Negotiation strategy

The negotiation style that will be used in this situation is principled negotiation. In order to reach a value-creating agreement where both parties are satisfied with the status of their relationship and the negotiation’s conclusion, this negotiation style is also sometimes referred to as integrative negotiation (Gitomer, 2015). In such a setting, my father and I may cooperate and identify shared interests to arrive at solutions that are advantageous to both of us. It is my focus to ensure that I engage my father in a collaborative negotiation, which will make him feel comfortable with the arguments that I will be making regarding the issue at hand. Such will also help in eliminating any form of pre-judgment of me rejecting the offer because of personal issues or stand on what my brother is capable of doing.

This negotiation format will also create an opportunity for my father and me to trust and understand each other. Thus, all the parties will be able to listen to each other and share ideas on how the performance of the organization can improve at the face of the business without major or significant challenges. Thus, all the parties will be giving the ideas that are offered during the negotiation process a great weight for consideration on how to ensure that success in business is sustained. It will also generate an element of creativity on how to solve the existing problem in terms of interests and not positions (Mitchell, 2014). The focus is to have a great discussion and thoughts on how the interest of the face of the business can be accomplished without aiming at having my brother occupy this position. This is because occupying this position does not mean sitting on the chair and be seen there, but being proactive and creative on how to attract and retain customers for the business. Such a negotiation process will also help in separating individuals from the problem and aiming at brainstorming for several options prior to arriving at the conclusive agreement for the business. Furthermore, the agreement will be based on objective criteria. Therefore, the solution, which will be arrived at the end of the negotiation is what benefits all the parties of the business, as well as the business itself in realizing the anticipated success level.

Negotiation process

The negotiation process will involve planning, engaging and closing.

Planning

The objectives of the negotiation are:

To persuade my father that my brother does not need any additional responsibilities.

To explain to my father the qualities and characteristics of the face of a business and why my brother does not fit in this category.

To illustrate the interest of the business and how to contribute to its growth.

To analyze the potential impact of my brother being at the face of the business.

To strengthen the relationship that exists in the family business.

To brainstorm a solution to the problem of the face of the business.

In case the negotiation fails, the plan is to have a meeting with my brother. In this meeting, the discussion will focus on the offer our father is giving my brother. I will aim at persuading my brother to look at the big picture of the business and move to inform my father that he is not ready for such a position (Gitomer, 2015). Further, I will indicate to my brother what it means to be at the face of the business so that as he communicates with my father he really understands the stakes ahead of him in the business. Personal needs are that the family business continues to flourish and not have big-blow. As such, the face of the business should be held by a person who is able to attract customers and offer the best services to clients so that they can have a good experience with the firm, as well as develop loyalty with its products and services being offered in the market. The needs of my father are to have us the children share powers in the business. This based on the desired to create a good relationship between us. He is also concerned that my brother could develop a bad attitude towards me since he has been left out of the face of the business. Hence, he needs to bring me out so that he could feel as part of the family and share equal responsibilities with me.

Engaging

In the negotiation, I will embrace a calm confidence of the ideas that I will be presenting to my father. This includes presenting the offers and what needs to be done for the business, as well as providing facts as to why such decisions are being undertaken. Further, there will be detailed discussion of the ideas and concepts in accordance to the problem, which is being faced in the family business. Appropriate compromises will be taken into consideration and concessions sought to have a good outcome from the entire process of negotiation (Mitchell, 2014). I will also listen to the suggestions and proposals offered by my father and focus on making clarity and acknowledge the same. Finally, it will be a give and take engagement. I believe this will be a great approach, which will ensure that my father does not deviate from the negotiation process, but remains glued to it in order to realize the anticipated success in solving the problem for the family business.

Closing

The closing of the negotiation will involve articulating the concessions and agreements made and developing the closing statements. The expected statement is that “Right. That is the best option for the business.” In case of any commitments, they will be followed to make sure that the negotiation was not in vain, but it bared fruits.

