Negotiations
Table of contents
Introduction
Role of psychology in negotiation
Emotions in negotiation
Successful traits of a negotiator and negotiating styles
Techniques to deal with emotions
Particularities of the negotiation process in sales
The negotiation process
Negotiation in Sales
Research outline
Research objective
Methods of research
Sales Negotiation: Case study discussion & analysis of AIESEC Bucharest
An overview on AIESEC Bucharest
How is the negotiation process perceived in AIESEC Bucharest
Case study 1: Global Internship Program
Case study 2: AIESEC Academy
Quantitative research findings
Improving the quality of the negotiation process in AIESEC Bucharest
Conclusions
References
Anexe
Introduction
‘Negotiation is a give-and-take process, but being in control of the process is the only way to be successful at it. ‘
CelsoCukierkorn
According to the above cited quote, being in control of a negotiation, meaning having the necessary background, skills and experience are the drives that lead a negotiator to his/her success.
The purpose of the paper is to gain insights on the negotiation process and particularly the sales process and its various stages, but also to understand how emotions may influence the outcome of a negotiation and the link between emotions and negotiating styles, as well as to develop on some of the most important and successful traits of a negotiator.
The paper is structured on 5 chapters, moving from theory to practice and proposals for improvement. It aims to cover negotiation from a strategic point of view and for this, it relies both on the role of psychology, as well as on the theoretical assumptions of the negotiation process itself.
The first chapter deals with the role of psychology in negotiation, mainly the effects of emotions over a negotiated outcome. The issue of the effects of emotions in a negotiation process has come into the attention of nowadays researchers, and the purpose of the chapter is therefore, to develop the tactics and techniques that help negotiators deal with their emotional side, as well as how to use a counter-part’s feelings in your advantage. Nonetheless, the chapter stresses on the successful traits of a negotiator and on the five negotiating styles that may be adopted.
The second chapter focuses more on the negotiation process itself, meaning the stages identified by various authors cited in the present paper, as well ason the essential concepts of negotiation. Furthermore, it provides details on the particular case of the negotiating process in salesby identifying additional stages and models.
The methodology used for developing this paper is presented in the third chapter.The purpose of the research methodology is to provide insights on how one’s psychological background and awareness on the negotiation process itself, may influence the outcome of a negotiation.As a primary method of research, the personal experience plays a very important role, as well as the questionnaire completed by the AIESEC Sales Department Members and, the two interviews held with the current Vice-President of AIESEC Bucharest, CalinDorobantu and alumni of AIESEC, ValentinHaicu. In what concerns the secondary methods of research, literature review consisted in a basis for the development of the present paper.
In chapter six we move to a more practical approach and stresses on the application of the previously presented theoretical framework on AIESEC Bucharest, an international non-profit organization. Therefore, the case study discussion and analysis presents the required steps that are adopted by AIESEC sales area members in two cases: negotiating with prospective partners for developing a corporate project or negotiating with prospective clients for acquiring an intern in the company. The actions and models adopted by AIESEC Account Managers in order to have a successful negotiation process are further on more specifically presented during this chapter.
Nonetheless, chapter seven stresses on solutions to encountered problems and ways of improving the quality of the negotiation process in AIESEC Bucharest.
Role of psychology in negotiation
Emotions in negotiation
Various researchers are nowadays studying the influence of emotions over the outcome of a negotiation. ‘An increasingly popular topic in current research is the way that emotional expressions influence the course of negotiation and related interactions’ (Druckman&Olekalns, 2007). This new generation of researchers have challenged the inquiry that ‘negotiation behavior and outcomes have been heavily influenced by cognition, both from a prescriptive (e.g., Raiffa, 1982, cited by Kopelman, Rosette and Thompson, 2006) and from a descriptive perspective (Neale &Bazerman, 1991; Thompson & Hastie, 1990, cited by Kopelman, Rosette and Thompson, 2006)’ by studying how emotions act and which are the effects they have on interdependent decision making processes. Emotions may also be viewed as predictions of the negotiated outcomes. ‘Research negotiation therefore integrates results from economics, decision analysis and operations research on one hand with results from (social) psychology, sociology and related disciplines on the other hand (Vetschera, 2013).
In the article ‘The three faces of Eve: Strategic displays of positive, negative and neutral emotions’ (Kopelman, Rosette, Thompson, 2005) the authors stress on the strategic display of emotions in negotiation processes and distinguish between two fundamental assumptions: (1) negotiators are able to control their behavioral emotional display during interpersonal interactions, and (2) emotional displays can be transmitted convincingly to the other party. Therefore, the first assumption underlines the fact that experienced negotiators can use the expression of a desired emotion as a strategic tool in order to attain a certain outcome. Cotė (2005) considers this type of emotional regulation, also called surface acting, inauthentic because only the display of emotion is influenced and not the internal experience of emotion. In what concerns the second assumption, ‘behavioral display of emotion by a focal negotiator will be perceived by a target negotiator’(Kopelman, Rosette, Thompson, 2005). Therefore, the target negotiator’s decisions and actions may be influenced by the strategic display of emotion expressed by the focal negotiator.
What is an emotion?
‘Emotion is felt experience. When someone says or does something that is personally significant to you, your emotions respond, usually along with associated thoughts, physiological changes, and a desire to do something.’ (Fisher & Shapiro, 2006)
Alicia Clegg (2014) mentions in an article published by Financial Times the remarkable example of Nelson Mandela who spent a great deal of his time in prison studying Afrikaner history and learning Afrikaans, which was the language spoken by his fellow jailers. He understood that being able to see through the eyes of his adversaries is an essential matter and that it would be proven useful in any future negotiations. ‘Emotional awareness can help you navigate blind spots and prejudices and arm you with self-control.’ (Clegg, A., 2014)
The article also mentions Professor Michael Wheeler of Harvard Business School who, in his recently published book,The Art of Negotiation: How to Improvise Agreement in a Chaotic World (Wheeler, 2013)links the nature of good negotiators to that of jazz musicians or comedians in the sense of improvisation. Similar to these artists, negotiators must be able to read each other’s feelings and behaviors, respond in a creative manner to unexpected situations and run with a theme.
The main point is that ‘emotions have important social functions and consequences. Most notably, emotions function as communications to both oneself (Schwarz &Clore, 1983) and other people, conveying information about one’s social intentions, one’s orientation toward others, and one’s goals and desires (Fridlund, 1994; Knutson, 1996)’ (Pietroni, Van Kleff, De Dreu&Pagliaro, 2008).
Positive versus negative emotions
Various publications distinguish between two types of emotions: positive emotions and negative emotions. Emotions may take certain forms and positive emotions may lead to a trustful, long-lasting relationship marked by goodwill, understanding, and compromise. ‘A positive emotion toward the other person is likely to build rapport’ (Fisher & Shapiro, 2006). Also, positive emotions may trigger creativity, flexibility, life satisfaction, and cooperation. In contrast, negative emotions such as anger, frustration ‘are less likely to build rapport’ (Fisher & Shapiro, 2006) and may lead to personal distressing.
Negative emotions refer to ‘specific action tendencies that narrow in a specific subset of behavioral actionsandare necessary for survival in life-or-death situations (Tooby&Cosmides, 1990 cited by Kopelman, Rosette & Thompson, 2006). Therefore, they make running, for example, possible as a response to fear or danger. On the other side, ‘positive emotions are relatively vague and underspecified (Fredrickson &Levenson, 1994b cited by Kopelman, Rosette & Thompson, 2006) and characterize the moments when people feel secure and safe. Positive emotions promote exploration and activity engagement and may lead to durable relationships.
Furthermore, current research may indicate that that the expression of negative emotions, anger for example, conclude into more cooperative responses than do expressions of positive emotions such as happiness (e.g., Sinaceur&Tiedens, 2006; Van Kleef, De Dreu&Manstead, 2004a, Van Kleef, De Dreu, &Manstead, 2004b cited by Kopelman, Rosette & Thompson, 2006), while other research sustain that positive rather than negative emotions elicit cooperation (e.g., Kopelman, Rosette, &Thompson, 2006).
Nonetheless, numerous publications promote the benefits of positive emotions, thinking, attitudes or behaviors and consign negative emotions to the ‘problem emotions category’ that need to be reduced or eliminated. Others, stress on the fact that the existence of negative emotions such as sadness, longing, or melancholia has been considered constructive; classic philosophers such as Shakespeare have explored this landscape of negative emotions. ‘Negative affect in general, and sadness in particular, also have important adaptive consequences by spontaneously triggering cognitive, motivational, and behavioral strategies’ (Parrott, 2014).
Emotions as obstacles in a negotiation
Emotions ‘may ruin any possibility of a wise agreement’ (Fisher & Shapiro, 2006). Firstly, in an era where long-lasting relationships are of high importance, emotions may damage a relationship because powerful emotions mayovershadow your thinking and therefore reduce your ability to act wisely. Furthermore, emotions can divert attention from important matters or can be used to exploit you.It is an essential matter how you react to your emotions. For example, what is the right thing to do in case if your counterpart gets angry or upset given the fact that this will affect you as well? Should you sit quietly and wait for things to calm down or should you leave and end the negotiation? Also, hesitations or quiet moment may offer your counter-part clues about your true intentions and interests.
Emotions as strategic assets in a negotiation
‘Purposeful use of emotions in a negotiation can help the bargaining process’ (Carrell&Hearvin, 2008).Nonetheless, emotions may prove to be an essential asset, if managed and understood properly. Positive emotions may ease the way to meeting substantive goals: ‘Positive emotions toward the other person reduce fear and suspicion, changing the relationship from adversaries to colleagues’ (Fisher & Shapiro, 2006). Also, positive emotions play an important role in increasing your motivation and commitment.
Furthermore, positive emotions can enhance a relationship and decrease the risk of being exploited. Again, the lack of fear and the presence of commitment may lead to enjoyment of the person-to-person interaction and of the negotiation process itself. Although there is the drawback that due to these positive emotions a negotiator may feel too comfortable and therefore make some unwise concessions or act with overconfidence. Interests should be satisfied before committing to an agreement and standards of fairness should be invoked.
Emotions may produce effects not only on a negotiator’s behavior, but on the other party’s behavior or on the process itself as well. Displays of emotion may give away information on the direction in which the process is heading or even information about the parties’ intentions and beliefs. ‘Displays of dominance by negotiators, for example, convey the nature and importance of their preferences and positions, while embarrassment and shame convey submissiveness’ (Carrell&Hearvin, 2008).
The conclusion that can be drawn until now is that emotions can clearly help or harm you as a negotiator. But, negotiators, as human beings, cannot stop, ignore or deal directly will all emotions.You cannot stop or ignore your emotions because they are always present and they affect your experience and actions. Therefore, you need to learn to use emotions in your advantage and transform them in a precious asset.
An alternative may be to focus on core concerns. The idea is that whether or not you acknowledge emotions, they will surely have an impact on you, your counter-part and on the negotiation process itself. ‘Five concerns stimulate, for better or worse, a great many emotions that arise in a negotiation: appreciation, affiliation, autonomy, status, and role’ (Fisher & Shapiro, 2006). Nonetheless, these five concerns that focus on the relationship with others may be used to stimulate positive emotions if met at an appropriate extent.
