Managing Negotiation: Analysis of Erin Brockovich Negotiation

This report analyzes a negotiation scene from the movie "Erin Brockovich," focusing on the strategies and techniques employed by the parties involved. The analysis examines the use of power moves, process moves, competitive and compromising negotiation styles, and communication approaches, including assertive and passive-aggressive tactics. The report explores the interests of each party, the emotional dynamics at play, and the different phases of the negotiation process, including the bargaining phase. It highlights how Mr. Foil uses power moves and brink tactics while Ed and Erin employ process moves and attempts at appealing for sympathy. The report also discusses the impact of emotional contradictions and the importance of understanding the other party's interests. Overall, the report provides a comprehensive overview of the negotiation, offering insights into effective and ineffective strategies and communication styles.

Running head: MANAGING NEGOTIATION
MANAGING NEGOTIATION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1
MANAGING NEGOTIATION
Question 1
The moment when Mr. Foil just after being addressed by Ed Masry introduced the
amount of compensation the negotiation has started taking its positioning. It is true that Mr.
Foil is rigid in his stand and is not ready to listen to the other party who are Ed and Erin in
this negotiation. Since the person to start with the negotiation is an agent of the company who
is dealing with the financial side of the organization namely, PG & E is just an employee and
gives impression like a puppet who keeps on repeating the same thing that he had been taught
to utter while Ed from the opposite party is shocked at the amount that has been proposed to
be given. Mr. Foil is trying to stay rigid and emotionally untouched so that he cannot be
mended at any point with the brink tactics of being unmoved where Ed is trying to bring logic
in the negotiation to make it relevant and desirable, they are good cop here because they are
logical while Mr. Foil is not. He, being a lawyer cannot just let things go off his hands
therefore he starts his negotiation by bringing in the reference of medical condition of the
Jensens. Mr. Foil is nowhere paying heed to Ed’s nibble while he is ready with lowball.
Question 2
Mr. Foil applies a very smart technique or strategic move that can overpower the
opponent party easily. This is called power move through which Mr. Foil states his claim so
strongly that the opponent comes in utter shock and might not find any reasonable and
brawny logic to discard the previous idea as mentioned by Mr. Foil. The former applies
competitive negotiating strategy where his motive is to win at any cost. However, it seemed
like Foil had adapted an avoiding method to ignore what Ed had to say while Ed tried to
apply compromising style so that both the parties can come to an agreeable conclusion.
Since the financial representative of the PG &E understands that Ed and Erin might not have
landed with comfort after hearing the amount, he keeps on playing with his same strategy of
showcasing his power move by sticking to the same amount and not getting affected by any

2
MANAGING NEGOTIATION
logical discourse. The opposite party plays the process move to cut off the rigidity of Mr.
Foil.
Question 3
It is very clear in the video clip of the negotiation episode that Mr. Foil is trying to
stay as stable as possible to convey the message he has been asked by his company to
forward to. From the very beginning Mr. Foil stays firm at his position because he knows that
it is not his personal case and he has nothing to lose or gain from the negotiation on a
personal level. However, being the representative of such a big company makes him take
certain responsibilities and saving the reputation and the finance of the company is one of
them. Therefore, neglecting and forgetting any sort of attachment and emotion he
concentrated on conveying the amount without coming to a term of reconciliation. Hence he
implements the strategy of power move that helps him to stay powerful at the negotiation
applying brink tactics to settle the deal with his offer (Kolb 2019). He is unmoved and
unperturbed at any logic. Any reasonable expression tried to thrown upon him was rejected
by him with the application of power move that assisted him to stick to his point no matter
how convincing the opponents had been. However, Ed tries to act out with snow job
technique to load with too much necessary information yet it did not work.
The opponent party where Ed and Erin have been played with process move where
they decided to stick to their point however they provided scope to Mr. Foil and with little
technique of nibble they expected to mend Foil therefore he could get enough opportunities
to present his offer that had been predefined by his company. Here Ed is using process move
to sustain in the process with a methodical movement in the whole process adapting the
tactics of good cop makes Foil inevitable the bad cop (Kolb 2019). He does not take away
the opportunities from Mr. Foil so that he can also state his point and they can also show

3
MANAGING NEGOTIATION
what their point is. They are ready with all the evidences the way a process move takes place
but in front of the power move it becomes nullified even though Foil had to offer a lowball.
Question 4
Several moves and turns have been used in the negotiation by both the parties for
keeping their own interests intact. At one minute twenty seven seconds Mr. Foil says that “A
million things could cause those problems”(1:17) in reply to the names of the diseases that
had been uttered by Erin losing control on her emotions. This move is definitely a demeaning
move that is used by a negotiator to have shown the latter that it is not the right place to
justify his opinion (Kolb 2019). Therefore he must not even try to come up with any logical
explanation and evidences to support his point because the former had already made him
understood that his point is superior therefore cannot be mended. Making threats is another
move that had been used by Foil when he mentions that “remember who you're dealing with”
by reminding Ed that it will not be easier for him to fight against a company that is already 28
billion rich (Kolb 2019). Therefore both the moves used by Mr. Foil is more like he is already
winning the negotiation. However, when Ed says that “Wait a minute. I thought we were
negotiating here” (1:26) it seemed like he tried to apply the move called appealing for
sympathy (Kolb 2019). There have been correcting turns used by Ed where he had been
arranging the negotiation with evidences and also asked questions to divert Foil’s mind.
Question 5
Both the parties involved in the process of negotiation have their own interests and the
interests of both the parties are completely different from each other. If Mr. Foil is taken into
consideration then it can be understood that he has got no personal attachment with case. He
is just fighting for the reputation of his company that is unexpectedly a huge company to that
might have sue him if he is not able to save the image of the company. Therefore the deal he
has been asked to convey is finalized by the company and he has to make the deal final with

