The Final Offer: Video Analysis
Final Offer – Video Analysis
2) Positional bargaining is a negotiation strategy that involves standing on to a fixed idea, or position and arguing for it and it alone (Spangler, 2003).
a) The two negotiators in the film, Bob White and Rod Andrew, have specific and hard positions. It is easy to identify that neither of them is willing to change or modify their position. In the case of Bob White, as the union representative, his position is to achieve a raise of 3% in hourly wages for the line workers. For Rod Andrews, the GM negotiator, his position is to make the union representatives understand that GM’s profitability is fragile and for that reason it is not possible to give line workers a raise in hourly wages.
b) Even though these two negotiators show the other party their position, they also have some underlying interests. In the case of Bob White, his real concern is that if he does not reach a good agreement with GM then the union members will not be happy. This unhappiness will lead to him not being reelected as the UAW director, which means that he would have to go back to work on the line. For Rod Andrew, his real interest is that if he agrees to a raise for the Canadian union then GM would have problems with the American union. GM had just signed a new American union contract where the Americans agreed on giving up raises in return for job retention. GM wants to keep the same policies for everybody at the company.
c) I think that in this situation, Bob White and Rod Andrew could not have taken a course of mutual gains bargaining. The most important factor to generate alternative solutions is to shift from positional bargaining to integrative negotiation, where both parties understand each other’s priorities and they agree on a common definition of the problem (Lewicki, Saunders and Barry, 2011). In this situation both parties have extremely hard positions and it looks like no one is willing to make any concessions. When Rod Andrew tried to come
2) Positional bargaining is a negotiation strategy that involves standing on to a fixed idea, or position and arguing for it and it alone (Spangler, 2003).
a) The two negotiators in the film, Bob White and Rod Andrew, have specific and hard positions. It is easy to identify that neither of them is willing to change or modify their position. In the case of Bob White, as the union representative, his position is to achieve a raise of 3% in hourly wages for the line workers. For Rod Andrews, the GM negotiator, his position is to make the union representatives understand that GM’s profitability is fragile and for that reason it is not possible to give line workers a raise in hourly wages.
b) Even though these two negotiators show the other party their position, they also have some underlying interests. In the case of Bob White, his real concern is that if he does not reach a good agreement with GM then the union members will not be happy. This unhappiness will lead to him not being reelected as the UAW director, which means that he would have to go back to work on the line. For Rod Andrew, his real interest is that if he agrees to a raise for the Canadian union then GM would have problems with the American union. GM had just signed a new American union contract where the Americans agreed on giving up raises in return for job retention. GM wants to keep the same policies for everybody at the company.
c) I think that in this situation, Bob White and Rod Andrew could not have taken a course of mutual gains bargaining. The most important factor to generate alternative solutions is to shift from positional bargaining to integrative negotiation, where both parties understand each other’s priorities and they agree on a common definition of the problem (Lewicki, Saunders and Barry, 2011). In this situation both parties have extremely hard positions and it looks like no one is willing to make any concessions. When Rod Andrew tried to come
References: Lewicki, R., Saunders, D., Barry, B. (2011). Essentials of Negotiation Fisher, R., Ury, W. (2011). Getting to Yes Spangler, B. (2003) Positional Bargaining http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/positional-bargaining