Effects of power on emotions
Emotions also affect value claiming and value creation between parties with unequal power. Nonetheless, studies have found that negotiators who expressed happiness are likely to make fewer concessions than those who expressed anger (Van Kleef et al., 2004a cited by Overbeck, Neale &Govan, 2010). These findings may lead to the conclusion that ‘emotion serves an informational function in negotiation, and that it affects the negotiation only when counterparts are motivated to use that information (Overbeck, Neale and Govan, 2010).
As mentioned earlier, power and experience of affect are other important traits of a negotiator. ‘The use of power and the experience of affect are among the most fundamental aspects of social interactions’ (Anderson, Thompson, 2004). Furthermore, power can be defined as ‘the capacity to influence others’ (French & Raven, 1959; Goldhamer&Shils, 1939; Kelner et al., 2003; Lewin, 1951 cited by Anderson, Thompson, 2004).
‘Recent research has also shown that when individuals have power in a face-to-face interaction, they tend to influence others’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors much more than vice versa’ (Anderson & Thompson, 2004). Recent studies show that, in the case of decision-making dyads (Anderson &Berdahl, 2002 cited in Anderson & Thompson, 2004), individuals that were randomly assigned a more powerful position displayed a more evident influence over subordinates’ attitudes during interactions than the other way around. The idea is that individuals that have more power tend to be more expressive, and therefore, their emotions are more easily acknowledged. Nonetheless, individuals with less power tend to adopt these emotional experiences, but their emotions have little of no influence over powerful individuals. Anderson, Kelter& John, 2003 cited in Anderson & Thompson, 2004).
Successful traits of a negotiator and negotiating styles
Successful traits of a negotiator
During the negotiation process, negotiators can impede the progress or increase the efficiency of the process. An efficient negotiation ‘needs a highly complex set of knowledge and skills in order to bring a firm grasp of the subject under discussion’ (Musa, Mansor, Mufti, Abdullah &Kasim, 2012).
The first and most important trait of a great negotiator is to understand the negotiating process. Negotiating ‘requires an understanding of the dynamics that affect the process and influence the behavior of people. Great negotiators invest time learning different tactics and strategies and how each technique contributes to the overall outcome’ (Kelley, 2007). A successful negotiator expresses patience and has good listening skills.
Nonetheless, ‘various characteristics can limit a possibility to transfer desired expression’ (Peleckis, 2014). The techniques used by skilled and successful negotiators may differ from those used by average negotiators.It is considered that skilled negotiators consider and analyze a wider range of possible outcomes and options and also focus about three times more on the areas in which the parties might come to an agreement. Furthermore, skilled negotiators pay more attention to the areas that imply long-term considerations and develop a larger range of possible settlement points, such as upper and lower limits, rather than a single goal. ‘Great negotiators recognize that patience is a virtue and that rushing the process often leads to an undesirable outcome’ (Kelley, 2007). Also, ‘people will tell you virtually everything you need to know if you ask the right questions and listen carefully to their answers’ (Kelley, 2007).
Although, average negotiators establish a predefined order of the issues to be covered, skilled negotiators prove to be more flexible as they separate issues and deal with them in an independent manner as to promote an atmosphere of agreement. Other successful characteristics implied by the authors is that skilled negotiators use neutral phrases such as ‘another offer’, rather than ‘generous offer’ which may prove more irritating and skilled negotiators do not counter-propose immediately as often average negotiators do, concluding that an immediate counterproposal implies that the party did not take the proposal seriously. The skilled negotiators identify and focus on one or two specific arguments as why their proposals or positions are good.By using this particular strategy, the communication is ensured at a higher level and therefore the process becomes more efficient. On the other hand, average negotiators generally give at least three reasons as why their proposal or position is superior.
Another important trait of a negotiator is the ability to review the process afterward to ensure that all important issues were discussed, that the understanding was correct and what can be possibly learned from the entire process.
Negotiating styles
As negotiators accumulate experience and develop their skills and competences, their negotiating style is being defined and imbedded in their personality. The five negotiating styles are (Jane Trainer Acme Inc., 2010):
Avoiding – this style indicates low concern for self and others and is characteristic for people that confrontations that may result in the other party’s anger, frustration or rejection and therefore, prefer to withdraw from the situation rather than facing it. ‘An avoiding person falls to satisfy his or her own concern as well as the concern of the other party’ (Ghinea, 2011). Also, the people that adopt this style are considered sensitive to own or other’s feelings and ‘avoid’ hurting themselves and others. The method is obviously not very efficient, as the situation will most likely not disappear and will not be solved because the party adopting this style will not be able to learn and acknowledge the counterpart’s needs and concerns accordingly.
Accommodating – this style has as a main characteristic the high concern for others. The persons that develop this negotiating style may have as main characteristics generosity, obedience, or a sense of self-sacrifice and they generally value more the concerns of others rather than their own. Given this facts, the negative aspect of adopting this kind of style is that a more competitive counterpart may spot the opportunity and take advantage of that party.
Competing – in contrast with the accommodating style, people adopting the competing style have high concern for themselves and very low concern for others. Furthermore, competitive negotiators may view the negotiation process as a lose-win situation and struggle to win at any cost. In a more extreme sense, they may use tactics such as bribery, punishment, lying or even violence or other unethical means and may hurt the other party. Because the overconfidence that describes this type of negotiators, they may fail to identify and implement the best solutions available. They lack the capability to analyze and develop on other’s ideas or suggestions.
Compromising – negotiators adopting this style are willing to make compromises, to split the difference and seek middle-ground positions in order to reach agreement. Unlike an avoiding negotiator, the compromising negotiator addresses the issue more directly; even though it does not explore it as thoroughly as an integrative one. Nonetheless, the compromising negotiator allows more concessions than competitive negotiators and fewer than accommodating negotiators. The drawbacks of adopting the compromising negotiating style are that such a negotiator may lose sight of own principles and values, needs or interests and may even ruin what was supposed to be a long-term relationship by creating precedents.
Collaborating – ‘if it can be achieved, the ideal situation is one where both parties emerge as winners’ (Ghinea, 2011). This particular negotiating style implies openness, identifying solutions that are beneficial to either parties, or an efficient exchange of information. In this case, the negotiating process may become more consuming in the sense of time, energy, effort or commitment, as well as concessions regarding money. Nonetheless, on a large amount, it depends on the type of environment: in a more competitive bargaining process, for example, it is not always a wise decision to disclose your full interests.
Nonetheless, ‘behavioral scientists have long argued that temporary Recesses may help parties to switch from competitive to more cooperative interactions’ (Harnick& De Dreu, 2007). Studies and laboratory experiments ( Walton &McKersie, 1965 cited in Harnick& De Dreu, 2007) have gathered evidence supporting the fact that ‘ negotiation often follows a differentiation-before-integration pattern’ (Harnick& De Dreu, 2007), meaning that individuals tend to begin negotiations in a competitive manner, their behavior consisting in threatening the counterpart or arguing for own interests. ‘Only after they realize that this competitive behavior merely escalates the conflict, they switch to more cooperative, integrative negotiation’ (Harnick& De Dreu, 2007).
Techniques to deal with emotions
Separate people from the problem
‘A basic fact about negotiation, easy to forget in corporate and international transactions, is that you are dealing not with abstract representatives of the <<other side>>, but with human beings’ (Fisher, Ury& Patton, 1991). This implies that negotiators are unpredictable; negotiators have emotions, values and different backgrounds.
On one hand, throughout the process, negotiators may build commitment towards reaching an agreement, they could express trust, respect, empathy or interest in a long-term relationship and therefore, the human aspect of negotiation may prove helpful. On the other hand, this humanity may also be disastrous. People get angry, frustrated or hostile. Every person has a vision, deeply held values and perceptions. Therefore, such misunderstandings or expression of emotions may lead to the impossibility of rational exploration and finding consensus.
‘The effects of a counterpart’s anger vs. happiness on a focal negotiator’s demands depend on the target of emotion, that is, whether the emotion is directed at the negotiator’s offers or at the negotiator as a person’ (Steinel, Van Kleef and Harinck, 2008). in the case of behavior-oriented emotion a counterpart’s expression of anger or happiness may be interpreted as (dis)satisfaction with one’s offer and negotiators may use the information provided to identify and keep track of their counterpart’s limits (Pruitt, 1981 cited in Steinel, Van Kleef and Harinck, 2008) and modify their negotiation strategy accordingly. In contrast, when the counterpart’s emotion is person-directedthe use of the expressed emotions as a strategic asset is much more difficult. As a consequence, negotiators cannot use the counterpart’s emotions to identify or track limits (Pruitt, 1981; Van Kleef et al., 2004a cited in Steinel, Van Kleef and Harinck, 2008) and they are therefore less likely to strategically adjust their behavior and strategy according to the other party’s emotions.
Address the Concern, Not the Emotion
The main idea is that you should focus your attention to what is causing these emotions. Concerns are human wants that may motivate people’s decisions and actions. Even though they are not spoken, they are real and can offer a powerful framework in order not to get overwhelmed by emotions, as well as effective insights in how to deal with the many emotions that may arise in a negotiation.
‘The difference between having a core concern ignored or met can be as important as having your nose underwater or above it’ (Fisher & Shapiro, 2006). If maybe one is unappreciated or unaffiliated, the feeling may be the one of drowning, ignorance or aloneness, and unable to breathe. Emotions respond, and one is prone to adversarial behavior. In contrast, if one feels appreciated or affiliated, the feeling is as swimming with the head above the water; breathing becomes more easily, as well as the possibility to explore and look around and freedom to decide upon the direction towards which one can proceed.Positive emotions foster cooperation, creativity and trustworthiness.
Turn an adversary into a Colleague
An adversarial assumption may dominate one’s thinking and therefore, prevent cooperation and influence the outcome of the negotiation. ‘The assumption that one with whom you are negotiating is an adversary dominates a great many negotiations. And that assumption typically prevents everyone from doing as well as they might’ (Fisher & Shapiro, 2006). The solution is not to let the theoretical structure of a negotiation process or the assumed appropriate behavior prevent you from being constructive and creative.
Some more specific actions to be taken may be to:
Suggest the use of first name and begin by introducing yourself in an informal manner.
Meet in informal locations
Refer to the importance of both your interests as well as the interests of the other party
Sit together at the table, if possible
Good Cop/Bad Cop
By using the Good Cop/Bad Cop tactic, negotiating members of a team work in inverse direction, but towards the same goal and promote acceptance of the offer by choreographing a series of distinct persuasive appeals. In simpler words, one team member acts tough, uses threatening or foul language and may even leave the room; the other team member expresses empathy and offer to help and cooperate with the counterpart before the return of his colleague.
Lowball (Highball) Offer
Another tactic may be the so called Lowball (Highball) Offer. This particular tactic may be used when price is the main issue to be discussed in the negotiation process and the maintenance of a long-term relationship is not an essential matter. Therefore, the buyer may engage in a ‘lowball’ offer – an offer significantly lower that the expectations of the seller. Also, the seller may consider a ‘highball’ offer – an offer significantly higher than the buyer expects.
