Case 12-2: Identifying Conflict-Handling Modes
1. Based on the information provided, what is the conflict-handling mode of each person?
Alexis – Compromising
2. What conflict-handling mode is not illustrated in the examples provided? Describe what that
person is generally like.
End of Chapter Role Play
To the Instructor:
This role play is just intended for your students to learn what it is like to negotiate. Don’t expect them to
do extremely well, since they won’t have had time to practice or prepare. The key is that they experience
some win–lose tactics, and think about how different negotiations is than regular selling.
After the students are finished with their role play, engage the class in a discussion. Ask what tactics were
used and how they felt when others engaged in win-lose tactics. Ask them what kind of planning they
would have done, had they had time, and how they think that would have helped them. Also, ask if they
ever started feeling like they wanted to win, even if it made the other side lose.
EXERCISE 12-1 NEGOTIATIONS: VIEWS FROM A SALESPERSON AND A BUYER
Visit with a salesperson and a buyer (separately) and learn about how they negotiate formal agreements.
Find out what things are negotiated, how they plan for an upcoming negotiation meeting, what strategies
and tactics they use, and how they gain and give concessions.
Write a five page report that summarizes your findings. Include your evaluation of each person’s conflict-
handling style (competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, or accommodating) as well as your
feeling about whether each holds a win–win or win-lose perspective.
Be sure to provide specific examples. It may help to develop a flowchart of a specific negotiation cycle.
EXERCISE 12-2 PUBLICATIONS ABOUT FORMAL NEGOTIATIONS
Do an online search that specifically discusses the topic of formal negotiations between buyers and sellers.
Complete the following questions.
1. List the source of those publications that have as their principal audience salespeople and/or sales
organizations.
2. List the source of those publications that have as their principal audience buyers and/or buying
organizations.
3. Summarize ten important things you learned (can be from either source).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
4. Compare and contrast the information provided to the two different audiences (sellers, buyers).
Exercise 12-3 In-class Negotiation Exercise
Use the 2 scenarios on the following pages for students to role play a negotiation. You can do this after
covering the chapter material (in order for them to apply what they‘ve learned), or use it before covering the
material (so they can see the results of not knowing how to negotiate properly).
You can change the name of the school from UMD to your school if you like.
ROLE A – Marketing Director
Take a few minutes to read through the situation and think about what you want to accomplish.
Recently promoted to Marketing Director, you’ve really enjoyed your new job. After four months, you feel
fortunate to have a pretty good team working for you. There is one exception, however; a position for a
product manager. When you took the team over, you were warned about the person who was in that
position and sure enough, after thirty days, you put him on probation and then fired him after the probation
period was over.
The challenge is, though, that sales for that product slipped tremendously while that person was in charge.
Your boss, the VP of Sales and Marketing, has told you that the situation has to change, so you’ve taken on
those responsibilities yourself until a new person can be hired. But doing two jobs well is next to
impossible. More importantly, it is mid-May and August 1marks the launch of a new product which should
be a responsibility of the new person. You would really like to have someone on board by June 1. Given all
you have to work on, there is no way you can cover the new product launch AND do your regular job.
More importantly, your parents have booked a cruise to Alaska to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary
and bought tickets for you, your spouse, and all of your siblings and their spouses. This trip is July 7-14,
but if you have no one on board for this job, you won’t be able to go.
You’ve got two candidates for the position. One is an MBA student graduating from the University of
Wisconsin. She served as an intern in your company in another area and the manager rated her work very
highly. However, you and she did not seem to get along very well in the interview process and you wonder
if she would fit your team. Her English is not very good either, and the new product will be launched in
both the US and Canada. Further, her salary demand is the same as the previous person, $95,000. The
previous person, however, had five years of experience and was paid near the upper end of what you would
expect in that position.
Today, you are meeting with the other candidate, Terry. Your HR manager first interviewed Terry at UMD,
and then you and two other managers interviewed Terry at a meeting in Minneapolis. Terry is also about to
graduate with an MBA with grades of all As except for one B in Finance. In addition to an internship at a
small software company, Terry has three years of experience in logistics for a materials handling equipment
manufacturer. You are impressed with Terry’s overall business acumen and maturity, but you are a bit
concerned about a lack of both industry experience (your company makes healthcare equipment) and
experience in product management. Your company is located in St. Paul.
Also of concern is that Terry mentioned a South American trip immediately after graduation for a month.
You aren’t sure of the exact dates, but there is no way Terry can start and get the new product launched and
take a month to see South America.
Your company pays salaries at the low end of the competitive range. There is, however, a profit-sharing
plan that can range up to 15% of base pay. Last year, it was at 15%, and has always been above 10% for
the five years you’ve been with the company. Recently, you saw an article in Marketing News that showed
the salary range for product manager to be $60,000 to $110,000. You were thinking of $65,000 for Terry,
but you have the budget to go as high as $90,000. The company typically does not pay relocation costs for
new hires, especially straight out of college; however, you were personally paid relocation costs when you
moved (it was about $7000) to join the company and you know in your last position, you covered the
relocation costs for another new hire.
You are about to meet with Terry one last time. Terry has just finished touring your St. Paul facilities and
meeting with your team, and the feedback from your team is positive. You must make a decision and reach
agreement on terms today if you are to hire Terry, as Terry would then meet with HR again to finalize the
paperwork. If you decide not to hire Terry, you must tell Terry in your meeting today.
Come back to class prepared to share the outcome of your meeting.
Role B – Candidate
Take a few minutes to read through the situation and think about what you want to accomplish.
Congratulations, you will finish your MBA at UMD in late May! After that, you plan to tour South
American, visiting Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands. You leave June 15 and return July 13. The
trip, costing you $3000, has already been booked and paid for, leaving you with very little cash. In fact,
you don’t have the $4000 it will take to move your belongings to St. Paul and would really like to have that
cost covered, especially since your business wardrobe is also now limited and you need to buy new clothes.
You’ve already gotten one job offer – a company in Tulsa, Oklahoma has offered you $85,000. They’ve
also agreed to wait until July 15, when you get back from your trip, to start. One problem is that the
company has poor health benefits and no bonus plan. In addition, the job is in logistics and you would
really like to move into marketing. Finally, when you visited Tulsa, you thought it was ok but very small
and you didn’t think you could live there for very long. You’ve pretty much decided you’d rather work
somewhere else, if you can get a good offer.
What you would really like to do is move back to your hometown of St. Paul. Your father has had a few
mild strokes, and you want to be closer to your parents. When you saw the opportunity to interview for a
marketing position with a company in St. Paul you jumped at the chance.
In addition, you are engaged to marry and your fiancée lives in Madison, WI; unfortunately, your fiancée
already has a job in Madison.
You had a good interview with the HR person on campus, and then a good day of interviews with managers
in Minneapolis. The Director of Marketing, the person you would work for, seemed to appreciate your
business experience and your ability to translate that experience to the healthcare equipment industry. Now,
you are meeting with the Director of Marketing for one last meeting in St. Paul, after you have seen the
facilities and met with the rest of the team. So far so good – you really think you’d fit in well here.
One of the members of the team confided that your prospective boss can be a tough negotiator. You’ve
prepared well, though, learning through a family friend that the company has done very well. You heard
that bonuses have been pretty good, another indication that the company has done well. Further, your
research at the Career Services Center at UMD suggests that salaries for marketing positions ranged from
$55,000 to $110,000, with the average being just above $80,000. Several of your friends have gotten job
offers ranging from $75,000 to $90,000, and your grades and experience are better than theirs.
Come back to class prepared to share the outcome of your meeting.