Negotiations - Marilyn and Len

• What are the objectives of both parties in the exchanges?

The objective of both the parties is to get the best performing accounts for their teams. Having the most profitable accounts will allow their team members to get bigger commissions, thereby making their teams more profitable and thus solidifying their stature in the company.

• How would you describe the general "tone" of the exchanges?

During the 1st exchange, the general tone of Len was a little offensive and threatening whereas Marilyn was more on the defensive and slightly unprepared.

• Were Marilyn's objectives on the way to being effectuated in the first exchange?

Marilyn started well but lost her way midstream. She got distracted by Len’s comments on her style and started answering them. Len was able to divert the conversation in his preferred direction and Marilyn unwittingly followed him. So no, Marilyn was not able to achieve her objectives.

• Were Len's objectives on the way to being effectuated in the first exchange?

To a great extent, yes, Len was able to achieve his objectives by rendering Marilyn’s offense useless and then putting her on the defensive by disrupting and diverting her line of thought. Though I personally did not like it, but Len was successful with what he set to achieve.

• What do you project the outcome of the first exchange to be?

I would think that the outcome will be a stalemate which in turn means a win for Len. Maintaining the status quo is a win for Len because he already has the accounts.

• Were Marilyn's objectives on the way to being effectuated in the second exchange?

Yes, Marilyn was effective in putting her points across in the second exchange. She was coherent and had the perfect responses to Len’s attempt at derailing the conversation by criticizing her style. She called Len out on his lie about him having Jim’s approval. That by itself can shift the power in the negotiation process to Marilyn.

• Were Len's objectives on the way to being...