The strategy might work if the seller/buyer is eager to sell/buy, then that party might agree with a less advantageous deal. Nonetheless, by using this tactic by one of the parties may lower the expectations of the other party or may even question the validity of the price. In order not to fall into this trap, you should recognize the tactic and do not let it influence your position, interest or you BATNA.
Still, ‘a lot of research into conflict and cooperation has involved the Prisoner’s Dilemma game, which focuses on a key feature of negotiation’ (Fells, 2009). The feature concerned corresponds to the fact that the expected outcome of a strategic or tactical choice also depends on the actions of the other party as negotiation is a two-sided process. The essential practical implication is that skilled negotiators should ‘second guess’ the choices and motivations as well as their own.
Particularities of the negotiation process in sales
The negotiation process
‘Negotiation is an interpersonal decision-making process necessary whenever we cannot achieve our objectives single-handedly’ (Thompson, 2005). Furthermore, negotiation may also be defined as ‘a process by which two or more parties deliberately interact in attempting to specify the terms of their interdependence’ (Walton &McKersie, 1965 cited in Patton &Balakrishnan, 2009).
Surely, the dynamic nature of business, interdependence, economic forces, information technology and globalization are factors that ensure the increase in importance of the negotiation skills within management.
In the book Negotiating Essentials (Carrel, &Heavrin, 2008), the authors distinguish between 4 stages in the negotiating process: Preparation, Opening Session, Bargaining and Settlement.
‘Comprehensive preparation and continuous planning are perhaps the most important elements of any successful deal’ (Benoliel, 2011).
During the preparation stage key goals and issues should be identified, such as what are your expected gains from the process and what are your arguments that sustain this position. Nonetheless, you should define alternatives and identify the BATNA – Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement as well as the Reservation Point/Price. ‘Understanding your BATNA and making it as strong as possible provides a negotiator with more power in the current negotiation because BATNA clarifies what he or she will do if an agreement cannot be reached’ (Lewichi, Saunders, &Barry, 2010). Nonetheless, you should keep in mind that ‘the stronger your BATNA, the more power you will have if an acceptable agreement is not made’ (Josh Roles, 2013).
Taking into consideration the aspirations or target of a negotiator, in the book ‘The mind and heart of a negotiator’ (Thompson, 2005) the authors make a distinction between three categories of negotiators:
The underaspiring negotiator sets the target too low. This type of negotiator will demand something that is easily granted and will most likely result in a regrettable state of affairs namely the winner’s curse.
The overaspiring negotiator or positional negotiator sets the target too high, refuses to make concessions and is considered a ‘tough’ negotiator.
The grass-is-greener negotiator does not picture exactly the expected outcome; he or she desires what the other party does not want to offer and implicitly, does not want what the other party is offering.
Another important step after identifying all of the issues that you and your counterpart might be interested in is to set your priorities. This step can be achieved by several methods as well as by a combination of methods: (1) ranking the issues from the most important (highest priority) to the least important one (lowest priority); (2) assigning percentage weights (relative to their importance) to the issues – the throwaways may be given the value zero and the total amount must be 100%; or (3) splitting the issues into 4 categories: Essential items (issues that must be gained in order to reach settlement or else you turn to your BATNA), Important items (items that you preferably gain, but which you are willing to give up in order to gain the essential items), Desirable items (items of secondary value, exchangeable for important or essential items), and Throwaways (issues that may have value only to the other party). Ultimately, ‘interests are the measure against which possible agreements are evaluated’ ( Murtoaro, Kujala&Artto, 2005).
Nonetheless, sometimes you have plenty of valuable time to prepare for a negotiation; but other times you may be blindsided by an urgency or maybe by just the fact that your assistant is threatening you to leave the company unless you give her a raise. Given this kind of situations, you may feel that your time is very limited. ‘But even if you’ve got only an hour – or just moments- to prepare, there are several crucial steps you have to take: identify your goals, brainstorm your opinions and plan your opening move’ (Thompson, 2007).
In the Opening Session, as a starting point, the ground rules should be established in order to clarify the process for all the parties involved. Ground rules may help reduce anxieties, as well as ease the beginning of the actual negotiating process. Using the ‘5 Ws’ can address most issues involved in this step: Who speaks for each party and who has the authorization to make or reject offers, Where will the negotiations be held and which is the seating arrangement, When will the negotiations start and how long will the sessions last, How will the offers be made and how issues will be included in the negotiation, and What is the form of the final agreement.
Nonetheless, make sure that you engage in negotiation with the right person. ‘The most skilled negotiator won’t get anywhere if he or she is talking to the wrong person – a person with no authority to make changes in the status quo. If the individual you’re talking to is (1) behind a window, (2) wearing a name tag, or (3) has a title that begins with the word ‘assistant’, you’re talking to the wrong person’ (Collins, 2009).
Furthermore, this stage involves pre-negotiation meetings where parties may informally discuss their interests; establish the ground rules, or the form of the settlement. In this stage, parties also adopt their style as FOTE- Full, Open, Truthful Exchange or POTE – Partial, Open, Truthful Exchange. The first option is usually used among relatives or if the parties have successfully used it in the past, especially if the past involved the same parties. The second method is used more often and includes various tactics such as posturing, bluffing or concealment of real interests. ‘Negotiators need to be clear about what information they can and should openly exchange’ (Smutko, 2005).
The stage that follows the opening session is the bargaining stage. During this stage, ‘it may be helpful for the novice negotiator to recognize that almost all negotiation situations can be generally categorized by two critical variables: (1) the number of parties involved in the negotiation and (2) the number of issues’ (Carell&Heavrin, 2008). Moving from single to multiple issues has profound consequences for the characteristics of a negotiated problem’ (Vetschera, 2013). The single-issue negotiations are generally distributive and although, the gain of one party still implies the loss of the other, in the case of nonlinear value functions, the parties involved might make concessions that will finally increase the total utility of the issue involved. Beside the fact that multi-issue negotiations are more complex than single-issue ones, another difference is that multi-issue negotiations increase the potential for integrative behavior.
The last stage of the negotiation process is the Settlement stage. Settlement is actually closing the deal. ‘It is important, however, to keep in mind that while you may genuinely desire to reach a settlement, you should never knowingly agree to a bad deal’ (Carell&Heavrin, 2008).
Negotiation in Sales
Sales calls are always important for the account management, so they are ensured at each stage throughout the selling process. We differentiate between two types of sales calls: Cold calling and Warm calling, as the two main processes to approach an organization.
Cold calling
Cold calling may be defined as contacting an organization currently unfamiliar and ask for a meeting. Contacts for cold calling are generated through identifying companies in a specific market segments you want to target. Cold calling is one approach to generating leads in your sales pipeline. Therefore, a cold call is for obtaining a physical meeting with a relevant company representative and not to give explanations to the company or to get their agreement towards one of the products you are offering.
Cold calling large companies or MNC’s is very difficult. These companies are best approached through contacts. Therefore, cold calling is more suitable for smaller companies where the organizational structures are flatter and more accessible to an outsider.
Although, cold calling is not easy and is not always the most effective form of marketing your company, it should be used(James, 2012):
The external market views cold calling with a positive or indifferent attitude. Some cities and countries are extremely hostile towards soliciting and telemarketing. In these environments, a cold call may actually hurt your chance of getting a deal with that company.
You enjoy and are good at cold calling. Some people sound natural on the phone and are able to connect with the individuals at the other side. These individuals can have success in cold calling even if their environment does not view it very positively.
You have done the research. It is not enough to just identify the companies you want to target in any particular sector. Cold calling also requires a certain amount of research prior to the actual phone call. You need to know why the company might want to meet with you, what are you able to offer them or the key words that will grab their attention.
There are seven steps in how to cold call (Weiss, 2009):
Prepare a list of companies you want to target according to your goals and find external research. Develop a profile of your ideal prospects and describe it is detail.
Determine why they should be interested. Understand your prospect’s history, market, identify problems that you can potentially solve and search for opportunities.Know what key benefits will interest your potential leads. The script should allow some customization.
Understand the goal of your call. Most sales professionals use cold calling in order to set face-to-face meetings or engage in a productive conversation. Cold calling does not imply closing a deal.
Craft your approach.When cold calling, it is imperative to be prepared.Most important, ensure that your objective is clear; once you get your prospects on the telephone, you must be compelling and able to illustrate the value of the opportunity you are offering.
Use all available tools. Nowadays, you may contact a prospect via their office telephone, cell phone or e-mail. Therefore, ensure that you use the most appropriate method.
Search for prospects that are looking for you.The reality is that there are companies trying to solve their business problems and you or your company may prove to deliver the most appropriate solution.
Develop a system. Ensure that you track your prospects and set up your ‘best practices’.
Warm calling
A warm call is a phone call made to a lead- an organization that is already familiar with your company or one that you have been referred to by an individual/organization known to the target recipient of the call. Warm calls have the highest success for meetings because the lead already knows you or someone has referred you to them.
In order to engage in successful warm calls you should create a network map(AIESEC International, 2012):
One effective sales process used by IBM is the following (International Business Machines, 2005):
Noticing – In this stage the Sales Team is building a relationship through understanding the client’s business environment, processes and issues, while the client is evaluating the business environment and strategies.
Researching the client’s industry, competitors, business direction, and common business processes or planning activities to create a relationship, a coverage strategy and a plan, as well as prioritizing opportunities that support the client’s strategy and business needs are appropriate actions to be taken in this early stage.
Therefore, in Stage 1 Noticing, the client and the account manager are exploring the client’s overall business environment, including business processes, issues and strategies. Client business issues are specific problems or opportunities that transform a client’s business, creating value for their customers and shareholders. Companies develop strategies and invest in projects to enhance their business processes, people, and infrastructure.
The Account Manager is successful when the company values the relationship because Sales Team has demonstrated an understanding of the company’s issues and needs.
Identifying – The Account Manager is successful during this stage when the company demonstrates interest in collaboration
In this stage, the Account Manager is exploring with the client an opportunity derived from the relationship-building interactions. Stage 2 implies identifying starts with one of the potential opportunities noticed during Stage 1. Now, the Account Manager is deeper in understanding the client’s business need for action on the specific project or opportunity.
Validating – The business need, business capability and agreement to support the Sales Team’s access to the key decision leader are confirmed
In Stage 3 Validating, the company is determining the specific business capabilities they need to address their underlying business issue. The Account Manager adds value by helping the company see the potential new or improved business capabilities or consider business capabilities they may not have otherwise thought possible.
It is very important that in Stage 3, the client’s confidence is earned to continue to work on the project. The Account Manager does that by helping the company see what’s special and unique about his/her approach to the project and how to work together. It is essential that at the end of this stage, the company must be convinced thatthe Sales Team’s proposals can potentially meet their needs better than anyone else.
