001. Information as a tool for management decision making. Information Research, 7/1, 45-50. Harrison, J, 2005. Construction Quality Assurance. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.perfval.com/news/ConstructionQualityAssurance_WhitePaper_2005.pdf. [Accessed 26 November 10 Read More