Jane is planning for a forthcoming negotiation with a key supplier. She has learned what are important to the supplier and what are important to her company from previous contracts between them. In order to avoid negotiation deadlocks, she has set up several concession plans. But Jane has little experience in dealing with suppliers and doesn't know when to trade these concessions. When is the best time in a negotiation to trade concessions?
The question asks about the point in time when Jane should make concessions with the supplier. These concessions should be traded after preliminary stages such as opening, testing and proposing are over and proposals move from being tentative and general to being more definite and specific. This stage is called bargaining phase. The bargaining phase is the 'meat' of the negotiation meeting.
LO 3, AC 3.1
A procurement professional is dissatisfied with how a recent negotiation was concluded. What could they do to improve their negotiation approach?
Seek feedback from the supplier on their recent performance
Prepare for all negotiations with a WIN/LOSE (distributive) approach
Involve lots of people in future negotiations
Undertake reflective practice after each negotiation
To improve negotiation outcomes, seeking feedback from the supplier (1) and undertaking reflective practice (4) are recommended actions. Feedback from the supplier can provide insights into areas for improvement from the counterparty's perspective, while reflective practice allows the negotiator to evaluate their own approach, outcomes, and areas for growth. This approach aligns with CIPS's emphasis on continuous improvement in negotiation skills.
An experienced procurement professional is developing strategies for forthcoming negotiations with her key supplier. To avoid negotiation deadlocks, she identifies the reasons why negotiations could fail. Which of the following are most likely to be reasons for negotiation failures? Select TWO that apply.
:
It has been said that most negotiations are won (or lost) at the preparation stage. Success in a negotiation cannot be claimed unless you can refer back to your objectives and show how you have achieve them. In broad terms, negotiation plans/strategies involve 4 key activities:
1. Developing and prioritising your objectives and limits
2. Seeking to understand TOP's objectives
3. Developing concession plans
4. Planning the resources and logistics required and agreeing team roles.
Questions to gain an understanding of why a negotiation failed
Did we collect and make effective use of all information available when preparing for the negotiation?
Did we set objectives for the negotiation that were stretching and achievable and established MIL objectives?
Did we determine a strategy for the negotiation?
Did the other party understand our needs correctly?
Were we aware of the underlying interests of the other party?
Were our proposals convincing enough for acceptance by the other party?
Did we explore different variables in the negotiation?
Did we fully understand all proposals?
Did we give any unplanned concessions and did we check the importance of these?
Did we focus on common interests?
Did we ask a range of questions?
Did we get answers to all our questions?
Could we answer all the questions addressed to us in a proper and positive way?
Did we summarise effectively?
Did we use different methods of persuasion in the negotiations?
Which tactics did we use and what effect did they have?
Did our negotiating team work well as a team?
Did we help to create a co-operative atmosphere
Which of the following are most likely to be characteristics of a perfectly competitive market? Select TWO that apply
A perfectly competitive market is one with the following features:
- There are many firms producing identical or very similar (homogeneous) goods or services
- There are no barriers to entry to the market or exit from the market - anyone can enter or leave easily
- Both producers and customers have perfect knowledge of the market place, prices, costs of production and influences on demand and supply
Under these conditions, the price and quantity will always tend toward equilibrium as any producer that sets a price above equilibrium will not sell anything at all, and any producer that sets a price below a equilibrium will obtain 100% market share in theory. The demand curve is perfectly elastic, which means that it will be horizontal. In a perfectly competitive market, it is difficult to increase profits through pricing, and suppliers instead must focus on their cost structure. As these conditions imply, there are few if any examples of perfectly competitive market.
LO 2, AC 2.2
Which of the following can help both parties to break the vicious cycle of blame when a relationship needs repairing? Select TWO that apply.
:
In order to break vicious cycle of blame, procurement will need to use their negotiation and conflict management skills, adopting a collaborative and integrative approach. Your first action should be to establish the facts that led to the situation where the relationship broke down. Most day-to-day relationship between buying organisations and suppliers do not of course involve procurement staff, so you will need to consult with your business partners internally to establish their point of view of where the issue and sources of conflict are. You should also contact the supplier and get their side of the story - this is particularly to when you have previously identified the supplier as critical or otherwise important to your operations. Ideally you will be able to apply principled negotiation here, separating the people from the issue, focusing on interests and not positions, and then looking for options of mutual benefits.