Qualifying – The key decision leader and the Account Manager agree to go forward with an initial solution
In this stage, the Account Manager is focused on the key decision leader and his/her view of the emerging, initial solution. The Sales Team is building the client’s awareness and desire for the offered capabilities and value. To advance in the positive decision, the company must be convinced that the Sales team’s approach will work with minimal, manageable risk.
Conditionally agreeing– This stage is completed successfully when the key leader conditionally approves the proposed solution
In stage 5, the Sales Team is working with the company to develop the solution that will be proposed. The client, who is evaluating options, is preparing to make a selection. The goal of this stage is to get the key decision leader’s approval that the proposal meets the company’s needs, including expected business value.
The Sales Team is now documenting the value proposition for the solution, which qualifies the cost and benefit the client expects to see from implementing the proposed solution.
Winning – The client and the Account Manager agree upon the contract
This stage implies the client to resolve concerns and make a final decision, therefore closing the sale. Also, in this stage, the Account Manager refines the solution, addresses client concerns, and reinforces their expectations of the solution value.
Implementing: Meet Expectations–The company acknowledges the value of the Sales Team’s solution and additional relationship capital is increased
During this stage, both the company and the Account Manager are monitoring the implementation of the solution and are evaluating the business value impact to ensure that expectations are met.
Furthermore, in Stage 7, successful engagements conclude and new opportunities emerge. Company acknowledgement of the business value and satisfaction with the solution are the desired results and help the Sales Team create new relationship capital from which to develop future sales opportunities.
Relationship capital is the value of the company’s and Sales Team’s relationship as perceived by the client at any point in time. Relationship capital is created as the direct result of the client having a superior buying experience with your company.
Another important tool is the Business Position Model (International Business Machines, 2005).
The Business Position Model enables a business conversation with your company’s executive(s) by visually capturing the company’s current and preferred positions and by also enabling you and your client to explore the client’s business initiatives and understand how they support the client’s shift to improve strategic progress and competitive performance.
The model is applied in Stage 1 Noticing as you are discovering and creating opportunities. It is used with the company to guide and focus a conversation about the client’s business strategies and plans.
In order to be able to implement such a tool, a preparation stage is needed. During the preparation you should:
develop an understanding of the client’s industry, business performance, and key competition
develop well-reasoned points-of-view about the company’s current position and what should be the preferred position
investigate the company’s current business initiatives prior to meeting, determining which are strategic versus competitive
The theoretical framework of the Model is developed on two actions: ACT and LISTEN. Below, it is presented a Business Position Model Conversation Guide:
Objection handling
The best negotiators Anticipate Objections and Expect the Unexpected. They learn to recognize objections that are really Buying Signals and see the as opportunities, not problems. Below are presented the steps that Objection Handling implies:
Research outline
Research objective
The purpose of the research is to provide further information and arguments on how one’s psychological background may influence the outcome of a negotiation. Nowadays, researchers are looking more and more into this particular subject in order to better understand the effects and influences of emotions, but also in order to develop the most efficient techniques in how to deal with emotions. Nonetheless, the paper aims to gain insights on the unclear world of emotions, as well as to offer straightforward, practical advice. The final goal is to increase awareness about the broad role of psychology within a negotiation process and to identify the most efficient tactics to address emotions, as well as to develop on the several traits and styles that may characterize a successful negotiator.
Furthermore, the current research has as an objective a better understanding of the negotiation process and, of the negotiation process particularly in Sales, as well as a better understanding of several strategies that may be used so that the result of the entire process will be a favorable one.
Research methods
Primary methods of research
As primary methods of research, the paper has been developed based on my personal experience and observations as an Account Manager in AIESEC Bucharest, due to which I have gained valuable information on the subjects developed within the present paper.
A questionnaire was also developed in order to have a broader imagine upon the existing problems and misunderstanding that exist within AIESEC Bucharest. Its purpose was also to better understand how the negotiation process is perceived by people working in the Sales Department, as well as how aware are they of the influence of emotions upon the negotiation outcome. The questionnaire implies 14 questions which are formulated in such a way to find out information regarding the interest of the Sales Managers towards the psychological aspect of negotiation, as well as towards the negotiation process itself and its implications. The questionnaire also focuses on members’ perspective regarding the two topics and their level of awareness within the organization. The respondents are 20 AIESEC Account Managers.
Furthermore, two interviews served as a primary method of research. The first one was held with Calin Dorobantu, current Vice-President External Relations of AIESEC Bucharest, having the purpose to gain insights about the current strategy towards the organization’s members’ development in terms of understanding the negotiation process and their ability to acknowledge and address emotions. The interview also presents Calin’s perspective over the present situation within the Sales Department. The second interview was held with Valentin Haicu, AIESEC alumni. Valentin has extended his experience gained in AIESEC by working in the IBM Sales Department. He is currently an entrepreneur and by agreeing to give the interview, he offered an external perspective over the AIESEC Sales Department and negotiation strategies. The two interviews implied similar questions in order to offer a parallel between the two expressed perspectives, as well as a parallel between and ideal and an actual state.
Secondary methods of research
One secondary method of research used within the present paper is literature review. For research purposes, several articles developed on several topics such as the negotiation process, negotiation techniques, the nature of emotions or, addressing emotions. The articles have been written during the last ten years; therefore the research is current and accurately founded. Nonetheless, the books used for the same research purposes have also been written in the last ten years and address mainly the same topics.
Another secondary method of research used is the analysis of AIESEC Bucharest’s internal documents such as the Balance Sheet of AIESEC Bucharest for year 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. They provide information such as the cash generated through the AIESEC Programs.
Sales Negotiation: Case study discussion & analysis of AIESEC Bucharest
An overview on AIESEC Bucharest
AIESEC Bucharest (International Association of Students in Economics and Business Management)is an international association that uses an innovative approach to engage and develop today’s youth, consisting of leadership experience, international opportunities and a global learning environment.AIESEC has 65 years of experience in developing high-potential youth into globally minded responsible leaders.
AIESEC Bucharest was the first active NGO in Romania, starting from March 1990, founded with the help of AIESEC Wien. Since then we constantly helped students and communities fill in the gap generated by the discrepancy between formal education and the desired ambitious one.
AIESEC Bucharest has a well-developed sales department currently formed by about 30 members organized in 4 teams from which 3 are focusing on selling internships and each is specialized on certain domains such as IT, marketing and education and the forth one is dealing with partnerships that involve corporate and non-corporate projects, conferences , as well as CSR activities.
Members on the sales area receive periodical trainings, mainly from alumni that are currently working in this particular domain and are now able to share from their experience. Therefore, the negotiation process, and mainly the bargaining stage methods and practices resemble a lot with those of companies such as IBM, Marsh Romania, Procter&Gamble or Accenture.
The AIESEC selling team earns their partners’ trust and gains influence with executives by aligning with them in their buying process and focusing on their business needs. ‘A successful negotiator knows the importance of finding balance between accomplishing business objectives ( keeping your eyes on the prize) and nurturing and building relationship with clients for long-term mutual success’ (Leimbach&Maringka, 2008).
AIESEC Bucharest offers a variety of products and services to its different categories of clients such as students, NGOs, kindergartens or local, national or international companies. From among the products and services offered by AIESEC Bucharest, the internship programs may be considered a core competency and therefore, it will be further on analyzed in the paper. Also, AIESEC Academy is a corporate project that was organized as a response to students’ lack of practical experience and career guidance. Both the internship programs and AIESEC Academy generate quite a large amount of the organization’s total revenues. The efforts, implications, results and other details will be discussed in the following subchapters.
AIESEC Positioning on the Market
Companies engage into partnerships with AIESEC Bucharest to solve business problems by improving their business capabilities and assure efficient strategic alliances. AIESEC is offering a pool of elite students ready to assume responsibility and innovate in the market as well as appealing projects and conferences constantly calibrated with the needs of the companies. AIESEC is a flexible organization that can offer various solutions for their business partners. For example, most companies are interested in a qualitative pool of students, that have already went through a recruiting process, more or less rigorous, but are also interested in a qualitative promo campaign or a strategic alliance that may increase awareness. Also, other companies may want to increase the multiculturalism withintheirbusiness environment, or even to increase the capabilities of the company as a whole.
Therefore, within the market, AIESEC Bucharest is seen as a large, but qualitative pool of students, eager to invest all their resources in a bright future. Nonetheless, AIESEC Bucharest is seen as a powerful business partner as it has the resources that permit its activities to be flexible and to satisfy each tailored need or promise made.
The AIESEC Selling Strategy
The idea is that when the sales teams understand their clients’ business strategies as drivers of investment in services or human capital, they uncover more potential opportunity and bring thought leadership ideas to the client. ‘When you negotiate intelligently you engage both parties in finding the real value of that business’ (Popescu&Popescu, 2013).
Also, incremental changes that organizations made over the last decades no longer offer significant unique differentiation.Through the methods of collaboration available, AIESEC offers companies a way to transform and differentiate their organization.Moreover, AIESEC Bucharest refers to their clients as partners because the focus of a negotiation is on creating value for both parties; ‘negotiators who focus only on claiming value reach worse outcomes than do those who cooperate with the other side to improve the deal for both parties’ (Malhotra&Bazerman, 2007).
The sales strategies are mainly developed by the Sales Vice-President, but Team-Leaders may also develop the strategy in more details. The AIESEC Sales Team mainly uses as theoretical background the models presented in section 2.2. Negotiation in Sales: The 7 Stage Sales Process, The Business Position Model, and Objection Handling that were shared and assisted in implementation by alumni of AIESEC Bucharest that are now dealing with sales in some of the biggest players in the market, such as IBM or Marsh. Nonetheless, sales team members are encouraged to develop their own negotiation styles and every concern is addressed during sharing meetings or sales trainings.
Because ‘after all, negotiation is an opportunistic interaction and sometimes it is easier to adapt to the situation than to prepare the most elaborated strategy’ (Alavoine, 2012), AIESEC Bucharest invests a great deal of resources in their members’ development. Trainings are organized regularly and provide insights of how to implement models in real life business. These trainings are mainly delivered by members that find themselves on a higher position in the functional hierarchy, but also by outsiders, such as alumni that have the chance to experiment sales in large enterprises that are similar in their scope with AIESEC Bucharest, or specialized trainers provided by partnering companies.
Beside learning how to implement sales strategies and tactics, members working on the Sales Department also learn how to address emotions, given the fact that some of them do not have a great experience in this domain, but also how to position themselves in front of a CEO or directors. They learn how to find the right person to talk with and also, how to get to that person.
How is the negotiation process perceived in AIESEC Bucharest
Sales Team Culture
‘Negotiation as a corporate competence is the sum of the competence of the company’s individual members’ (Harvard Business School Press, 2005). The Sales Team Culture is the one of the most powerful drive in AIESEC Bucharest. Culture may be defined as ‘the pattern of shared beliefs and values that give members of an institution meaning, and provide them with the rules for behavior in their organization’ (Davis, 1984 cited in Sun, 2008). Also, ‘creating this environment drives results from within the company; everyone focuses first and foremost on the customers as driven by a vital and dynamic sales engine, which is made up of strategically motivated and compensated sales professionals’ (Cohen, 2011).
