Strategies and Outcomes of Business Negotiations in Event Management

The assignment examines a business negotiation situation involving the provision of event management services for a wedding. It describes a committee's role in sourcing service providers and details the negotiation process among competing parties. Key strategies such as contending, compromising, and providing opportunities for inaction are highlighted to achieve win-win outcomes. The scenario underscores the importance of understanding both parties' interests and adjusting proposals accordingly to ensure satisfactory results.

Running Head: BUSINESS NEGOTIATION STRATEGIES
Business Negotiation Strategies
Name
Institution

BUSINESS NEGOTIATION STRATEGIES 2
Understanding Business Negotiation Strategies
Part A
Description of the negotiation situation
I had a chance of negotiating for a business opportunity to offer tents, seats and
decoration services to a client who had a wedding ceremony. The client, in this case, had brought
a proposal in a committee seeking for a service provider who would offer quality services in
terms of decorations in her wedding, quality seats and modern tents of the capacity of the
expected guests in the ceremony. Taking is a great business opportunity and given the fact that
my company offers all those services I decided to take the challenge of pitching my business
services to the committee that was tasked with the responsibility of sourcing and presenting a
number of service providers. I, therefore, took a sample of my previously done works of events
management and decorations services and presented myself before the committee for
negotiations.
The parties involved in the negotiation
Just like in any other business negotiation, there must be parties or interested persons for
the negotiation to take place. The event is a wedding ceremony that meant that there was a
committee that was set forth to plan for the same and was in charge of sourcing for various
service providers as per the requirements given by the couples. Lucky enough I was a member of
the committee since the client or one of the couples was my college friend and had invited me to
be part of their wedding planning committee. Therefore the parties involved in this negotiation
included the committee members who were 15 in number including myself and the couples and
three other service providers in the same line of business of events management and decorations.

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The total number of parties involved in the negotiation, in this case, could be said to be six which
can be grouped from the 18 members as follows. There were the four service providers including
myself, the couples and the committee.
Where did the negotiations occur?
Most business negotiations do not have defined negotiations points, however, the
decisions of the negotiation points are influenced by the nature business and agreements between
the parties involved. Most parties usually prefer a neutral ground for negotiations in which the
parties feel free to offer their deals. Most business deals may happen in an office, in a hotel, in a
park or restaurant or others even happen over the phones or on other online social platforms
however this depends on the nature of the business as quoted above. Therefore, in this case, the
committee which was tasked with the responsibility of sourcing for the service providers after
getting a number of service providers suggested that the most convenient place to meet with all
the other parties was in small conference rooms in one of the hotels in Town.
How the negotiations took place
The negotiations were guided by the committee in which the chairman of the committee
requested the couples to give a brief on their expectations for the decorations and the quality of
tents and seats that they wished to have on their wedding. The couple outlined several
requirements and what would be their expectation on their event. The chairman then requested
the service providers to give a sample of the previous works to the committee members as well
as to the couples. Then the committee requested for the price quotations for the full package of
services from each service provider. Out of the four service providers, the couples were pleased
with the works of two of the service providers and I was also lucky to be among the two which

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now began the negotiations. After quoting the total amount I would charge for the full service as
well as listen to the quotation of my competitor now, the committee also gave us their budget
estimates for the same an estimate which they said they were not able to add any more money to
the budget as they were working on a fixed budget. My competitor price quotation was slightly
higher than my charges. However, he had some services which I did not have under my package
which gave him a slight advantage.
Part B
Focusing on negotiation outcomes
In event of business negotiations, the interests of the parties negotiating are always
focused on the outcomes of the negotiations. Successful negotiations are guided by certain
principles and guidelines which when followed or adhered to lead to a win-win situation which is
the main goal of the negotiating parties. Such principles and guidelines include contending
whereby either party is able to concede to the other parties’ outcome (Tudoran & Bogluț, 2014).
It also includes compromising in which the party targeted ideal outcome is overlooked and the
parties end up settling for outcomes that are satisfactory to both parties. It also includes
providing an opportunity for inaction whereby the parties buy time to think about the proposal as
well as gathering more information and deciding their next tactics.
The negotiating outcomes therefore normally come at the end of a negotiation process
and may result in four different outcomes which include; lose-lose, win-lose a stalemate and a
win-win outcome. The lose-lose situation occurs where ego controls or comes into play and
thwart the negotiation process and whenever both sides are unwilling to compromise (Ku, 2016).
A win-lose outcome occurs where one negotiating party wins whereas the other party loses

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completely. A stalemate occurs when neither the parties win nor loses as a result of not being
able to deal with the interests of both parties whereas a win-win outcome in which parties strive
to achieve occurs when a deal is struck between the parties and both parties are happy that their
interests are met (Kaptein, 2017). Therefore in the case of the above negotiation on part A, I
would have taken an inaction moment where I would have thought of the proposal of the
committee and the couple and gather more information concerning their requirements which
were not sufficiently communicated.
I felt that the negotiations were not sufficiently done in a way that it took the interests of
both the parties taking into considerations the demands and expectations of the wedding
committee as well as the couples were issued at that particular time. The prices were also quoted
on the same day and what happens in the line of event management and decorations is that there
is always a possibility of increasing costs on the part of the service provider if different aspects
are not taken into consideration. However, there was the pressure that there wasn’t enough time
as the event was to be conducted in a weeks’ time (Stamm, 2016). I would have then asked the
committee to give me a day to respond to certain cost aspects based on their expectations so that
I may be able to offer services which meet their quality and other expectations other than
disappointing them because I would avoid any increased costs from my side. Based on the
outcome as much as it was a win-win situation I believe that the committee would have allowed
me to have a day of responding to the requirements and probably if any resulting possible costs
would have been taken into consideration.

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References
Kaptein, M. m. (2017). The Battle for Business Ethics: A Struggle Theory. Journal Of Business
Ethics, 144(2), 343-361
Ku, G. (2016). Negotiating Pitfalls. London Business School Review, 27(2), 14-15.
doi:10.1111/2057-1615.12110.
Sandberg, T., Hutter, R., Richetin, J., & Conner, M. (2016). Testing the role of action and
inaction anticipated regret on intentions and behaviour. British Journal Of Social
Psychology, 55(3), 407-425. doi:10.1111/bjso.12141
Stamm, I. K. (2016). Coordination Tasks and Negotiation Modes of Linked Lives in
Entrepreneurial Families. Journal Of Marriage & Family, 78(4), 939-956
Tudoran, D., & Bogluț, A. (2014). Types Of Negotiation Tactics. Research Journal Of
Agricultural Science, 46(2), 395-402.