Introduction

The quality that allows two or more than two individuals or parties to reach common ground is referred to as negotiation skills. Both the parties are willing to make a compromise in order to reach a mutually beneficial goal. Proper negotiation includes an adequate level of persuasion, communication, cooperation, strategies and planning. It is essential for the negotiating parties to understand the relevance of the mentioned skills so that they can convert themselves into stronger negotiators. In this assignment, a movie clip has been chosen where a negotiation scene has been shown. The purpose of the assignment is to understand the movie clip and the negotiation tactics or strategies used in the scene. It would be interesting to analyse the scene and gain insights regarding negotiation skills. The skills can be applied in real-life to win a negotiation.

Brief introduction about the movie

Jobs (2013), an American drama film based upon the life of Steve Jobs, the face behind Apple Inc, has been chosen as the movie. It is a biographical film about his journey of revolutionising his company, Apple Inc. Joshua Michael Stern is the director of the movie, and the movie was produced within a budget of USD 1.2 crores. Steve Jobs is considered one of the greatest innovators of all times. He was a visionary and a leader whose style of leadership was completely unique and different from the rest. Along with friend Steve Wozniak, he found the company and revolutionised the computer industry. The entire movie is centred on the journey of Steve Jobs and the ways in which he has become an inspiration to the younger generation. The movie beautifully captures the trials and tribulations of Jobs’ journey of becoming one of the greatest leaders of all times. The movie does not showcase the story of a middle-aged struggling individual who has achieved everything that is there to achieve. Rather it is about an individual whose personality and decisions has greatly influenced the success of Apple Inc. It would be feasible to use the term “cruel representation” to highlight the way in which the character of Steve Jobs has been presented in the movie (IMDB, 2020). The way in which Steve Jobs decided to drop out of college and focussed on enhancing his interest in calligraphy besides building a start-up is worthy of consideration. Apple Inc. is now considered as one of the leading companies with the highest net worth because it has been developed by Steve Jobs. His communication, persuasion and strategic capabilities are praiseworthy, and these skills have turned him into an idol.

One of the scenes in the movie clearly represents a negotiation. The scene between Steve Jobs and Paul negotiating on the price of a personal computer has been considered here. Jobs have been developing personal computers, and he was looking for interested individuals who might be willing to buy the PCs designed by Jobs. Jobs met Paul at a place where Jobs was giving a presentation on his computers. Paul, on that day, showed a slight interest in Jobs’ presentation and gave him his business card. Paul is one of the owners of an electronic store in the Silicon Valley. In the chosen clip, both of them are negotiating to reach a common ground.

Statement of the negotiation concept

Negotiation usually takes place when individuals are unable to achieve their targets or goals without the cooperation of others (Thompson et al., 2010). Negotiation outcomes can be categorised into two broad types. These are Win-Win and Win-Lose. In the case of the former, both parties win, and in case of the later one, one party wins, and another loses. The party that loses at the time of negotiation usually lacks appropriate negotiation skills. Mainly two types of negotiations are common in almost all situations. These are distributive negotiation and integrative negotiation. The former one is also regarded as value claiming negotiation while the later one is regarded as value creating negotiation. Value claiming occurs in distributive negotiation due to the presence of limited resources. Both the parties feel that if they lose the negotiation, the other party will certainly win the negotiation. It is a need-based negotiation and both parties try their best to reach an agreement on the basis of their individual needs and interests. On the other hand, integrative or value creating negotiation occurs when both the parties feel that both will be benefitted from the negotiation. Hence, value is created for both of them and it is a “win-win” situation for both. Irrespective of the type of negotiation, it can be stated that both the parties need to find a common or final goal and build rapport first. Compromise is the key to success and multiple approaches should be taken to reach an agreement. It is necessary to understand one’s own weakness as well as the weakness of the other party.