In AIESEC Bucharest, a Sales Culture firstly implies the concepts of role modeling and rules. The team members know that, as one of the most important department within the organization, they have to act as role models in what concerns the attitude and dedication. The positive and ambitious attitude is what makes things happen, both for the Team and AIESEC. There are also rules and strategies that need to be implemented during the negotiation process itself, but also within the team.Like other departments, the Sales Department also organizes sharing meetings, trainings or meetings with alumni that are more or less compulsory.
For an Account Manager if AIESEC Bucharest, the dress code will always be a business-casual oneand the language will also be more formal. An Account Manager will be easy to spot within the other AIESEC members, even though they display the same enthusiasm and openness.
AIESEC Sales Team members participate to corporate events and meetings organized by the organization’s partners, as well as to networking events that may result in an increase in the number and quality business relationships.
Furthermore, every aspect of the Sales Culture is important because in the end it is mostly how the Sales Team Members present themselves in business meetings that positions AIESEC in front of its partners. The ultimate goal of the Sales Team culture is to increase the value and the quality of external relationships, but also to raise the area’s members into responsible and independent leaders. ‘Improving negotiation skills and increasing the ability to negotiate effectively is crucial not only in managerial, political, and business contexts, but in all avenues of life’ (Moran &Ritov, 2006).
In what regards the method of approaching companies, the Sales Team is encouraged to use the large network that AIESEC has created along the time: alumni, partnering companies, partnering NGOs, as well as other contacts that can be provided by other areas or AIESEC members. Nonetheless, the reason why warm calling and afterwards cold calling is encouraged instead of e-mailing is because in this way you can establish an actual connection with the person at the other end and it may prove an efficient way to gain precious insights. Those insights may also help you guess the other party’s BATNA and Reservation Point.
In what concerns the negotiation process itself, the sales members value the insights they gain from the trainings provided to the by people who have tested various strategies the real life.
It is said in AIESEC, that as an average, in order to close one deal, you have to go to 10 meetings, and in order to go to 1 meeting, you have to make 10 phone calls. Therefore, in order to close 1 deal, you need to make 100 phone calls. This describes best the effort that an AIESEC Member engages to as an Account Manager.
The preparation stage implies reading about the company, about its values objectives, investments and implications, but also identifying the proper department or person to contact-preferably one that has decision power. AIESEC Account Managers mainly use the company’s website, LinkedIn accounts, but also use the AIESEC network to find out if anyone has a contact inside that specific company. For an AIESEC Sales Team Member, gathering essential data for obtaining a first meeting is the core of this stage.
The first step in the Opening Session is to establish some ground rules, consisting of the ‘5 Ws’. Meetings are usually between one or two AIESEC Account Managers (depending on their experience and the company) and the Human Resources Director. Also, there are meetings with General Directors, or CEOs, or even with a group with one representative from several departments. Usually meetings take place at the headquarters of the company. ‘Prior to any negotiation, negotiators should identify the issues likely to be discussed, understand their position on each issue, and establish their priorities across issues (Lax &Sebenius, 1986; Pruitt, 1981; Raiffa, 1982 cited in Young, Bauman, Chen &Bastardi, 2011), therefore, he negotiation will be a consultative one, meaning that its main goal is to spot needs, problems or opportunities that can be fulfilled by AIESEC. ‘Knowing the needs and desires of the other party allows you to present options that can and will be of significant value to them without costing you anything’ (Hunter, 2009). The final agreement after the first meeting will be a verbal one, with the establishment of a second meeting where a contract will be signed.
During the bargaining stage, a successful Account Manager has to go through all 7 steps of the Selling Process Model, as presented in chapter 2.2. Negotiation in Sales.The first three phases – Noticing, Identifying and Validating – usually need to be implemented during the first meeting.DuringStage 1. Noticing, the Business Position Model is also advised as the model will provide guidance into how to shape the conversation into obtaining valuable insights regarding a prospective partner’s future business plans and strategies.
The next 3 phases – Qualifying,Conditionally Agreeing and Winning are integrated in the second meeting, when the company usually also signs the contract. Nonetheless, sometimes there are more meetings, but there have never been more than four in case of AIESEC Bucharest. Furthermore, the Winning phase is integrated in the last step of the negotiation process which is Settlement. The money will be cashed in before the beginning of the project or program.
Depending on the program or project, the implementation is the responsibility of the same Sales Team or of another AIESEC department.
Addressing Emotions
A reason for studying the effects of emotions on the negotiation process in this particular paper is that members on the Sales Department and especially new members experience a lot of feelings during their meetings and may prove inefficient or disorientated in they do not address them correctly. During sharing meetings or trainings AIESEC members learn how to position themselves in front of a more experienced and powerful negotiator and also how benefit from those feelings.‘People who have confidence in their capabilities with respect to a specific task anticipate a successful performance, focus their thoughts on how they can succeed, an persist in the face of difficulty’ ( Bandura &Cervone, 1983, 1986; Cervone&Peake, 1986 cited in Sullivan, O’Connor & Burris, 2005).
A specific situation that comes into my mind is when a girl, new member on the Sales Team, described a situation in which she went alone to one of her first meetings at a not very large company and she found herself surrounded by 5 other persons, from different departments. Nonetheless, they were all asking questions and talked from a superior position, so she lost herself. As she had little experience, she did not how to address them back or the emotions that she felt and the meeting lead to frustrations and fear of another failure.
The idea is that through the AIESEC culture, through the sales culture that grows within the organization as well as through trainings and meetings, members learn about who they are as AIESEC members. When Account Managers go to meetings, they are not inferior just because they are students; they are prospective business partners that present realistic and innovative opportunities to companies and bring real solutions to the market. AIESEC Account Managers position themselves at the same level as their business partners and engage in a consultative selling process. AIESEC ensures proper trainings, role-models and real selling expertize to its members so they can develop and grow into tomorrow’s leaders. Nonetheless, ‘important initiatives draw great minds and strong personalities, and this often will cause frictions, even feuds’ (Roeder &Simard, 2013).
The shaping of a personal negotiation style through experience and development programs is also encouraged. Furthermore, by inviting alumni of AIESEC that work in Sales Departments, members learn from practical examples which techniques are successful and which are not, on which traits to build on and which to improve.
Global Internship Program
Problem statement
The Global Community Program is actually a recruitment and community integration process for high quality international internships. The program provides companies the possibility to improve and grow their leadership pipeline, as well as to increase their competitiveness and innovation.
The Global Internship Program offers companies the possibility to choose their interns from a pool of about 16.000 candidates from 1 700 universities in 124 countries all over the world. At a global level, AIESEC has about 3000 partners on this particular program. It is an ongoing program and it identifies one of the core activities of AIESEC in general.
Benefits
Of course, AIESEC Bucharest stress on the benefits offered to their partnering companies for enrolling in the Global Internship Program. One of the main benefits is the simplified recruitment. Participants in the program also went through a recruitment process developed by AIESEC that consists of application forms, interviews and induction period, but a company may also have additional requests within the possibility.AIESEC is also responsible for the intern’s visa, accommodation, reception and social integration.
Furthermore, the globalization of the work force and diversity will ensure a multicultural environment that may provide a different perspective. Other cultural approaches provided by well-prepared, ambitious and perseverant interns may enlarge the range of opportunities.An international working environment will add dynamism to the company’s organizational culture.The program offers access to a very large pool of well-prepared candidates. After the preliminary selection and induction period, candidates also receive intercultural preparation and have goal-setting meetings.
Nonetheless, the program ensures cost effectiveness and flexible timing.The standard fee paid by a company is 700 euro, but the pricing policy is flexible, according to the company’s recruitment preferences.The contractual period ranges from 2 to 18 months. Based on the intern’s performance, the company may decide to extend it.
Sales Team
The teams which deal with concluding the contracts for the Global Internship Program are part of the Sales area and are called TN Raising. TN stands for Trainee Nominee and it actually identifies the intern that will come from abroad, meaning that if we raised a TN in a specific company, one intern will come in that company. Currently, there are 3 TN Raising Teams that are focusing on different domains, such as Education, Marketing and IT.
Preparation stage
Identifying key goals, expectations and arguments to sustain a powerful position is essential. We are mainly interested in targeting those companies that might be interested in an international environment, as well as in a different perspective, but those that also have enough capital to invest in such a program. Currently, the main partnering companies on this program are Michelin (11 contracts), Stefanini, Ubisoft (5 contracts), Aquasoft( 4 contracts).
Essential issues may be to close at least one contract, as well as to engage in a long-term relationship with the company. It is important to better understand that company’s market, but also to discuss with the client about other projects or programs organized by AIESEC that may satisfy a company’s need. It is desirable to get directions toward other collaborators or companies that might be interested in the program. As throw-aways, the Account Manager may search the platform for possible matches according to the prospective employer’s job description and bring in some CVs.
The standard prices that AIESEC charges per contract are now 700 euro for Marketing or IT companies and 500 euro for the Educational domain, such as private schools or high schools. Last year, the prices were 500 euro for Marketing or IT companies and 350 euro for the Educational domain.Therefore, the Reservation Point of the Seller – AIESEC Bucharest may coincide with the standard price or may even be set at a lower level. As AIESEC Account Managers involve in a consultative selling process, The Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA), may be to close the negotiations if the company does not prove interested in any of the AIESEC projects.
Usually, companies that are really interested in the Global Internship Programknow about the standard price for closing the deal and understand that the Account Manager has a low power to change it, so they try to gain more benefits instead.Usually, there is a slight difference in the Reservation Point of a company really interested in the program and the Reservation Point of AIESEC, because they generally realize the actual value that the program implies, as well as the costs. Also, the BATNA established by the company may differ, because, even though AIESEC has a great share in what concerns global internships and the pool of international students, there are also other NGOs that perform this activity.
Nonetheless, narrowing the focus on specific issues, as well as identifying alternatives and the methods of evaluation that can be used, may help one obtain higher outcomes from the negotiation process. For example, consider a Multiple Equivalent Simultaneous Offer (MESO) developed for Heidi:
Furthermore, two packages of offers are presented below:
Although the two packages are balanced in terms of compensations and their values, the first package combines the higher compensation with lower value levels.
Taking a general example, even though the standard fee for participating in the Global Internship Program is 700 euro, an Account Manager usually states its first offer at the price of 750 euros, so he can lower the price, but pays attention not to lower it too easily in order not to transmit to the other party the idea that prices are too flexible and that the value of the program is actually lower. The Reservation Point for an AIESEC Account Manager is about 600euro for one intern; depending on the number of the contracts the company is interested in and the nature of the relationship with the company (already a long-term relationship, the need to increase the quality of the account management), the Reservation Point may be lowered in these particular cases to about 500 euro. The Buyer’s Opening Offer is usually 500 euro, but after discussions and more insights on the program’s benefits, the company is willing to pay about 700 euro per contract. The Zone of Possible Agreement is therefore, somewhere between 600 and 700 euro. The Target Price is usually 650 euro, but may also end up being the same with the Buyer’s or Seller’s Reservation Point.
