28/03/2017 1 Global Thinking Week 9 Workshop MBA506 Thinking Styles, Negotiation and Conflict Management Small Group Discussion What is the world’s largest organism? World’s Largest Organism 28/03/2017 2 Thinking Globally • Focusing too narrowly on the specifics of our own position can blind us to the bigger picture. • The bigger picture is a global vantage point for observing and understanding a situation. Positions in Negotiation • A position is a form of locality, a mental or emotional stance we adopt in a negotiation: “This is where I’m at.” • Positions are what we’ve decided we want to achieve for ourselves. • Positions are the demands that we make of the other person in a negotiation. Examples of Positions • An employee may take the position that they should get a job promotion and request this of their employer. • Their employer’s position, however, may be to refuse the request. • The positions of the employee and employer are in conflict and the negotiation comes to an impasse. 28/03/2017 3 Interests in Negotiation • Interests are the desires and concerns that motivate people. • Interests are the ‘bigger picture’ relative to the position a person takes. • They are the drivers that motivate people to adopt a position in the first place. Examples of Interests • The employee wants a promotion because he is bored in his current role and craves a new challenge. • The employer refuses the promotion because there is no budget to pay higher salaries. • The positions of the employee and employer may be in conflict but their interests are not. Global Thinking in Negotiation • The basic problem in a negotiation lies not in conflicting positions, but in the conflict between each side’s needs, desires, concerns and fears. • Be prepared to look for, and see, the bigger picture. 28/03/2017 4 Global Thinking in Negotiation • Focus on interests in a negotiation, not positions. • What are the interests motivating your position? • What are the interests motivating the other person’s position? • What does American civil rights activist Maya Angelou mean when she says: Small Group Discussion We can learn to see each other and see ourselves in each other and recognise that human beings are more alike, my friends, than unalike. In groups, identify the one basic interest, need, or motivation shared by all people in this world. Our children do not plan on growing up to be doctors, teachers, or police officers anymore. Instead they want to be actors, singers, or YouTube personalities. Recent studies of what pre-teens want for themselves indicate fame has replaced community feeling (being part of a group) as their number one choice. One 11 year-old boy told researchers: “My friends and I are making a YouTube Channel. Our goal is to try to get a million subscribers.” The youngster, according to the researchers, had no interest in presenting any type of talent. He just wanted to get a huge number of subscribers and views for his channel. Small Group Challenge 28/03/2017 5 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs • Maslow wanted to understand what motivates people. • His hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a fivetier model of human needs. • He believed that once a tier is fulfilled the next tier up becomes the person’s motivating drive. Interests and Negotiation • The most powerful motivations or interests are basic human needs: security, economic well-being, a sense of belonging, recognition and control over one’s life. • Interests are not always apparent from positions. • For every interest there usually exists several possible positions that could satisfy it. 28/03/2017 6 Identifying Interests • What are the other person’s interests behind their position? • Why do they want what they want? • Identify interests by asking the other person why they have taken their position. • But make it clear you are not asking for a justification of their position, but seeking an understanding of the needs, hopes, fears, or desires that it serves. Facilitator Position & Interests • In groups, identify what your facilitator’s position is in terms of what he or she expects from you as a student. • Why do they want what they want? • Now see if your group can identify your facilitator’s interests. • What does British poet Lord Byron mean when he says: Small Group Discussion I do detest everything which is not perfectly mutual. 28/03/2017 7 In groups, devise a strategy that will reconcile the interests of both Egypt and Israel. Peace treaty negotiations between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin are falling apart. Sadat is insisting every inch of the Sinai Peninsula, occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, be returned to Egyptian sovereignty. Begin insists on keeping some of the Sinai for Israel. Map after map showing possible boundary lines that would divide the Sinai between Egypt and Israel are rejected by both leaders. Begin’s position, a compromise dividing the territory, is wholly unacceptable to Egypt because the Sinai has been part of Egypt since the time of the Pharaohs. Sadat’s position, to go back to the situation as it was in 1967 with Egyptian forces mobilised along the Israeli border, is equally unacceptable to Israel. Small Group Challenge Camp David, USA 1978 Positions and Interests • Just because the other person’s position is opposed to yours does not mean your interests must also be opposed. • Behind opposed positions lie shared and compatible interests, as well as conflicting ones. Communicating Your Interests • The purpose of negotiating is to serve your interests. • The chance of that happening increases when you articulate them. • If you want the other person to take your interests into account, explain to them what those interests are. 28/03/2017 8 Acknowledging Their Interests • People listen better if they feel that you have understood them. • If you want the other person to appreciate your interests, begin by demonstrating that you appreciate theirs. Mutual Satisfaction of Interests • Know and understand your own interests. • Learn and understand the interests of the other person. • Talk about your interests and acknowledge their interests. • Identify solutions that offer mutual satisfaction by addressing the interests of both parties. • What does Hong Kong American actor Bruce Lee mean when he says: Small Group Discussion One should be in harmony with, and not rebellion against, the strength of the opponent. 28/03/2017 9 In groups, prepare a response to your manager’s comments. Your manager frowns a little deeper as she reviews each page of your proposal. For three months now you’ve been working extremely hard in your job. Longer hours, increased duties, greater responsibility. You’ve contributed more to the company than any other staff member in your department. The process issues you’ve resolved and new initiatives you’ve implemented have saved the company tens of thousands of dollars. And you plan to continue resolving issues and implementing new initiatives and saving the company money in exchange for the modest pay rise outlined in your proposal. She finishes reading your proposal and removes her glasses. “You know our company policy. We may be prepared to reconsider your terms of employment during your next annual review but not beforehand under any circumstances. A pay rise is definitely not a good idea right now. You are not being very fair to the company by making this request.” Small Group Challenge Control • The difference between reacting and responding is control. • A person may try to manipulate you by: o asserting their position forcefully. o attacking your proposals and ideas. o attacking you personally. • Don’t let these aggressive positional bargaining tactics cause you to lose control of yourself or the negotiation. Response • Remember the work of psychologist Viktor Frankl. • In between a stimulus and a response is a tiny space during which you can decide not to react. • Do not react to aggressive positional bargaining tactics. • Instead, choose the optimal response. 28/03/2017 10 Forceful Assertion • Don’t react by accepting or rejecting their position - respond by looking beyond their position to their interests. You know our company policy. We may be prepared to reconsider your terms of employment during your next annual review but not beforehand under any circumstances. Why was this policy implemented? Does it achieve it’s intended purpose? In what ways does this policy harm the company? Proposal Attack • Don’t react by defending your proposals – respond by inviting criticism and advice. A pay rise is definitely not a good idea right now. Tell me more about why a pay rise is not a good idea What better alternatives are available for rewarding high performing employees? Personal Attack • Don’t react by defending yourself – respond by re-fashioning the attack on you as an attack on the problem. You are not being very fair to the company by making this request. I understand the company needs to manage costs AND retain the best employees What can we both do now to serve our mutual interests?