Negotiation: A Personal Experience

This solved assignment delves into a personal negotiation experience involving the author requesting a laptop as a birthday gift from their parents. It details the author's negotiation strategy, including outlining benefits and addressing cost concerns. The outcome is analyzed, highlighting the success achieved by both parties. The assignment also reflects on lessons learned about effective communication and preparation in negotiations.

Running head: NEGOTIATION
Negotiation
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NEGOTIATION 2
Negotiation
1. Describe what you negotiated and with whom you were negotiating. Explain
what each side wanted to achieve as an end result of that negotiation.
During my last birthday, I had to negotiate with my parents about the birthday present. In
the previous years, my parents used to decide on which birthday gift to purchase. However,
last year, the situation was different. My parents allowed me to propose what I wanted and
support my decision against what they had in mind. They wanted to acquire me a new
smartphone since the one I had was old and it appeared old-fashioned. However, on my side,
I wanted a new laptop which I could utilize for my school assignments.
2. How did you approach the situation? Elaborate on your strategy and give
examples of how the negotiations proceeded.
Negotiating with parents is one of the toughest tasks to accomplish. As a result, I opted to
approach the situation using a cost-benefit strategy. However, before the negotiations, I had
to prepare all the key issues to back my case. In this case, I outlined to my parents the
benefits that the laptop would bring to my academic life. For instance, I pointed out that with
a laptop, I will no longer have to scramble for the few library computers in the school library.
Moreover, the laptop would allow me to finish my assignments on time. However, cost
variation between the two gadgets was a major talking point. My parents preferred the
smartphone idea because they felt it was cheap to accomplish. In fact, the laptop I wanted
was $ 80 more than the smartphone. However, I argued that the $80 difference was not
comparable to the academic strain the laptop would save me. Furthermore, I pointed out that I
was comfortable with my current phone in spite being old.
3. Describe the outcome of your negotiation. Identify who was successful and
explain, using examples, what was achieved.

NEGOTIATION 3
After negotiating for approximately two hours, my parents decided to support my case.
They settled to acquire me a new laptop to utilize for my academic purposes. However, this
decision was on the condition that I had to choose a laptop which was cheaper than the one I
had initially proposed. Finally, I was able to find a laptop which was only $20 higher than the
smartphone my parents wanted to purchase. In this respect, I was the successful one in this
process as I was able to succeed in my quest. However, my parents also enjoyed some level
of success as they were able to convince me to settle for a cheaper laptop than my initial
preference.
4. What did you learn from this negotiation? Could you have handled the
negotiation differently? Explain why or why not.
This negotiation activity was a good learning experience. Firstly, I learned that effective
communication skills are paramount in negotiations. During negations, the involved parties
must communicate their views effectively and convincingly. Secondly, I noted that
preparation is the key to a successful negotiation activity. For instance, when my parents
proposed the type of phone they wanted to acquire, I had to compare its price to that of the
laptop. Out of this comparison, I was able to develop other supportive facts to cater for the
price differences.
Finally, I learned that negotiation is one the key ways of enhancing communication skills.
In fact, the encounter enabled me to identify my interpersonal communication weakness such
as being emotional. However, I feel that I could have handled the negations differently.
Precisely, I feel that I was not persuasive enough to convince my parents to purchase the
laptop brand that I wanted. In spite of obtaining the laptop, my poor persuasion competencies
denied me the brand I wanted.