Opening Session
The target person to discuss about the Global Internship Program may be the Human Resources Director or the General Director. The scope of the negotiation is to determine along with the key decision leader whether the program offered by AIESEC suits the company’s needs, as well as to agree upon the main requirements for concluding a contract.
Bargaining
During Noticing, the goal is to identify or create the company’s need, to prove true interest in the company’s problems and search for methods to solve them– why does the company need to get involved in the Global Internship Program? Where is the company now? Where do you want to be in terms of progress? How can you get there? Nonetheless, explore the environment – what are your competitors currently doing? Which can be their future strategic plans? Can AIESEC bring more value to the company in order to create a competitive advantage? Is the Global Internship Program help you get to your preferred position? If the first phase proves successful, the two parts will identify reasons for collaboration. The goal of Identifying is to grow the relationship and specifically state the concern – may be the need for innovation or a different perspective, need for internationalism, need for a cost effective method of recruitment – and come with the solution – engage in the Global Internship Program. In the Validatingphase, the AIESEC Account Manager emphasizes on the uniqueness of the program and its benefits, as well as on the means to attain those benefits. The goal is to make the other party see the potential of the proposal and to convince the company that the Account Manager’s solutions can meet its needs better than anyone else.
Between the meetings, the task of the Account Manager is to search the online platform and ensure that there are candidates that have the necessary skills and backgrounds to fulfill the identified needs of the company. Also, a proposal will be developed by the Account Manager and sent to the company as a written statement of the meeting and its conclusions.
During the next meeting, during Qualifying, the focus will be on the key decision leader, in order to convince him/her that the emerged proposals will prove efficient with minimal, manageable risk.The entire process will be explained again in every detail and the Account Manager will ensure that it has been well understood. In Conditionally agreeing step, the job description and job specification is shaped, along with any other additional requirements that might relate with the recruitment process – such as an additional interview held by the company’s HR department or additional tests.Because of the research on the platform, the Account Manager is able to offer insights about potential candidates – how many candidates there are from a specific country, or how well they speak English.
Settlement
Winning means actually agreeing upon the contract and signing it. During Implementing: Meet Expectations, the company will constantly be updated on how the process is going. Nonetheless, the implementation is stated in the job descriptions of another department in AIESEC called as the program Global Internship Program – Incoming Team, which will take over the account. They are responsible for the entire recruitment process, as well as for the delivery and fulfillment of the contract. Referring to the previous example concerning the two proposals for Heidi, the outcome of the negotiation process is the second MESO proposal consisting in the following:
Account Management
As previously stated, after the contract has been signed, the Global Internship Program Team is responsible for delivery. Therefore, the account management becomes in part their responsibility, but of course, the Account Manager should keep an eye on how the account is being managed and on the fulfillment of the contract.
Financial Analysis
The total number of planned closed contracts for the year 2013-2014 was 71 amounting for a total of approximately 35 500 euro, taking into consideration that the standard price for entering in the program was 500 euro for Marketing and IT companies and 350 euro for Educational programs. The realized number of closed deals was 45 that should have amounted for a total cash of 22 500 euro, but the program, because of the need to preserve the relationships with their partners and also because the impossibility to conclude certain contracts because external factors (such as lack of availability of international students in certain periods),brought a profit of only 10 000 euro during 2013-2014. For example, even though Michelin signed for 11 internationals, only 5 were realized and instead of 2500 euro, they paid only 500 euro.
The total number of planned closed contracts for year 2014-2015 is 85, and 49 have been already signed and 23 international students are currently working in companies located in Romania. The total contracts signed until now amount for the value of
Aiesec Academy
Problem statement
AIESEC Academy was implemented after a research developed among students in order to identify their professional needs during their study years. Therefore, the need for a qualitative practical experience was identified, as well as guidance and belongingness to a group where they can improve and share their knowledge.
AIESEC Academy is a project developed for students and it consists of a period of about three to four weeks of trainings and workshops, and also a case study following which the partnering companies will select interns. The domains on which the project focuses may differ from edition to edition, but the AIESEC Academy – School of Leadership (autumn 2013) and AIESEC Academy – Career (spring 2014) were designed to address 4 main business areas: Marketing, Human Resources, IT and Finance. The areas were chosen after a research among students.
Companies may be involved in the project by delivering workshops, organizing case studies, or if they are interested in hiring interns or in the database containing students that have participated to the project in the last 3 years.
Benefits
The main benefits gained by a company by investing in AIESEC Academy are the simplified recruitment and cost effectiveness. The project provides a pool of well-prepared students that have already been selected based on their application forms. Part of the recruitment, training and selection process will be transferred to AIESEC. Another important advantage is advertising and positioning. Partnership on the project implies advertising in the student environment and position the company as a first brand choice among students. Nonetheless, the company will increase brand awareness.
Sales Team
The team that deals with concluding contracts for AIESEC Academy is the Sales Projects Team, which, in comparison with the TN Raising Team, focuses on engaging into partnerships with companies for the various projects developed within the organization. The team has currently 9 members. Also, in the organizing team of the project, there are two sales members that concentrate on bringing partners on the project.
Preparation stage
The target companies are those that value knowledge capital and are willing to invest in young talents, but also those that focus on the same four business areas as the project does. Also, recruiting process and student programs insight are valuable. Such an Account Manager is interested in whether the company is recruiting students or recently graduates, or whether the company has special programs developed for this target segment. Main partners that have invested both in the autumn edition, as well as in the spring edition are companies such as Nestle, ACCA, LIDL, P&G, ORTEC, etc.
Essential issues may be to close a deal for at least 1500 euro and engage in a long-term relationship. It is important to conclude a contract for any one of the package options and obtain feedback on the project. It is desirable to obtain contacts of other companies that might be interested in the program.Speeches during the opening or closing ceremony, or the presence of promotional materials during sessions may be dealt with as throw-aways.
In contrast with the Global Internship Program, for AIESEC Academy, the fees charged to companies are negotiable to a larger extent. The standard packages are the following:
The Reservation Point in this case, may be engaging in a partnership for the Database Package, which is the cheapest method of collaboration. BATNA may be to engage in other partnerships at least for the Workshop Package or to close negotiations if the company does not prove interested in investing in students or in AIESEC Academy.
The company’s reservation point may differ to respect of the capital they want to invest in such a recruiting process or in increasing the company’s awareness among students. Usually, big companies such as P&G, ACCA or Nestle are interested in the Case Study, Workshops and in hiring interns and have a large enough capital to pay the standard prices. Usually, the Reservation Point for such a company is around 2500 euro. For other companies, such as ORTEC, the Reservation Point is around 1500 euro.A company’s BATNA may be to organize the recruitment process themselves, or well as workshops during Career Fairs.
If we were to take a general example by considering an aggregate of the partnering companies of AIESEC Academy, the Account Manager’s Opening Offer will be of 2500 euro for the full package. The offer may be tailored based on the company’s needs until it reaches the Reservation which will be around 800 euro, consisting of the Workshop Package. The Opening Offer of the company will always be quite low, around 500 euro, because even if they are interested in the project, they seek for the lowest method of involvement. Nonetheless, the prospective partenering company’s Reservation Point is around 2400, because they are generally interested in the full package. The Target Price is usually 2000 euro and the company opts for the package consisting of a Case Study, Workshop, Interns and Promo.
Opening Session
The target contact person to discuss with for an AIESEC Academy partnership is the Human Resources Director or the Human Resource Department in a broader sense. The negotiation has as a prime scope to see if the project suits the company’s needs regarding the recruitment process and pool of candidates and also to spot the target departments.
Bargaining
During the entire bargaining process, the company must understand why is AIESEC Academy a better option than a recruitment process developed from within the company.In order to address Noticing, the Account Manager’s main concern is to identify the packages offered by AIESEC Academy that best suits the company’s needs, by exploring its business’s needs and overall environment. Identifying implies growing the relationship after gaining an extended perspective on the company, as well as coming with solutions for the identified needs that may be: a cost-effective recruitment process, access to a large pool of students, an increase in visibility. During Validating, the Account Manager needs to address the other party’s concerns and assure him of the uniqueness of the project. For example, you will need to assure the prospective partnering company that you will have participants, and nonetheless, that the pool will be a qualitative, as well as a quantitative one. All other editions of AIESEC Academy serve as a proof of the project’s results
After the first meeting, a tailored offer will be developed and sent to the prospective client, as well as a short summary of the previous discussion.
During Qualifying, the key decision leader has to be convinced that risks are low and the investment is worthy. Statistics emphasizing the quantity and quality of the pool of students, testimonials or feedback from other partnering companies may prove useful. In Conditionally agreeing, the packages will be discussed and tailored again if needed, as well as other details such as the departments on which the company is interested in hiring interns, how many interns, their job description and job specification, the nature of the case study or workshop, as well as the approximate dates of delivering the workshops or case studies.
Settlement
For AIESEC Academy, contracts are usually signed during the second or third meeting. Implementation is the job of the organizing committee of the project; therefore the responsibilities of the Sales Team theoretically end at theconcluding of the contract. Nonetheless, they have to ensure that their promises are delivered and the client is satisfied. The Account Manager will further on need to participate to meetings for establishing the logistics and other details.
Account Management
In order to ensure that the client is satisfied and promises are accordingly delivered, a proper account management is essential. For an Account Manager that has to deliver AIESEC Academy, account management implies to always keep the company updated on the progress of the project – how many participants enrolled, set schedule and ensure a proper space for the sessions, send presentations from the workshops and feedback for the trainers at the request of the company. Nonetheless, ‘as salespeople, it is important to recognize that simply signing an agreement is not the goal; the actual goal is to produce results from the agreement that are critical to build long-lasting customer relationships’ (Heiman, 2006). Therefore, follow-up after the project is over is necessary to improve a possible future collaboration.
Financial analysis
For the Spring edition of AIESEC Academy, the team-leader has planned a cash income of 7000 euro that did not include the participants’ fee. The total amount cashed-in was in reality of only 800euro, plus 1700 euro coming from participants’ fees. Because during the autumn edition, AIESEC engaged in long-lasting partnerships with leader companies on the current market that have provided sufficient benefits, both in cash, but also in feedback or counseling, they did not have to pay again the full amount for participating in the project. AIESEC Academy Spring Edition brought therefore, a profit of 2500 euro. In comparison, the Autumn Edition had a target of 10000 euro, but gained an income of only 7500euro.
Table 1. Income
Table 2
Table 1. offers insights related to the evolution of the Income during three distinct edition
Quantitative research findings
Questionnaire
The questionnaire contains 14 questions and its main goal is to assess the awareness of the AIESEC Account Managers upon the role of emotions within a negotiation, as well as the awareness upon the steps and implications of the negotiation process. The questionnaire was completed by 20 respondents who have been involved for four months to one year within the Sales Department.
The questionnaire also aims to identify whether there is or not a correlation between the length of the period spent within the organization, the position held and the perspective upon the main topics of the paper.
Three of the questions deal strives to find out whether addressing emotions within a negotiation process is considered important for the respondents, as well as to find out the level towards which emotions are addresses during the Sales Department’s trainings or meetings and if an improvement in this direction should be further considered.
