3.13:

It is hard to try and become partners with someone who you were competing against. I had did this at a job I had years ago. I was friends with her then, a position both of us wanted and a few others. I was the one who was very competitive and lost friends. If I would have looked at the big picture and did my research I would have known that I was not eligible for the promotion since I am in school. The other girl who was about to get kicked out of school for attendance got the position. I could have used all of them to help me move up in the company once I could have an open availability. So from that I had learned from my past. There was an opening at my current job and in the same department that I work in for a supervisor. I put in for it and I was interviewed, but was not promoted. Which is fine because I am moving in a few weeks. I was in competition with a lot more people this time, but I was selected as one of the top candidates which made me feel good. I have worked with management and my new supervisors teaching them what I know as they came to the department and now that I am leaving and we have a new associate. I feel that it is hard to work with the competition, but at times it helps make both persons better, stronger performers and the one who out shines the other deserves the position or leadership role. There are always those who take charge and are the leaders and those who wait and delegate the tasks. I work with a lot of people who are related, which to me is a pain hearing and knowing that they are related to them. I would like special treatment too. The hard part is that they do their work and do it well. They know their job and seem to know more than some that have been working here for a while. Its hard, I have to keep going over the pros and cons like the textbook addresses and move forward with the tasks I have to complete.

2.1: rationalize

After reading the assigned readings 2.1 and 2.2 from the textbook found that I had a more to discuss in 2.1. I liked how they provided the scenarios and gave the different view points. Looking at things no matter how big or small they may appear to you they my be the opposite to the person on the other side that is why everything should be handled carefully and in a timely manor.


As the semester is winding down I have a handful of things that I need to rationalize in the upcoming weeks. Which store do I want to transfer to with regards to travel distance, position, benefits and salary. The second main concern that I have been faced with recently is how am I going to pay for my education upon graduation and transferring to another school? I have funding that will expire about half way through and an option to get out of the National Guard or to stay in and have them pay for some of it and then with myself and my civilian employer it should be paid off before graduation. The dilemma is that this is the perfect opportunity to get out and transfer to a different status which would be most beneficial for me. This is somewhat out of my control so I can move.


Do I want to work at a store that is closer, but may pay about the same as now for the same or similar position. Or do I take the promotion and the possibility to have the light shine on me while I would be working at a store trying out some new services. There I would have stable hours and then I am sure I would have the benefits medical coverage and some vacation time come next fall. I think I will try and use what I have learned from the class thus far and take the position farther away, but tell them that I would like to have a few things like FT & to work the other 8 hours in the department that I currently am working in. But there is another aspect that I need to rationalize working 40 hours. Is that best for me, my employer and my school work?


There is a lot to take in when trying to make the best possible decision for one. Like we learned in class it may not be the best for the person to your left or right its all in how you play the game.  

School board VS. Teacher strike

This negotiation was much different than the others. We had four people on each side of the discussion. To me it seemed like there were two of us on each side that agreed on the same issues and the other two group members seemed to be the more outspoken people leading the discussion. I felt that a lot of the topics had more to discuss and negotiate than others. For example benefits we spoke mainly about maternity and paternity leave. There was no discussing if the father was not married if they get the time off or is it only those married to their pregnant wife who are allowed the time off like in the military. There were a lot more that could have been brought up on this topic, but I think its mainly because many of my peers are not married or have a full time job were these are important aspects to consider they never thought about time. When we sat down to discuss the dispute within the Newtown schools the teachers wanted a 10% increase in their salary. We knew before we even sat down that they were going to fight us hard for higher pay, but we had thought about 5% was our max before sitting down. So we settled at 6.0%- 6.5% increase. One of our top concerns was the work load of the teachers. With that being said we needed to increase the number of students in each classroom for one teacher. We also needed to cut back some time classes. This would mean more time for teachers to assist with other obligation around the school: lunch and bus duty for example. The teachers wanted to keep their prep and duty free time. I personally do not understand why we should be fighting over giving them this time. It is something that is necessary for teachers. My father is a 10-12 teacher and that off time is used for various things like grading, preparing the classroom for the next class, lunch/ bus duty or even to cover for other teachers. Also, its hard for students to learn and teachers to do their job with over crowed classrooms. This is something that everyone should understand from both sides. I do better in smaller(>20) classes than the ones that are packed (<30) students. It seems like what the board is asking for from the teachers is not reasonable if you actually think about it rather than just read the script. The teachers evaluations also were brought up for negotiation. There was not much to discus in this topic I thought. The main concern I have is the frequency of the evaluations  and  what happens after words. Does the teacher have a meeting to know how they performed? What happens if for some reason they perform below satisfactory? Things like this could be brought up. With all of that being said we still need to lay off some staff. When we sat down with the teachers one of them really felt strongly about knowing the actual number of teachers that were going to be let go. I think that how the teachers evaluations have some say in if a teacher may stay or go along with attendance and other topics that will be used.
Again, as a part of the school board and someone who recently had the hardest time finding a job I do not feel that the last minute notification was adequate. On average the hiring processing takes about 6 weeks or longer from the time you look for a job, submit your application, get the call for an interview and for orientation. There was not any mention anything about any cash flow to the teaches that will be let go so that is something as a board member I am happy about, but its not something that they brought up which could have caused more problems. It really seemed like everyone at the table were getting frustrated. Too bad we could not have swapped places for the next negation.

