Sally Sopranos Negotiation - Case Study Example

Case analysis paper: Sally Soprano’s negotiation Analysis The article under analysis describes the negotiation of Sally Soprano for Salary in her singing career. In the first part, the author of the article presents a clear analysis of the possible criteria that may be used to determine the salary of Sally Soprano in her employment. From the analysis, the author leaves a question seeking answer regarding to the amount of money that Sally Soprano will be willing to sing for in her employment agreement with Lyrics (President and Fellows of Harvard College, 1995). From the data provided, it seems that every year Lyrics offers a salary reflective of 25% inflation, giving an inflation rate of 50% in two years. Therefore, for the last two years, Sally was paid $25,000 for the last two years and $12,500 the last time she was paid. This indicates that Lyrics paid $12,500 per year. This reflects an inflation of 25%. Based on the last payment by Lyrics and the inflation rate, Sally must have been willing to sing for 150% × $12,500. This is the amount that Sally was paid most recently. Therefore, Sally said she would be willing to sing for $18,750. The author also provides a memo that indicates various issues that are to be considered in the agreement between Lyric and Sally Soprano. In the publicity section, the author poses two questions: what will lyric do? What will Sally do? According to the description of terms in the agreement, there are various sets of boundaries laid for the roles of both Lyric and Sally in terms of publicity. First, the two have specific parts to play in advertising for the sake of the company’s publicity. Lyric is to contribute a given amount of money to cater for advertising budgets. Lyric also agrees to increase the advertising budget by a given percentage while Sally agrees to contribute a dollar for every three dollars contributed by Lyric to cater for the increase in the advertising budget. However, this is subject to a given maximum dollars contribution by Sally. The ad Campaign will be given an input by Sally and her agent. In preparation for a meeting with Sally for a negotiation of terms of contract in this involvement, I will consider various aspects of negotiation that will enable me to strike a good deal for the interest of both Sally and Lyric. In this case, the context of negotiation in the agreement will be important. While it is necessary to maintain confidentiality in the negotiation between Lyric and Sally, it is also important to give a good image of a strong relationship between the two parties so that the public may appreciate the relationship and support their engagement (Bercovitch & Jackson, 2009). This will build a good reputation for both Lyric opera and Sally. As a result, the two will prosper in the opera industry and win a lot of fans and supporters. The goals of both parties in the negotiation will also be of great significance. Effective negotiation is one in which the goals and objectives of each party are met satisfactorily so as to enhance a long-term relationship. It is also important to consider the cultural and technological aspects prevalent in the negotiation environment so as to establish an appropriate agreement in regard of conflicts associated with culture and technology in the negotiation process. In terms of context, this negotiation case is based on reaching an agreement to establish a relationship between Lyric Opera Company and Sally Soprano. This relationship is intended to be a long term relationship in which each party is to achieve his/her goals in a manner that the other’s goals are not undermined. In this case, the relationship to be established is between an Opera Singer, Sally Soprano and an Opera Company, Lyric Opera. This relationship is to be in the interest of parties in a production by Bellini, named Norma. The production is scheduled to start in the next three 3 weeks and is expected to run for six months. Though Lyric Opera Company is not-for-profit organization, it attempts to minimize the costs of running the Norma production and still establish a good reputation for the company. In this case, it needs to look for well known opera singer to perform in the production. The current performing Sopranos in the Opera industry are not easy to convince to enter into a relationship with Lyric Company because most of them will demand more salary due to their popularity in the opera industry. Sally Soprano is an old woman who has been out of the Opera industry for one year. However, she is intending to make a comeback into the Opera industry and be able to re-establish her reputation among Opera fans. Therefore, the main intention of Sally is not the amount of salary she gets but the reputation she wishes to build. In this regard, it is important for Lyric to negotiate for a working relationship with Sally because they are not intending to pay a lot of salary to its performers. Furthermore, Sally has been in the industry for quite some time in the past and is thus well known in the Opera world (President and Fellows of Harvard College, 