According to Chart 1, only one respondent considers that dealing with emotions in a negotiation is extremely important, and similarly, only one considers the issue slightly important. Most respondents agree that addressing emotions during a negotiation process is very important (8 respondents) and moderately important (10 respondents). Therefore, it can be stated that Sales Department members are moderately aware of the psychological concept in discussion. Furthermore, considering a possible correlation between the position of certain members within the organization and their response, only one team leader considers that addressing emotions is very important, while the other four believe that the matter is moderately important. Nonetheless, their vision may influence their team members which tend to share a similar opinion.
By analyzing the above presented chart, it can be stated that in the opinion of most respondents, the role of emotions during negotiation meetings is moderately addressed. 25% of the respondents also believe that the mentioned issue is addressed to a large extent. Furthermore, 75% of the respondents believe that there should be a greater focus on how to address emotions during negotiation meetings.
Only 80% of the respondents, meaning 16 out of 20, state that they are extremely or very familiar with the AIESEC negotiation process. Therefore, improvements should still be made within this particular area, so that the Sales Department reaches its full potential. Also, the level of members’ familiarity with the negotiation process may be directly correlated with the time period spent within the organization as members.
Further on, Chart 4 provides some valuable insights that may imply a serious assessment of the quality of trainings and meetings. As it can be seen, only 15% of the respondents use to a great extent the sales techniques acquired through the trainings and meetings developed within the organization, followed by a percent of 50% who use them to a large extent.
Interviews
The two interviews have been conducted with two respondents, different in terms of experience and perspective. The two respondents have been chosen in such a manner that the quantitative research results present insights that can be used in order to develop a comparative analysis of their opinions and inputs. The analysis may help in the identification of areas that need improvement, as well as the degree of the measures that need to be taken.
Calin Dorobantu is currently the Vice-President External Relations in AIESEC Bucharest. He is the primary responsible for the implemented vision and quantitative goals; therefore, Calin’s overall perspective is essential for the organization’s development, as well as for the quality of the negotiation process itself.
Regarding the theme of the present paper, Calin believes that the role of emotions in negotiation is slightly addressed during sales trainings or meetings. There are, indeed, instances when Sales Members develop on particular scenarios or encountered situations, but the training on this particular subject is limited. Furthermore, he states that no problems were signalized due to the low awareness of strategies to deal with emotions. This may be due to the increased standardization of the packages offered by AIESEC Bucharest to its partners.Regarding the negotiation process, Calin believes that the Sales Members are well aware of the negotiation techniques and have been able to acquire or improve their skills through trainings, mentoring programs or other activities as such. Plans to increase the awareness about the concept by sharing meetings and trainings provided by persons more experienced within the field are in the course of development.
Nonetheless, ValentinHaicu is currently an entrepreneur, but has gained a wide experience is the sales are by working in the IBM’s Sales Department.Valentin has been a member of AIESEC Timisoara, and, after relocating, has become an alumni of AIESEC Bucharest. He is one of the most valuable trainers of the organization within the sales area who helps ensure a practical experience and the necessary assistance for the AIESEC Account Managers. ‘I have decided to further keep in touch with AIESEC because of the positive attitude and great goals of all these bold youngsters involved’ (Haicu, 2014).
Valentin believes that the role of emotions is somehow addressed because during his trainings he raised discussions on subjects such as how to position yourself in front of the other party, how to gain power or express your emotions such that they will gain some insights in how to make good use of emotions. Furthermore, Valentin agrees with Calin by believing that the Sales Members have developed a wide background in what concerns the implications and steps of the AIESEC negotiation process. Regarding the degree of professionalism displayed by the AIESEC Account Managers, Valentin states that is one in direct correlation with their experience, fair for their preparation level.
Improving the quality of the negotiation process in AIESEC Bucharest
“We make our discoveries through our mistakes: we watch one another's success: and where there is freedom to experiment there is hope to improve.”
Arthur Quiller-Couch
First of all, some flaws have been identified during the two interviews with Calin Dorobantu and Valentin Haicu, respectively. Calin, as a Vice President, considers that one major flaw that needs to be addressed as soon as possible is the motivation of the Sales Department Members. ‘Because sales is one of the most complex and demanding activity in AIESEC, people usually lose focus and may change their priorities’ (Dorobantu, 2014). Nonetheless, as a strategy of improving the Sales Department as a whole, while also addressing the above mentioned issue, Calin plans to increase the Account Managers’ knowledge and background, develop on their skills and competencies. This knowledge will further come as 70% from the meetings with companies on the field and only 30% will consist in theoretical framework such as trainings or other types of meetings.
Furthermore, Valentin Haicu, as trainer and external source, considers that trainings and constant development of the Sales Department Members’ skills and competencies play an essential role in the turn of the entire organization. Valentin considers a flaw the fact that trainings are not tailored on the members’ needs and competencies accumulated: there might be members that have spent a longer period in AIESEC and have accumulated a wider range of experience and knowledge, but there might as well be new members that are novice within the sales area and lack the competencies and necessary skills in order to ensure a qualitative selling process. Therefore, he proposes different syllabuses that are in direct correlation with the level of experience and background of the Sales Team Members. Valentin, also believes that alumni consists of a resource not fully taken advantage of. The alumni database should be
Calin – main flows – motivatia
Key improvements – vali
References
Articles:
Kopelman, S., Rosette A.S., Thompson, L. (2006). The three faces of Eve: Strategic displays of positive, negative, and neutral emotions in negotiations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 99 (2006) 81-101.
Musa, F., Mansor, A.Z., Mufti, N., Absullah, N.A., Kasim, F.D. (2012). Negotiation skills: teachers’ feedback as input strategy. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences 59 (2012) 221-226.
Brooks, A.W., Schweitzer, M.E. (2011). Can Nervous Nelly negotiate? How anxiety causes negotiators to make low first offers, exit early, and earn less profit.Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 115 (2011) 43–54
Kelley, R. (2007). Characteristics of Great Sales Negotiators.
Steinel, W., Van Kleef, G.A., Hanrick, F. (2008). Are you talking to me?! Separating the people from the problem when expressing emotions in negotiation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 362-369.
Overbeck, J.R., Neale, M.A., Govan, C.L. (2010). I feel, therefore you act: Intrapersonal and interpersonal effects of emotion on negotiation as a function of social power. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 112 (2010) 126–139
Anderson, C., Thompson, L.L. (2004). Affect from the top down: How powerful individuals’ positive affect shapes negotiations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 95 (2004) 125–139
Pietroni, D., Van Kleef, G.A., De Dreu, C.K.W., Pagliaro, S. (2008). Emotions as strategic information: Effects of other’s emotional expressions on fixed-pie perception, demands, and integrative behavior in negotiation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 44 (2008) 1444-14454.
Harnick, F., De Dreu, C.K.W. (2007). Take a break! Or not? The impact of mindsets during breaks on negotiation processes and outcomes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 44 (2008) 397-404
Patton, C., Balakrishnan, P.V. (2009). The impact of expectation of future negotiation on bargaining processes and outcomes. Journal of Business Research 63 (2010) 809-816.
Vetschera, R. (2013). Negotiation process: an integrated perspective. EURO J Decis Process (2013) 1 135-164.
Sun, Shili (2008). Organizational Culture and Its Themes. International Journal of Business and Management (2008).
Leimbach, M., Maringka, J. (2008). Enhacing Sales Performance Through Negotiation Skills.
14. erefore, agreement that are critical to build long-lasting customer relationships ( goal; the actual goal is to produce resHeiman, M. (2006). Five Steps to Successful Sales Negotiations.
Murtoaro, J., Kujala, J., Artto, K. (2005). Negotiations in project sales and delivery process.
Hunter, M. (2009). Negotiation Skills. Making the Most of Every Sales Opportunity.
Smutko, L.S. (2005). Negotiation and Collaborative Problem Solving.
Popescu, M.M., Popescu, M.M. (2013). Negotiation process – Interpersonal communication.
Cohen, T. (2011). Sales Culture.
Peleckis, K. (2014). International business negotiations: innovation, negotiation team, preparation. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 110 ( 2014 ) 64 – 73
Druckman, D., Olekalns, M. (2007). Emotions in negotiation.
Sullivan, B.A., O’Connor, K.M., Burris, E.R. (2005). Negotiator confidence: The impact of self-efficacy on tactics and outcomes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 42 (2006) 567-581.
Alavoine, C. (2012). You can’t always get what you want: Strategic issues in Negotiation. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 58 (2012) 665 – 672.
Young, M.J., Bauman, C.W., Chen, N., Bastardi, A. (2012). The pursuit of missing information in negotiation.Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 117 (2012) 88-95.
Moran, S., Ritov, I. (2006). Experience in integrative negotiations: What needs to be learned? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 43 (2007) 77-90.
Jane Trainer Acme, Inc.(2010). Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument. Profile and Interpretation Report. CPP, Inc (2010).
James, G. (2012). 7 Steps to a Perfect Cold Call. CBS Interactive Inc. (2012)
Weiss, W. (2009). Cold Calling in the 21st Century: The New Rules.
Books:
Fisher, R., Shapiro, D. (2006). Beyond reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate. 1st Edition. Penguin Books.
Carrell, M.R., Heavrin, C. (2008).Negotiating Essentials: Theory, Skills, and Practices. New Jersey: Pearson & Prentice Hall.
Wheeler, M. (2013). The Art of Negotiation: How to Improvise Agreement in a Chaotic World. Simon & Schuster.
Parrott, W.G. (2014). The Positive Side of Negative Emotions.1st Edition. The Guilford Press
Ghinea, V.M. (2011). Conducting the company. Human Resource Management. Bucharest: BREN Publishing House.
Fisher, R., Ury, W.L., Patton, B. (1991). Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. 2nd Edition. Penguin Books.
Thompson, L.L. (2005). The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator.3rd Edition, International Edition. New Jersey: Pearson & Prentice Hall.
Lewicki, R., Barry, B., Saunders, D. (2010). Essentials of Negotiation. 5th Edition. McGraw-Hill Education.
Collins, P. (2009). Negotiate to win!: Talking Your Way to What You Want. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
Thompson, L.L. (2007). The Truth About Negotiations. FT Press
Fells, R. (2009). Effective Negotiations: From Research to Results. Cambridge University Press.
Benoliel, M. (2011). Negotiation Excellence: Successful Deal Making. World Scientific.
Roeder, L.W., Simard, A. (2013). Diplomacy and Negotiation for Humanitarian NGOs. Springer London, Limited
Harvard Business School Press & Society for Human Resource Management (U.S.). The Essentials of Negotiation. Harvard Business Press (2005).
Malhotra, D., Bazerman, M. (2007). Negotiation Genius: How to Overcome Obstacles and Achieve Brilliant Results at the Bargaining Table and Beyond. Random House LLC (2007).
International Business Machines (2005). IBM Signature Selling Method: Delivering Client Value through Effective Selling. Author.
