Journal 1: Case Study – Keeping Up Appearances
Journal 1: Case Study – Keeping Up Appearances
Bill and Rachel are both analysts in the market research department at Bravo Inc. Bill is generally viewed as a top performer. Objectively, his work is good, but he really excels at self-promotion. When dealing with others, he is a tough negotiator, confident to the point of being cocky. He likes to win and win big. He is unafraid of stepping on anyone’s toes and lives by the motto that it is easier to beg forgiveness than to ask permission.
Rachel is bright and hard-working; however, she is also timid and generally has low self-esteem. She doesn’t promote or publicize her accomplishments and instead relies on others to notice the good work she does. She has a very difficult time standing up for herself, which often results in others taking advantage of her.
Bill and Rachel have recently been assigned to work together on what has the potential to be a highly visible project. The project involves doing a lot of research, writing a report and presenting the findings to the senior executives. They just finished meeting to lay out the tasks involved and establish a plan for the project. In their meeting, Bill told Rachel that she can do the research and draft the report, and he will make the presentation. When Rachel suggested they work together on the research and jointly make the presentation, Bill told her that she needs to do the research and draft the report because she is better at “that sort of thing,” while he needs to make the presentation because of his superior presentation skills.
Bill left the meeting satisfied that he was won yet again and believes that since he will be making the presentation, he will get the majority of the credit for the project. This is important to him because he has heard there will be an opening in the future for a senior analyst. He wants the promotion and thinks the visibility of this project will make him a shoo-in for the job.
Rachel left their meeting feeling resentful and put upon but doesn’t know what she can do about it. While this sort of thing has happened to her in the past, she is especially upset this time because she has heard there will soon be an opening for a senior analyst and she is very interested in the position. She needs to revisit and negotiate her and Bill’s roles and responsibilities, but isn’t sure what to do or say.
Rachel decides she needs to have a negotiation plan before they meet.
***End of Case Study** Source: Interpersonal Skills in Organizations by Suzanne C. DeJanasz, Karen O. Dowd and Beth Z. Schneider, McGraw Hill Higher Education
Step 2: Writing in the Journal.
Instructions: In order to the following questions, you need to look at Four Steps in Negotiation in this Week’s PowerPoint.
Copy the following 5 questions. Click on the title link above to go into the Journal. Click Create Journal Entry, Paste the questions into the Journal. Insert your answers after the questions.
NO ATTACHMENTS: Write directly into the Journal!
Q1. Reflect: Is Bill behaving ethically? Support your answer in 2 to 3 sentences.
Q2. What is more important in Rachel’s negotiations: Relationship or Outcome or Both? Defend your answer in 2 to 3 sentences. Hint: see table in PowerPoint
Q3. Based on your answer in Q2, which of the following tactic(s) should Rachel use and HOW will she use it? Collaborate, Compete, Accommodate, Avoid.
Defend your answer in 2 to 3 sentences.
Q4. Imagine the following plan for Rachel as she plans her negotiation with Bill:
1.
- What is her IDEAL outcome?
- What is her compromised middle outcome?
- What is her BATNA (bottom line) outcome?
Q5. What Persuasive approach should Rachel use to appear to be credible and persuasive? (Hint: see PowerPoint Step 4 (Persuasion) for the the list of persuasive techniques) Example: (Expert, trustworthy, etc.)
Journal 2: Body Language
In this journal you are going to observe body language and guess what the nonverbal meaning is behind the body language only.
This journal has 2 steps:
Step 1: Turn on a TV show of your choice. Turn off the volume. For 5 minutes, observe and jot down notes about the body language and associated nonverbal messages of at least 3 characters that you are seeing. Don’t turn the TV volume up until you answer all these questions about each character! a) facial gestures (eyes, eyebrows, mouth) b) arm and hand gestures c) feet, balance, posture d) breathing e) appearance f) indications of emotions. What these nonverbals are saying about the situation.
Here are some examples of nonverbal language you could observe:
Step 2: Write in your journal.
Copy and paste these questions into your journal. Then write your answers immediately after the question.
1) Name of TV show
2) List the 3 characters that you observed and describe their body languages and the nonverbal messages they were sending Example: Character #1 female mid twenties: arms crossed, hair messy, eyes looking down, clothes that looked wrinkled and messy, sitting with legs crossed on couch. The nonverbal message was this person was closed off, and sad or depressed about something. Character #2…….
3) Based on ONLY your nonverbal observations, guess…. what was the storyline and what were they talking about?
4) Now, turn up the volume. What is the real storyline and discussion topic?
5) How close were you to guessing the real storyline just based on body language?
6) What are some of the benefits and disadvantages of observing body language?
Only you and your instructor can see what you write in this private journal.