MOVIE: Final Offer

This was a movie we watched about the negotiation strategies with GM and a Canadian auto company. Here four men were business partners and had to make big decisions about their US and Canadian companies. Each company wanted their own needs to be met rather than to change them like the other. What was important to the Canadians was not important to those in the United States. For example the Canadians did not really care about a bonus they rather have the increase in their pay. The way the Canadians were treated I would not care to be treated that way even for an increase on my pay. Having to ring a bell and waiting for 45 minutes or so for someone to respond so you can be relieved is a little crazy. Bob White was the president of the Canadian GM Company and had did his best to give them what they disserve. Bob White, Owen, Andrews and Smith all had long talks about what each of them felt was best. Collations were formed and lies were told which made it easier for them to get ahead. The other person was not aware of what was or was not a bluff. Things like this happen all the time and it could affect even more people as employees or the consumer when or how the items are purchased.  

Jordan Electronics - VP of Sales

For this negotiation I looked at it differently than the others we have done in class. I had sat back and wanted to hear what my group members had to say, but when I had an idea I spoke up. I felt like I was firm with the offer than I had been in the past negotiations.  My group had and entirely different approach than the others when we had concluded and discussed. We had more of a narrator who wrote down our wants if they were high or low and who wanted what. It was nice to be able to see what everyone was saying rather than just hearing them talk. This is also a technique that has been used by other groups in the past. I feel that the director was the hardest person to work with. It seemed like most of what we said he was not in favor of until the end. Overall I liked this negotiation more than the others. I thought of the products as things that relate to my life. Things that I can sell since I work retail and things that innovators like my husband needs the news and latest things. He is the type of person who has to have the latest and greatest gadgets. I looked at the items we were to produce as Apple produces their Iphones. A group member had mentioned increasing the price we were asking once the item has been produced and ready to hit the shelves. We had an incentive of 25 K for current users so they were not spending nearly as much as our other customers. I had thought of  having custom packages, but the idea was vetoed and our time was running out otherwise I would have pushed for this more than I had pushed for anything in the past negotiations. I think customer orders would help to pull in a specific target market whether they would want or need the basic, classic or executive packages would give our clients what they want.

Coalition, do we want to join or not to join the coalition.

What is a coalition? We may want to determine that factor out before we know if we want to join them or to plot against them. What do we have to gain or lose in this situation? Do we want to become friends or allies with the others? These are just a few questions that we need to think about before we really know if we want to be a join a coalition or if we want to stay away from them.


A coalition is when there are others with similar interests wanting the same end result. How you get there may vary depending on what you have to offer. Normally it happens when the person who has the greater amount unintentionally show the others the power they have which pushes the others who have less separately have more when they are joined otherwise know as a coalition is formed. The people  who had less are plotting to work against the one who had more in order to them the two of them the better deal in the end.


A real life coalition for me would be when my sister and I were trying to make a sale on Facebook
for a floor lamp. I actually can negotiate when it comes to buying and selling when decorating is involved. So my little sister wanted a floor lamp and there is a lady who didn't want to go down in price at all. I starting talking to the lady and I had got the price lowered considerably. I had my sister keep talking to her to see what she would say. Since I was the one who had closed the sale and was going to up the item I requested some compensation for this. We had  worked together to get what she wanted the floor lamp and at a low price, and I got to take part in a great sale and walked away feeling good about standing my ground and getting higher compensation than expected. When we first started speaking to the lady I was lucky to get her to drop it at all because she was one of those people who wrote "FIRM". Then, after I formed a relationship with her and discussed the item it was easier to talk to her and have the ball in my court. The lady then would not respond to my sister that is how much she wanted my sale.

class survey

I honestly did not understand this survey when it was given to us  the first day of class. When we were given the results it just made me even more confused. I had scored at the top of the first one and the bottom of the second one. I feel strongly about not lying about getting what you want when someone directly asks you; however; if you don't ask the right questions or word it the right way things could be withheld. I know there have been times that too many people try to use that against the other person. If you don't ask we don't have to tell just like in court. Talking too much gets you into so much more trouble at times. I am not sure how it is ok to knowingly withhold information that you should have told the person asking about it. There was someone who was the total opposite of my responses on the first two. The main reason I had answered the questions this ways is due to the last job I had for several years. There these people were the type who tried to get you in trouble for false information, lying, or attacking others. I see how these are both good and bad qualities to have and since may of us will be out in the real world soon it would be even more of a reason for us to take advantage to where we fall in the categories and  to improve.