4
MANAGING NEGOTIATION
the opponent at any cost to have probably saved his job. However, the interest of Ed is
different from that of Mr. Foil. He is not trying to save his job rather he is trying to find out
the truth of the company while Erin is absolutely driven with emotional aspect regarding the
deteriorating condition of the family who have been poorly damaged by the chromium that
had been supplied by PG &E through the water supply without anybody’s knowledge.
Erinhad been missing her office and personally collecting information about the problems
that had been occurring because of the mixing up of chromium in the family. She took
personal interest therefore for her the case was no more official rather gaining justice for the
family became her priority.
Question 6
Emotional contradiction is prevailing throughout the negotiation process. The
contradiction is so evident throughout the episode that it becomes so stark and unbearable at a
moment. Both the parties exhibit antithesis of emotion that could have played a role for Erin
but somehow it did not appear to be so. Mr. Foil had no emotional intensifying involvement
in this entire case while Erin has been personally taking care of the PG &E case where she
took a week off to find out all the details of the case on her personal effort and she could not
convince herself enough to lose the case because she is aware of authenticity of the case. The
agent, Mr. Foil being a mere representative of the company which is a “twenty-eight billion
dollar corporation” (1:50) has nothing to lose when it had to compromise with an amount of
$250,000 however the image and the reputation associated with the company might have
been affected therefore it was important for the agent to have saved the image of the
corporation therefore he remained calm and rigid without showing emotional vulnerability
where Erin keeps on getting emotional by mentioning how much the people are getting
affected with “Breast cysts, uterine cancer” (1:10). This part is not an exhibition of absolute

5
MANAGING NEGOTIATION
smartness because here she loses her temper and eventually they leave the room shouting and
getting angry without being able to come to closure phase.
Question 7
Mr. Foil is nowhere at a stage of showing the style of assertive communication
because it can look like he is assertive while communicating because he does not seem to
move from his position but assertive communication needs to incorporate others’ values and
opinions. An assertive communicator would have listened to the opponents’ opinion along
with placing his own opinion however Mr. Foil does not pay any kind of attention to what Ed
and Erin had been trying to convey. Rather he sticks to his opinion from the very beginning
and does not change it at any point making himself to be an aggressive communicator. On the
contrary, Erin and Ed are at the end where they show an amalgamated version of
communication that not only is passive but also aggressive at the same time. The opponents
are passive at the beginning because they had been giving scope to Mr. Foil to express his
side while they became really aggressive at the end because Mr. Foil had been very rigid and
was not ready to even listen to them carefully. Therefore Ed could be a passive-aggressive
communicator while Erin is still like an assertive communicator (Abu Sultan et al 2018).
Question 8
When the clip ends the negotiation seems to reach the Bargaining phase. Bargaining
phase is the third step of negotiation that comes after a detailed research on the case that
helps the party to deal with the situation and stick to his side opposite to the opponents and
opening phase where both the parties come to see each other face-to-face gathering all the
information regarding the case. Here after sticking to the same point from the very beginning
Foil remains at the same position while Ed and Erin tries to convince him with
documentation on the 48 second of the clip by mentioning “PG&E;'s own technicians
documented…”. One plays with power move while the other sustains with process move.

6
MANAGING NEGOTIATION
One is playing rigid at his position where Ed and Erin are trying to change his purview
through presenting logic and evidences that could bring the touch of authenticity in the
negotiation.
If Ed and Erin would have adapted the method of power move then they would have
successfully drawn some amendment from the side of Foil. They would have played with the
same technique as Foil has adapted because that would have helped them to stick to their own
position powerfully. Their moves could have been even smarter to have snatched away the
opportunity and space from Mr. Foil to steal his attention. The turns Ed and Erin would have
used are interrupting Mr. Foil at every possible point so that he could have go no chance to
stick in the same position. One point would have definitely arrived where he would be moved
even a little with such interruptive turn of the opponent. They would have maintained an
attitude that would give an impression that they will not be affected by any of his opinion.
Rather they would come to a negotiation only if they are able to stick to their position like
that of Mr. Foil. Since he is immovable from his position he would have given a same kind of
opponent then the negotiation would have been more enjoyable and probably would have
ended with appreciative move.

7
MANAGING NEGOTIATION
References
Abu Sultan, Y.S., Al Shobaki, M.J., Abu-Naser, S.S. and El Talla, S.A., 2018. The Style of
Leadership and Its Role in Determining the Pattern of Administrative Communication in
Universities-Islamic University of Gaza as a Model.
Kolb, D.M., 2019. Her place at the table: Gender and negotiation after Trump. Negotiation
Journal, 35(1), pp.185-189.