1995). By establishing a relationship with Sally, the company is deemed to pay little, hence minimizing costs, but still gain support from Opera fans given the popularity of Sally in the past. On the other hand, Sally will get an opportunity to re-establish herself and make a comeback into the opera performance despite her age and the length of time out of the industry. Each of the parties in this negotiation has specific goals. Sally’s main goal is to make a triumphant comeback into the opera industry where she left over a year ago. She wishes to prove to the opera fans and performers that she is still worthy the praise and fame she enjoyed over a year ago. She also attempts to establish a good reputation in the opera industry. Another goal pursued by Sally is that she wishes to perform a primary role in the opera industry, not the secondary role she used to perform in the past. Another goal that Sally is pursuing in her negotiation with Lyric is to renew her relationship with the Opera Company. Sally also seeks to prove that she deserves a high salary by attempting to establish a factor that may act as a precedent of a high salary. Finally, she wants to receive a treatment like the one she used to receive in her previous engagement in the Opera industry. On the other hand, Lyric Opera Company’s primary interest (goal) in this crucial negotiation is to run Norma successfully at minimum cost. Lyric Opera also seeks to establish other determinant factors in a successful performance that may precede the payment of an appropriate salary. This is indeed in good interest of the negotiation because Sally on the other hand is also interested in other factors precedent to a good salary. In other words, Lyric’s goal is to minimize cost while the goal of Sally is to establish her reputation despite the kind of salary she will get immediately. Therefore, the two will reach into a good agreement given their matching primary goals. Another goal pursued by Lyric Opera Company is to avoid being watered down by performers. The company does not anticipate a situation in which a hired performer takes advantage of it (President and Fellows of Harvard College, 1995). The company also wants to make the best out of the available opera singer. This is similar to making good use of the available human resources in order to attain economic optimality in its activities. The Company also targets to make good sales in its box office. Finally, the company wishes to provide and receive sufficient publicity in the opera industry. Generally, Sally’s agent in the negotiation should put into account the goals of Sally while Lyric’s representative should consider the goals of Lyric in the negotiation process. On the part of Sally, salary is not the primary goal. She is mostly interested in establishing a lead role in the Opera performance. This will enable her to gain reputation and make a sure comeback in the opera industry. According to her, what matters is the perception of the media and TV producers of her. In whichever publicity arrangement she will agree with Lyric, Sally will be contended that she gets a good reputation in the opera industry. On the other hand, Lyric’s main goal is to get the best lead role in the current opera season. This is in an attempt to attain the highest possible success in the performance. In order to attain the above goals, Lyric and Sally will agree on specific issues which will form the particulars of the negotiation. These particulars include salary, publicity agreement, the future contractual agreements between the two parties, rehearsals, motivations or benefits related to work, joint ventures and other gains to be enjoyed by the two parties. Although Sally does not wish to get less salary but will be grateful for more, the salary to be agreed on will not be the main aspect of the negotiation exercise. The two parties will concentrate on other aspects precedent to salary, but salary will be part of the negotiation. In the negotiation the percentage of gate entrance fee to go to Sally’s performance will be negotiated between the parties. This will include the percentage of amount above the average of gross sales, percentage of excess over the charges of Lyrics on last 5 operas, percentage of ticket revenues among others. There are also advertising details which have already been discussed in this paper. Sally is also expected to produce tapes for the performance of the opera as well as records of the same. The two parties also agree on packing all the rows of the performance room every night with fans interested with their production. Masters classes are also agreed upon in the negotiations which are to be conducted by Sally. Lyric also agrees to hire the best artist who will assist in applying the best make-up on Sally to make her appear young in the production. Sally is to be paid $100,000 over the next 20 years for role played by her. The company further pays her $45,000 from which Sally agrees to contribute a part towards the Sally fund. There are various ethical, cultural and technological issues involved in this negotiation (Arrow, 1995). First, the