Websites:
Emotions as a negotiating tool. Available from:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/17609426-89dc-11e3-abc4-00144feab7de.html#axzz2xy3mQdgS
Retrieved1 April 2014
Josh R. (2013). Buying with BATNA: Gone in 60 seconds. Available from: http://rolesrelations.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/buying-with-batna-gone-in-60-seconds/ Retrieved 11 May 2014
Goodreads. Quotes about improvement. Available from:
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/improvement
Retrieved 15 June 2014
Anexe:
Propuneri – tn + aiesec academy
Contracte
Trainer – cum vezimembriiaiesec de pevanzari
Testimoniale
Anexe
Questionnaire
First Name/ Last Name
Gender
E-mail address
Since when have you been working on the Sales Department?
On which of the four teams are you currently working?
Current position held
Do you believe that addressing emotions during sales meeting is important?
To what extent do you believe that the role of psychology (dealing with emotions) is addressed during AIESEC Sales trainings/ meetings?
Do you believe that there should be a greater focus on how to address emotions?
How familiar are you with the AIESEC negotiation process?
To what extent do you use the sales techniques provided by the sales trainings/ meetings?
How would you describe the AIESEC Selling Way?
If you were to change anything within the sales area, what would you change?
Would you like to add anything else?
Interview CalinDorobantu, Vice-President External Relations at AIESEC Bucharest
Since when have you been Vice President External Relations in AIESEC Bucharest?
What made you run for Vice President External Relations?
Which do you believe are the main flows within the AIESEC Sales Department?
What is your main strategy in terms of improving the Sales Department?
Do you believe that the role of emotions in negotiation is addressed within the AIESEC Sales Department?
Have you signalized any problems due to the low awareness of how to address emotions is negotiation?
Do you plan to increase this awareness during your term? If yes, how?
Which do you believe is the level of the Sales Members’ awareness upon the negotiation process?
Which is you strategy in order to increase the Sales Department Members’ awareness and background on the negotiation process and techniques?
What do you think differentiates the AIESEC Sales Department from those of other NGOs?
How do you think is the AIESEC Sales Department positioned in front of the companies?
Interview ValentinHaicu, Alumni AIESEC Bucharest
Why have you chosen to remain in contact with AIESEC Bucharest? How do you still involve?
Which are the most important things that you have learned in AIESEC Bucharest?
Which are the main topics you address during your Sales Trainings in AIESEC Bucharest?
From what you have noticed during your trainings delivered to the AIESEC Sales Team, do you believe that the role of emotions in negotiation is addressed within the AIESEC Sales Department?
During your trainings, have you tried to increase the Sales Members’ awareness on how emotions may influence the negotiated outcome, as well as the negotiation process itself? How?
How aware do you believe the Sales Members are when it comes to the negotiation process?
Which do you consider is the level of professionalism displayed by the AIESEC Sales Team?
Which do you think are the some of the key improvements that could increase the productivity of the Sales Team?
References
Articles:
Kopelman, S., Rosette A.S., Thompson, L. (2006). The three faces of Eve: Strategic displays of positive, negative, and neutral emotions in negotiations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 99 (2006) 81-101.
Musa, F., Mansor, A.Z., Mufti, N., Absullah, N.A., Kasim, F.D. (2012). Negotiation skills: teachers’ feedback as input strategy. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences 59 (2012) 221-226.
Brooks, A.W., Schweitzer, M.E. (2011). Can Nervous Nelly negotiate? How anxiety causes negotiators to make low first offers, exit early, and earn less profit.Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 115 (2011) 43–54
Kelley, R. (2007). Characteristics of Great Sales Negotiators.
Steinel, W., Van Kleef, G.A., Hanrick, F. (2008). Are you talking to me?! Separating the people from the problem when expressing emotions in negotiation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 362-369.
Overbeck, J.R., Neale, M.A., Govan, C.L. (2010). I feel, therefore you act: Intrapersonal and interpersonal effects of emotion on negotiation as a function of social power. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 112 (2010) 126–139
Anderson, C., Thompson, L.L. (2004). Affect from the top down: How powerful individuals’ positive affect shapes negotiations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 95 (2004) 125–139
Pietroni, D., Van Kleef, G.A., De Dreu, C.K.W., Pagliaro, S. (2008). Emotions as strategic information: Effects of other’s emotional expressions on fixed-pie perception, demands, and integrative behavior in negotiation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 44 (2008) 1444-14454.
Harnick, F., De Dreu, C.K.W. (2007). Take a break! Or not? The impact of mindsets during breaks on negotiation processes and outcomes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 44 (2008) 397-404
Patton, C., Balakrishnan, P.V. (2009). The impact of expectation of future negotiation on bargaining processes and outcomes. Journal of Business Research 63 (2010) 809-816.
Vetschera, R. (2013). Negotiation process: an integrated perspective. EURO J Decis Process (2013) 1 135-164.
Sun, Shili (2008). Organizational Culture and Its Themes. International Journal of Business and Management (2008).
Leimbach, M., Maringka, J. (2008). Enhacing Sales Performance Through Negotiation Skills.
14. erefore, agreement that are critical to build long-lasting customer relationships ( goal; the actual goal is to produce resHeiman, M. (2006). Five Steps to Successful Sales Negotiations.
Murtoaro, J., Kujala, J., Artto, K. (2005). Negotiations in project sales and delivery process.
Hunter, M. (2009). Negotiation Skills. Making the Most of Every Sales Opportunity.
Smutko, L.S. (2005). Negotiation and Collaborative Problem Solving.
Popescu, M.M., Popescu, M.M. (2013). Negotiation process – Interpersonal communication.
Cohen, T. (2011). Sales Culture.
Peleckis, K. (2014). International business negotiations: innovation, negotiation team, preparation. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 110 ( 2014 ) 64 – 73
Druckman, D., Olekalns, M. (2007). Emotions in negotiation.
Sullivan, B.A., O’Connor, K.M., Burris, E.R. (2005). Negotiator confidence: The impact of self-efficacy on tactics and outcomes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 42 (2006) 567-581.
Alavoine, C. (2012). You can’t always get what you want: Strategic issues in Negotiation. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 58 (2012) 665 – 672.
Young, M.J., Bauman, C.W., Chen, N., Bastardi, A. (2012). The pursuit of missing information in negotiation.Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 117 (2012) 88-95.
Moran, S., Ritov, I. (2006). Experience in integrative negotiations: What needs to be learned? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 43 (2007) 77-90.
Jane Trainer Acme, Inc.(2010). Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument. Profile and Interpretation Report. CPP, Inc (2010).
James, G. (2012). 7 Steps to a Perfect Cold Call. CBS Interactive Inc. (2012)
Weiss, W. (2009). Cold Calling in the 21st Century: The New Rules.
Books:
Fisher, R., Shapiro, D. (2006). Beyond reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate. 1st Edition. Penguin Books.
Carrell, M.R., Heavrin, C. (2008).Negotiating Essentials: Theory, Skills, and Practices. New Jersey: Pearson & Prentice Hall.
Wheeler, M. (2013). The Art of Negotiation: How to Improvise Agreement in a Chaotic World. Simon & Schuster.
Parrott, W.G. (2014). The Positive Side of Negative Emotions.1st Edition. The Guilford Press
Ghinea, V.M. (2011). Conducting the company. Human Resource Management. Bucharest: BREN Publishing House.
Fisher, R., Ury, W.L., Patton, B. (1991). Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. 2nd Edition. Penguin Books.
Thompson, L.L. (2005). The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator.3rd Edition, International Edition. New Jersey: Pearson & Prentice Hall.
Lewicki, R., Barry, B., Saunders, D. (2010). Essentials of Negotiation. 5th Edition. McGraw-Hill Education.
Collins, P. (2009). Negotiate to win!: Talking Your Way to What You Want. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
Thompson, L.L. (2007). The Truth About Negotiations. FT Press
Fells, R. (2009). Effective Negotiations: From Research to Results. Cambridge University Press.
Benoliel, M. (2011). Negotiation Excellence: Successful Deal Making. World Scientific.
Roeder, L.W., Simard, A. (2013). Diplomacy and Negotiation for Humanitarian NGOs. Springer London, Limited
Harvard Business School Press & Society for Human Resource Management (U.S.). The Essentials of Negotiation. Harvard Business Press (2005).
Malhotra, D., Bazerman, M. (2007). Negotiation Genius: How to Overcome Obstacles and Achieve Brilliant Results at the Bargaining Table and Beyond. Random House LLC (2007).
International Business Machines (2005). IBM Signature Selling Method: Delivering Client Value through Effective Selling. Author.
Websites:
Emotions as a negotiating tool. Available from:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/17609426-89dc-11e3-abc4-00144feab7de.html#axzz2xy3mQdgS
Retrieved1 April 2014
Josh R. (2013). Buying with BATNA: Gone in 60 seconds. Available from: http://rolesrelations.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/buying-with-batna-gone-in-60-seconds/ Retrieved 11 May 2014
Goodreads. Quotes about improvement. Available from:
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/improvement
Retrieved 15 June 2014
Anexe
Questionnaire
First Name/ Last Name
Gender
E-mail address
Since when have you been working on the Sales Department?
On which of the four teams are you currently working?
Current position held
Do you believe that addressing emotions during sales meeting is important?
To what extent do you believe that the role of psychology (dealing with emotions) is addressed during AIESEC Sales trainings/ meetings?
Do you believe that there should be a greater focus on how to address emotions?
How familiar are you with the AIESEC negotiation process?
To what extent do you use the sales techniques provided by the sales trainings/ meetings?
How would you describe the AIESEC Selling Way?
If you were to change anything within the sales area, what would you change?
Would you like to add anything else?
Interview CalinDorobantu, Vice-President External Relations at AIESEC Bucharest
Since when have you been Vice President External Relations in AIESEC Bucharest?
What made you run for Vice President External Relations?
Which do you believe are the main flows within the AIESEC Sales Department?
What is your main strategy in terms of improving the Sales Department?
Do you believe that the role of emotions in negotiation is addressed within the AIESEC Sales Department?
Have you signalized any problems due to the low awareness of how to address emotions is negotiation?
Do you plan to increase this awareness during your term? If yes, how?
Which do you believe is the level of the Sales Members’ awareness upon the negotiation process?
Which is you strategy in order to increase the Sales Department Members’ awareness and background on the negotiation process and techniques?
What do you think differentiates the AIESEC Sales Department from those of other NGOs?
How do you think is the AIESEC Sales Department positioned in front of the companies?
Interview ValentinHaicu, Alumni AIESEC Bucharest
Why have you chosen to remain in contact with AIESEC Bucharest? How do you still involve?
Which are the most important things that you have learned in AIESEC Bucharest?
Which are the main topics you address during your Sales Trainings in AIESEC Bucharest?
From what you have noticed during your trainings delivered to the AIESEC Sales Team, do you believe that the role of emotions in negotiation is addressed within the AIESEC Sales Department?
During your trainings, have you tried to increase the Sales Members’ awareness on how emotions may influence the negotiated outcome, as well as the negotiation process itself? How?
How aware do you believe the Sales Members are when it comes to the negotiation process?
Which do you consider is the level of professionalism displayed by the AIESEC Sales Team?
Which do you think are the some of the key improvements that could increase the productivity of the Sales Team?
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