Negotiation Strategy Aspiring Students Wishing to Learn

Negotiation Strategy

Aspiring students wishing to learn the finer details of the art of negotiation would be well advised to investigate different negotiation situations that present different aspects of negotiation. These examples are even more relevant and beneficial when changing strategies occur during the negotiation, and, learning results with these experiences becomes evident and applicable to everyday situations. As an aspiring pharmaceutical sales representative, it is important for me to remember that this information demonstrated by those who have successfully negotiated through different and important experiences in their lifetime provide a useful and clear presentation of specific tactics and techniques that are important to employ during any particular negotiation or discussion in which I would be you are seeking to gain a competitive advantage.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze two different negotiations and their subsequent negotiation strategies and apply the learning points from these results to a successful sales career within the pharmaceutical sales industry. I will be using an example of international crisis and another example discussing a labor dispute. While these large-scale negotiations seem very detailed and specific, there are general principles to be drawn from these examples and I will explore and compare them to my current situation.

The Iran hostage crisis, which began on November 4, 1979 and lasted till January 20, 1981 is an important example of how two sides need to understand each other's point-of-view and come to an understanding of certain knowledge and background information the negotiation can even begin and successful results should be expected (Iran Hostage Crisis n.d.). Two countries, arguing over certain resources and meddling affairs within each other's political business set off this hostage crisis as a demonstration to the United States that Iranian interests will not be compromised by unwanted influence and military trickery.

In order to solve this crisis, Pres. Jimmy Carter tried many different things within the negotiation to release the hostages. At first, he used military might and special forces operations to infiltrate and capture back the American citizens that were held against their will. This failed miserably as planes and helicopters could not navigate their way through a sandstorm and this failure was disastrous. As President carter was in the late stages of the president race with future president Ronald Reagan during this crisis, a rogue network of Reagan's allies negotiated the freedom of the hostages behind Pres. Carter's back. The hostages were ultimately released after President carter had lost the election and Ronald Reagan was found to be a new hero and responsible for the release of these hostages.

Applying the lessons of the Iran hostage crisis to a pharmacy career deals with acquiring knowledge and foresight before even entering into a negotiation. Before entering a negotiation of any type, it is imperative that if you'd like to be successful you would need to gather as much data and knowledge about negotiation itself before even attempting to develop a strategy. This fundamental step in negotiation techniques is often overlooked as people often used too much haste and force in demonstrating their will. As a pharmaceutical sales representative I will use my listening skills and empathetic attitudes to listen and try peaceful and nonaggressive techniques in negotiating my positions. Before I can make any demands upon anyone it is most important to understand what their demands are and therefore I will be able to tailor my needs and advancetowards them.

The second example I will examine, involves the UPS strike of 1996. UPS had grown to be a very large and powerful company through the use of part-time labor. This was a deliberate and very productive business tactic, but eventually workers grew tired of this treatment. The workers eventually brought in union negotiators to help lead their cause for better treatment, hours and pay. Cantoria (2011) declared in her analysis of this case, that the union was very successful in researching and analyzing all of the data relating to their case. They understood that a strike would indeed bring UPS to the negotiation table, and gave them certain bargaining leverage with in the negotiation. A strike is often a good technique to demonstrate how a group of people can acquire power through the use of nonparticipation. Eventually the union was able to attain all of the demands that they required and saw a great increase in the quality of life as well as their benefits.