The Inexperience of the Manager of the Beatles - Essay Example

Not Just the Beatles Introduction The provided case emphasizes the inexperience of the manager of the Beatles in the negotiation process has resulted towards major financial losses. In this context, the parties entering into certain proposal are required to possess different negotiation process with the aim of ascertaining that the negotiation is performed effectively. Additionally, parties engaged on a proposal should have adequate knowledge about negotiation principles, so that the terms of contract are made on best motives. In this regard, the discussion gradually remains focused towards comparing the case of Beatles with the general negotiation techniques and guidelines. Additionally, appropriate negotiation and agreement-signing strategies have been structured, which would have subsequently helped the provided band to prevent the media industry for taking inappropriate advantage out of them, specifically within the areas of profit making. Moreover, aspects regarding the negotiation techniques that could have proved effective for the Beatles have also been addressed in the discussion based on which the band would have been successful in the proposal. Discussion 1. Steps That Brian Epstein Could Have Taken For Preventing Media for Taking Advantage There are multiple steps based on which Brian Epstein, the Beetles band manager could have restricted the media from taking the advantage of his inexperience in the areas of filmmaking. Dawson (2013) stated that instead of accepting the prior payment of $25,000 and agreeing to the profit share of 7.5%, Brian Epstein could have straightforwardly dropped the offer or at least have demanded for a deal of 25% of the overall profit which, United Artists seemed to have previously planned off as payment for the band. In this respect, Brian Epstein could have at least prevented the loss made by the band, which in turn has further highlighted them within the media’s eyes despite of the fact that the movie ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ became a worldwide hit (Dawson, 2013; Gosselin, 2007). According to the negotiation rule, Brian Epstein in the first place should have made an effort to understand the objectives of United Artists in terms of making a film on the band. Additionally, he could have strategized regarding the amount of profit, which the movie could have made on the basis of band reputation (Schiffman, 2009; Gosselin, 2007). One more aspect that could be blamed for the Beatle’s loss is about the brisk decision making nature of Brian Epstein. Instead of accepting the proposal in just one attempt, Brian could have demanded some additional time for analyzing the contract and coming up with a specific decision regarding the movie contract. As being part of the music industry, Brian could have looked forward towards attaining specific recommendations from other renowned filmmakers and experts regarding the expected amount of profit, which the band can attain on being successful. The recommendations could have appropriately helped Brian Epstein in building a baseline depending on which he could have demanded for an appropriate share of profit from Richard Lester (Dawson, 2013). 2. Basic Skills Necessary for Effectively Undergoing a Negotiation Procedure From the case of loss made by the Beatles, it can be clearly understood that movie director Richard Lester have specifically targeted the inexperience factor of Brian Epstein to convince him over a lower profitable deal rather than what was actually decided to be paid. Acceptance of the deal by Brian Epstein has resulted in loss millions revenue for the band. In this context, consultation with senior and renowned members of the filmmaking industry could have been an appropriate skill that would have assisted in successful formation of the contract. Additionally, Brian Epstein could have demanded some time from the firm director for thinking over the proposal regarding the legal obligations of the contract (Dawson, 2013; Gosselin, 2007). Brian Epstein could also have shown the skills of adopting the approach of good guy/bad guy for developing additional pressure on the other side i.e. movie director without undertaking any form of confrontation. The techniques could have worked in making the other side nervous and revealing all the facts about the proposal. Instead of acting dumb, Brian Epstein should have shown curiosity in terms of reviewing the past profitability records attained by United Artists based on which he could have demanded for an effective and profitable deal (Schiffman, 2009). 3. Compare and Contrast Between Two Different and Effective Negotiation Approaches For any negotiation proposal to be appropriate, it is necessary for the involved parties to know every single aspect of the deal. Similarly, in the provided case, it was necessary for Brian Epstein to know about the profitability aspect of the movie deal. Thus in this context, two specific negotiation approaches can be identified to be effective. The first negotiation approach is about bracketing the proposal of the offering party. In simple words, it is necessary that the party willing to deliver the proposal must commit first rather than the party to whom the proposal is being offered (Schiffman, 2009). The only advantage of this approach is that party accepting the proposal makes the proposal delivery party to commit first then it can make the proposal delivery party to give whatever percentage of profit it wants. However, in case of opposite happening the negotiation option goes to the proposal delivery party to persuade the proposal accepting party on an specific and less profitable share. The negotiation should have been specifically applied in the case of Beetles band, which in turn could have helped them attain a better profit margin from the deal (Dawson, 2013; Gosselin, 2007). In accordance with the provided case, the second negotiation approach is applying the pressure on the higher authority. In simple words, Brian Epstein could have easily pulled in the references of the band members that they will not be willing to work for such small proposal amount. He could have also shot a return proposal to the delivery party stating that if they are willing to offer the best deal, then the band members might consider the proposal. Putting such pressure on United Artists could have helped Brian Epstein in pulling out a better profitable proposal (Dawson, 2013). 4. Negotiation Plan (Flow Chart Diagram) 5. Importance of Imposing Terms and Agreements of the Band before Accepting a Negotiation The prime responsibility of the band’s manager is to ensure the safety of the band’s image as well as its profitability. The same can also be assumed for the party, which is willing to deliver the proposal. However, the give and take process of the profit share between both the parties can only be legalized on the basis of terms of agreements of each party. Thus, each and every term of the agreement established by the band will have to be imposed upon the other party of the proposal before the negotiation takes place for ensuring the profitability interests of both the parties (Schiffman, 2009). In this context, it can be determined that lack of terms as well as agreement in the contract during the negotiation process is an important factor accountable for the revenue loss incurred by the Beatles. Moreover, appropriate imposition of the term of agreements within the parties, their mode of functionality and the profit earning procedure could have ensured in effective negotiation. Imposing of the contract agreement terms to the proposal party also minimizes the risk on the manager in terms of being blamed in case certain loss factors through the agreement. In addition, the agreement terms also keeps both the patties in line and thus, prevent them from practicing unfair means of profit attainment (Dawson, 2013). Moreover, two specific reasons according to which the industry members should not be allowed to write the contract non-transparency and lack of integrity. The first reason is that if the industry members are made to sign up the contract then the transparency of the agreement related terms might come under risk. For the second reason, it can be stated that the value and the genuineness of the proposal might be adversely affected with the imposing of inappropriate legal obligations (Dawson, 2013). Conclusion Based on the above discussion, it can be stated that the manager of the Beatles band named ‘Brian Epstein’ lacked specific skills of establishing appropriate agreements. The manager of Beatles due to inexperience in proposal negotiation process has resulted to loss in terms of revenue for the band. In this regard, the constructed flow chart diagram provides an appropriate elaboration regarding what is needed to be done, in case the new band wishes to sign up any type of contract agreement with the media industry. The mentioned negotiation techniques in the discussion also prove effective in case, the manager wants to persuade the proposal offering party with their own terms of contract establishment. The manager of the new and emerging brand also needed to use the negotiation techniques that include bracketing and higher authority, so that the terms and the negotiation approach techniques of the deal proposing party for effective execution of the deal with best motives of both the parties involved. References Dawson, R. (2013). Secrets of Power Negotiating for the 21st Century. India: Jaico Publishing House. Gosselin, T. (2007). Practical Negotiating: Tools, Tactics & Techniques. New Jersy: John Wiley & Sons. Schiffman, S. (2009). Negotiation Techniques (That Really Work!). USA: Adams Media Read More