two parties wish to establish a good relationship which will result in mutual benefits to both parties. In this case, it is culturally and ethically right for either party to ensure that none of the parties will sabotage the relationship. In this case, both parties should be able to work well together for the success of the relationship. In terms of technology, the two parties will consider the make-up technology to be used. Since one of the parties (Sally) wishes to be heard and her opinion considered in terms of her make-up, Lyric Opera wishes to use the make-up artists and methods that will be less costly to the company. Therefore, the negotiation will and should consider the technology to that end very keenly. The two parties should also agree on specific issues of age given their cultural standings. For instance, the fact that Sally is old should be accepted by Lyric so that the company may be willing to use appropriate technology to make her look young, while still upholding her reputation and respecting her as an old person. It is also important that the parties should make use of appropriate language in their negotiation so that they may understand each other well. Lyric should choose a representative who can understand the language of Sally’s agent. Communication is a good strategy to be considered in this negotiation process. In this respect, there should be a good communication link between the two parties. Persuasiveness is part of the two parties’ strategies to reach to a good communication which will enhance effective negotiation (Schellenberg, 1996). In order for one party to convince the other listening skill is also an appropriate strategy that enhances good and effective negotiation. In this respect, it is necessary to maintain a good eye contact and attempt to paraphrase what the other party has said so as to reiterate the fact that you’ve been listening to him/her very well. Furthermore, each party should be able to ask the other party questions so as to show that they are interested in knowing the details of the negotiation and to ensure that they don’t strike a deal vaguely without getting the specific details in perspective. Furthermore, each party should appreciate the concerns of the other party despite varying opinions and perspectives. This is necessary so that the other party does not negate the other’s disagreeableness to their perspectives. However, the disagreeing party should not indicate that she/he is supporting the other party. The disagreeing person in the negotiation will attempt to show the other party that what he/she says is important, but there is a better version of approaching the issue under discussion. The important issue is to let the person get the picture that they are important in the negotiation process and that their opinion counts. The negotiation of Sally Soprano and Lyric Opera Company is likely to result in various outcomes. These outcomes, like the outcomes of any other negotiation exercise should be in the best interest of all the parties in the party. Sally should be able to meet her reputation and comeback goal while Lyric Opera should be able to meet its goal of making the Norma performance a success. To both parties, publicity is a key target. The outcome should therefore be one that may be proven to result in good publicity of both parties. Furthermore, this publicity should result in a long-term relationship between the two parties. Indeed, good outcomes of the two parties should be achieved. One of the good outcomes of the negotiation is the establishment of a strong contract. By ‘strong contract’ I mean that the Opera Company and the Opera Soprano should make an agreement free of breaking the contract. To achieve this, the company should agree on terms that each of the parties strongly agree on. Another outcome of the negotiation is an agreement on the principle issues of the contract. This agreement should be presented to Sally and Lyric by their respective agents/ representatives of the two parties. The last outcome of the negotiation is a media announcement of Sally’s comeback to the Opera industry. This will lead to further publicity of the two parties. References list Arrow, K. J. (1995). Barriers to conflict resolution. New York [u.a.: Norton. Bercovitch, J., & Jackson, R. (2009). Conflict resolution in the twenty-first century: Principles, methods, and approaches. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Harvard business review on negotiation and conflict resolution. (2000). Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press. Negotiation, decision making and conflict management: 1. (2005). London: Elgar Publ. President and Fellows of Harvard College (1995). Sally Soprano. Program on negotiation at Harvard Law School. Ross, L., & Stanford Center on Conflict and Negotiation. (1993). Reactive devaluation in negotiation and conflict resolution. Stanford, Calif: Stanford Center on Conflict and Negotiation, Stanford University. Schellenberg, J. A. (1996). Conflict resolution: Theory, research, and practice. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Read More