Moreover, there are four types of negotiators and their personality has a profound impact on their choice of strategy. The four types are individualists, co-operators, competitive and altruists. The individualists are mainly concerned with maximising their profit and they do not show any concern for others. Argument is the basis of negotiation for the individualists. They use force to win an argument and rarely use tact. On the other hand, co-operators are primarily focussed on increasing their profits as well as the profits of their counterparts. The co-operators ensure that both the parties receive their “fair share”. Again, the competitive type of negotiators is motivated to “win big” and they are primarily self-serving. They block all kinds of collaborative ideas or solutions. Research shows that cooperative approach is one of the key components of integrative negotiation strategy while a competitive approach is a key component of distributive strategy (Abigail et al., 2018). Nevertheless, negotiators use both the approaches based on the situation. Lastly, the altruists’ types of negotiators are not self-focussed. Rather, they are only concerned with the profit of their counterparts. Some are pure altruist negotiators. For instance, while negotiating with a loved one or even the less fortunate ones, an altruistic mindset works well. However, regardless of situations or circumstances, every negotiator makes effort to maximise their profit (Thompson, 2010).

Another popular concept associated with negotiation is the BATNA concept. It is an abbreviation for Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. It is the ability of a negotiator to find a best alternative and present it to the other party in order to show them that they have “other options”. Making a deal can be a tricky task and having a best alternative can be advantageous for any negotiator. The concept is useful in practice. However, there are various biases and errors surrounding the BATNA concept. It is often regarded as the “last resort” when the other party is in a far more powerful position (Sebenius, 2017). Misconceptions regarding the concept exist. Some believes that it is impossible to negotiate an agreement in the absence of BATNA.

On the basis of the movie scene, it has been understood that Steve Jobs was focussed on the win-win approach. In the chosen scene, he has been projected as someone who understands the significance of rapport building while negotiating. Hence, the negotiation concept that has been identified after analysing the scene is the integrative negotiation. Moreover, it has been understood that Steve Jobs can be regarded as a cooperative negotiator. He understands the meaning of fair share. Steve has used the BATNA concept strategically. Although in real he had no BATNA while negotiating with Paul. Despite that he used the concept in order to make his opponent feel that he has other options. By using the BATNA concept, Steve Jobs was successful in intimidating his counterpart. Paul got an impression that he might lose something big in terms of profit if he let go of Jobs. Hence, both made efforts to reach a common ground.

Negotiation concept demonstrated in the film clip

The film clip showed Paul and Steve Jobs negotiating on the price of personal computer that Jobs has been developing. Jobs created a start-up and were willing to make it big. He gave presentations after developing his personal computers and was looking for wholesale buyers. At one of his presentations, Paul, the owner of an electronic store showed slight interest in the PCs developed by Jobs. As a sign of interest, Paul offered his business card to Jobs and left. Thereafter, Jobs arrived at Paul’s store and made an attempt to negotiate with Paul. Jobs confidently entered the store and asked Paul about the type of investment he was interested in. At first, Paul was bluffing and showed less interest. He claimed that he was merely interested in the PCs developed by Jobs but that does not mean that he wants to buy those PCs. At this instance, Jobs used his negotiation tactics and used the BATNA concept although he had no alternative. A BATNA provides clarity and sense of purpose to a negotiator and the negotiator is able to build a realistic view of the alternatives (Mahmoodi, 2012). He conveyed to Paul that he has “other options” and Paul is not the only “interested party.” He used BATNA and lied to Paul in order to gain a bargaining power over Paul. Jobs’ statement created further interest in Paul and both started participating actively in the negotiation process. Moreover, a detailed analysis of Jobs’ behaviour in the film clip shows that he was trying to build rapport with Paul. Rapport building is one of the essential components of negotiation. By building a rapport, it is easier for the parties to understand their mutual goal. Jobs conveyed that his middle name is Paul and his father’s name is Paul. Hence, basically he wanted to show Paul that people with “Paul” as name possess high business acumen. He insisted that people belonging to the “Paul” tribe are kindred spirits and understands business comprehensively. He wanted to show that he has family ties with Paul and therefore, he is willing to act as per his intuition and make a deal with Paul. Hence, the rapport building negotiation tactic used by Jobs is noteworthy. The rapport building tactic worked well and it instigated Paul to make his first offer. Paul stated that he will pay $400 per machine for 50 units paid at the time of delivery. Jobs realised that accepting Paul’s first offer might not be profitable for his business. Therefore, he used the cooperative tactic and made a counter offer. He asked Paul to pay $400 per machine for 100 units. It has been known that negotiators focus on maximising their own profit, however, an analysis of Jobs and Paul negotiation scene suggests that both the parties understand the value of “fair share”. Hence, Paul made a second offer. He is willing to pay $450 per machine for 100 units paid at the time of delivery. However, Jobs took a second to rethink this offer and thereafter he asked Paul to pay $500 per machine for 100 units. At last, both of the parties agreed on the price of $500 per machine for 100 units paid at the time of delivery. Within 90 days, Jobs is supposed to develop his machines and deliver them to Paul’s store.

