Alpha-beta: negotiaton within and between organisations
Featured in the Negotiation Skills training manual
By Dave Clarke & David Simmonds& Ian Steers
Category: Communication Skills
Credit price: 4 download credits (Single user)
Negotiations are often complex. They always demand much preparation. Part of that preparation involves structuring an agenda to work within when actually negotiating. Preparation also entails discussing the situation as both sides see it – playing devil’s advocate. It may also include negotiating a brief with colleagues form the same side. Many negotiations form the basis for future dealings between the parties for many years to come. This means both short-term and long-term aims must be considered. Before the main negotiating aims can be decided, there are peripheral internal and external issues to resolve, such as personal reputations and credibility which may be at stake, or personal rivalries which come into play. This training activity is based on a role-play exercise which provides ample scope for the participants to practise and review the skills they have developed. The setting is a complex customer/supplier relationship, but with a great many possible agenda issues in addition to the immediate ones of price and quantities. It also involves negotiations to resolve issues within each party, before the two parties negotiate together. The role-play scenario offers great potential for the negotiating range and, accordingly, no two negotiated outcomes are ever the same. It also demonstrates that, although the participants’ negotiations may vary immensely in type, by retaining consistency in the skills they use, they can always aim for a satisfactory outcome.
The participants are divided into two teams. One team is the negotiating party for a company called ‘Alphaside’, and the other is the negotiating party for a company called ‘Betafirm’. The two parties will be meeting to negotiate a potential supply deal between their companies. The participants are allocated particular roles within each negotiating party. These roles offer typical internal conflicts. The respective team members meet together in preparation for negotiations between the two parties. All the participants then meet as a main group with the trainer to discuss briefly the process so far. The two teams then negotiate the supply deal. They may or may not reach an agreement. All the participants then meet as a main group with the trainer to review the whole exercise, discuss the process, give feedback and identify learning points.
Who is it for: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to provide participants with the opportunity to negotiate an agreement in a highly complex and realistic scenario.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 20 |
| Typical Duration: | 06:00:00 |
| No of Pages: | 32 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Purpose: This training resource is intended for use by trainers with people who have had some previous experience of inter-organisation negotiations or who are in the more advanced stages of negotiations training. It can be run over an extended period of time with different sections of the training activity being interspersed with other activities. It works particularly well if there are people in the group who have experience in either selling or buying, especially in a modern manufacturing context, although this is by no means essential.
Download the training activity, Alpha-beta: negotiaton within and between organisations as featured in the Fenman training manual; Negotiation Skills