Why it is multi-issue negotiation

This is a multi-issue negotiation because the process involves several issues to be discussed, which include the business interest, face of the business, and position of my brother. Such will occur while ensuring that the relationship in the family is not killed by the process or outcome of the negotiation. As such, my father and I have different interests and overlapping goals, which have to be accomplished at the end of the negotiation process (Negotiate Your Way to Better Leadership, 2015). The benefit of such a negotiation is that value-creating tradeoffs will be realized at the end. Furthermore, there are different interests and goals between my father and me, which will ensure that there some things we shall have an agreement. Such a negotiation also ensures that the involved parties have a chance of working together and negotiate on relevant issues for the family business. It also helps in ensuring that all the parties are able to air their views on the pertinent issue and come to a conclusion, which is acceptable to all. Moreover, the negotiation unwinds what the parties could not have discussed openly if the discussion was not openly held for all the individuals.

Personal goal

Personal desired outcome and goal for the negotiation is that the business grows and my brother remains in the position, which best suits his capabilities. I am also focused at ensuring that the existing family relationship is not destroyed by the outcome of the negotiation process. It is also my desire that my father appreciates the role of using the right person at the right place in accordance to individual skills and capabilities, which would not compromise the continuous functionality and running of the business (Buttle, 2009). Further, I need to ensure that the business does not have a reduction in its performance level because of the change or introduction of a new face on its operations and activities. In addition, I need to offer some guidance to my father on how skills, capabilities, and competencies can be matched in the business to ensure that it is able to achieve the desired success.

Goals of my father

The goal of my father is to ensure that we the children have equal powers in the business. He needs to make us have equal responsibilities such that we are all the face value of the business (The List: Mediation & Arbitration Services, 2014). He is doing this to ensure that the existing family relationship remains intact. It is his aim to facilitate and support the growth and expansion of the business by triggering the sons to focus on how to ensure business success is achieved at all times.

The questions to ask him include:

Why would you like my brother to be at the face of the business?

Do you know his strength and weaknesses in terms of communication and interacting with customers in the firm?

Have you requested him to take up this new position in the firm?

What do you think will be the impact of him being at the face of the business?

Are you aware that the customer relationship and good communication are vital in retaining and attracting new clients for our firm?

Are you aware of skills, competencies, and capabilities that are needed for the business person at this position?

Where would you like this company to be in the next few years of its continuous running?

What do you think could be the most suitable alternative to have at the face of the business?

Potential issues to emerge

I believe that my father will see like I want to be the one on the face of the business. As such, he may fail to understand why my brother is not capable of being at this position. There will be a form of resistance from my father since he does not know how to match skills and competencies to the required position (Buttle, 2009). Such resistance will create a significant challenge for the negotiation. Thus, tension may emerge as my father will be expecting me to follow his directions and orders to formulate the plan for incorporating my brother and not rejecting his order on the same. Moreover, it is expected that my father could consider removing me also from the face of the business so that I become equal to my brother. This will involve having him employ a person who is not from the family to take over the face of the business in order to solve the existing problem.

Two strategies

The first strategy, which will be used in the negotiation process, is the problem-solving (Negotiate Your Way to Better Leadership, 2015). As such, problem-solving focuses on ensuring that the involved parties in the negotiation process are able to discuss and examine the issues at hand closely when focusing on having a long-term agreement that needs careful scrutiny. It is the interest of my father that my brother is incorporated in the face of the business. I believe this will create a challenge for the business since he is not good in communication skills and appearance as expected at this point. The existing problem is that my father is focused on having all us at the front side. Hence, problem-solving strategy will be effective since it will assist in gathering adequate facts to make arguments and getting a solution for the existing problem.

The second strategy is contending. Contending strategy entails the persuasion of the other negotiating party to concede to the bargaining outcome (The List: Mediation & Arbitration Services, 2014). Using this strategy, I will focus on persuading my father to let go the need to have all us at the front face of the business. As such, he should allow us to work in the business at such levels where individual contribution and performance is optimal so that business success can be achieved and sustained.

References

Buttle, F. (2009). Customer Relationship Management : Concepts and Technologies.

Amsterdam: Routledge.

Gitomer, J. (2015). Loyalty is highest level of your relationship with your

customer. Enterprise/Salt Lake City, 44(38), 8.

Mitchell, K. (2014). Negligible Negotiations. Businesswest, 31(12), 43.

Negotiate Your Way to Better Leadership. (2015). Ivey Business Journal, 8.

The List: Mediation & Arbitration Services. (2014). Las Vegas Business Press

(10712186), 31(41), P14.