It has been analysed that Jobs’ negotiation style is quite praiseworthy. This is because Paul’s first offer was $400 and Jobs managed to turn it into $500 at last. Jobs won the agreement because his final deal made him a winner. The final price is much higher than the initial price offered by Paul. However, it would be right to claim that Jobs is also a reckless negotiator. This is because he agreed to receive his entire payment on the day of delivery. However, he does not have enough funds to produce the number of PCs he promised to deliver. The clip shows a good enough example of the negotiation style used by Jobs. It is interesting to note that despite lacking a BATNA, Jobs managed to negotiate with Paul with full power and confidence. Jobs presented his alternatives in such a way that it instigated Paul to make his first offer. Moreover, it has been analysed that Jobs used a soft negotiation style instead of a tough style. The clip shows that he was suggesting deals and making efforts to reach an agreement. He was not interesting in argument; rather he was trying to present an image to Paul that made him look like he has everything in place. However, in reality, Jobs’ position was weaker than Paul. He lacked enough funds to develop his PCs. Jobs made consistent efforts to build a business relationship with Paul by using multiple references. Jobs were trying to maintain his personal integrity in front of Paul and he was also using simple yet powerful language to create a sense of urgency. The way he stated the availability of PC buyers and his already established position in the Silicon Valley is quite noteworthy. It is important to notice that he was not arrogant; rather, he was patient and was looking for the right opportunity to get a reaction from Paul.

Further research shows that negotiators have always centred their focus on win-win agreements because interests of both the parties are one of the primary features of negotiation (Giacomantonio et al., 2010). On the other hand, issues arising from a negotiation are regarded as a secondary feature. In case of the movie clip, it has been observed that Jobs was also focusing on prioritising the own interests (selling the computer) as well as the interest of his counterpart (fair enough price). It is impossible to ensure a long-term profit if one party fails to value the interest of another party. Jobs’ already possess that intuitive skill and he has used his intuition to tap into Paul’s interest. Finally, Paul agreed to the last offer made by Jobs ($500 per machine for 100 units) because Jobs’ previously agreed to receive payment only after delivery. Hence, by fulfilling Paul’s interest, Jobs managed to fulfil his own interest.

Conclusion

The assignment is based on the concept of negotiation and ways in which parties negotiate to win big has been demonstrated here. With reference to the movie, Jobs (2013), the concept has been explained. The goal was to watch a clip from the movie where a negotiation scene has been showed and based on the scene, further analysis has been done. After briefly introducing the movie, the negotiation scene between Jobs and Paul on a price of computer has been demonstrated. Thereafter, the concept of negotiation has been introduced and the sub-categories were outlined. Both integrative and distributive negotiation styles have been explained and following that the types of negotiator personalities has been outlined. It is followed by a demonstration of the negotiation concepts used by both the parties. It can be concluded that integrative negotiation style has been used by Jobs in the movie clip and the way he presented his position in front of Paul made him a good enough negotiator.

Reference List

Abigail, D.M.Y., Eden, D. and Ideris, A., 2018. A Review of Distributive and Integrative Strategies in the Negotiation Process. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 3(5), pp.68-74.

Giacomantonio, M., De Dreu, C.K. and Mannetti, L., 2010. Now you see it, now you don’t: Interests, issues, and psychological distance in integrative negotiation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(5), p.761.

IMDb. 2020. Jobs (2013) – IMDb. [online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2357129/ [Accessed 3 Jun. 2020].

Mahmoodi, K., 2012. Negotiation strategies and skills in international business: a study of negotiators in Finland.

Sebenius, J.K., 2017. BATNA s in Negotiation: Common Errors and Three Kinds of “No”. Negotiation Journal, 33(2), pp.89-99.

Thompson, L.L., 2010. The Top 10 Things You Must Know About Negotiations. Pearson Education.

Thompson, L.L., Wang, J. and Gunia, B.C., 2010. Negotiation. Annual review of psychology, 61, pp.491-515.

An Analysis of a negotiation scene