Question

You have just returned from lunch and your boss approaches you to say that the delegation from St. Vincent is in his office and they have come to discuss the proposal you submitted a few weeks ago for some Consultancy Services. You are surprised, as you did not know they were coming to the island. You believe the only reason they were on the island was to meet with a competitor but you are not sure. This is your one chance to negotiate with them to get the contract signed. The only challenge is that you are not prepared. Prepare a Discussion Paper of no more than 500 words as to what you would do addressing (a) whether you would go ahead with the negotiation or not (b) how you would prepare despite having no forewarning and (c) some of the main activities you would include within your negotiations.

Answer 1

(a) Yes, one should go ahead with the negotiations as it is one time available chance to meet the business delegates for getting approval and sanctioning of the project. There should be preparation of report containing the entire details, priorities, business plan methodology and incentives, infrastructure and money required for implementation of this project and scientific techniques to be used. It should be presented in the form of power-point slides and presentations with arrangement of meeting with the delegates. The management person should be confident regarding the working of the employees and their capability to finish and implement the project on time.

(b)As a employee of this firm, I ensure that complete quality control standards will be maintained with implementation of the project on time. If there is no forewarning or news of arrival of the delegates still the report should be presented with a brief mentioning of the important points required for implementation of the project in detail. It can also be written on paper with discussion of the important points and perspectives required for implementing this important project with complete confidence and regular monitoring of the objectives.

(c) The main activities include:

• organization of group meeting with the delegates.
• mentioning of the skilled work force and infrastructure required for implementing the project.
• time frame for completing the project.
• amount of money required for this project.
• availability of technical skill and expertise required for completing the project.
• availability of tools and intruments for working on this project.
• distribution and recruitment of appropriate technical and supervisory staff for monitoring the project.
• availability of labor force for the approval of the project.