1:1 As the starting point from which all commercial transactions occur, from purchasing equipment to setting salaries, negotiation in business is an essential skill no matter what field a negotiator finds herself. Using an objective standard can strengthen your proposal and eliminate emotional bias.The work environment is always changing due to the economy and variables that are connected to the type of business we are involved with.
Using negotiations when handling purchasing or trying to gain new contracts is all part of the business world. Having all the current and past facts such as costing, profits, showing the 2nd party that they are getting the best deal, projecting how the future of the contract or situation may be, if the decision you are pitching for works out. People like to make decisions when they have all the information. 1.2 Historic precedent, industry best practices, legal rulings or moral dictates, independent opinions, or market-based information are some of the criteria negotiators can rely upon during negotiationsExplanation of how you arrived at the estimate before accepting it or rejecting it. Your negotiating counterpart should be able to delineate the reasoning behind his request and asking him to do so can help you bridge the gap between two different objective standards at the bargaining table.
If you can’t agree on a objective basis for negotiations, employing a neutral third-party mediator or arbitrator can help break the impasse in negotiations.Another strategy to be used to gain advantage is through concealing information, misleading or using manipulative actions. Of course, these methods have serious potential for negative consequences. Yet even in this type of negotiation, both sides must feel that at the end the outcome was the best that they could achieve and that it is worth accepting and supporting,Trying to influence the other person’s belief in what is possible, learning as much as possible about the other person’s position especially with regard to resistance points, to convince the other to change his/her mind about their ability to achieve their own goals.Needing to promote your own objectives as desirable, necessary, ethical, or even inevitable.The Lose-Lose Approach, is a negotiation approach that is adopted when one negotiating partner feels that his own interests are threatened and he does all he can to ensure that the outcome of the negotiation is not suitable to the interests of the other party as well. In the bargain, both the parties end up being the loser. This type of situation arises when the negotiating partners ignore one another’s needs and the need to hurt each other outweighs the need to find some kind of an acceptable solution.
This is the most undesirable type of outcome and hence this negotiation approach is best avoided.A Compromise Approach provides an outcome which is some improvement over the lose-lose strategy outcome. To avoid a lose-lose situation, both parties give up a part of what they had originally sought and settle for something less than that. A compromise is the best way out when it is impossible for both parties to convince each other or when the disputed resources are limited.Integrative Negotiation or Win-Win Approach, This negotiation approach is also called as collaborative or creating value approach.
It is superior to all negotiation approaches. It results in both the parties feeling that they are achieving what they wanted. It results in satisfaction to both the parties. Statics have show that the integrative approach is most desirable, some of the guidelines to integrative bargaining are, Orient yourself towards a win-win approach. Your attitude while going into negotiation plays a huge role in the outcome. Plan and have a concrete strategy.
Be clear on what is important to you and why it is important. Know your Best Alternative to a Negotiated Alternative (BATNA). Separate people from the problem.
Focus on interests, not positions; consider the other party’s situation. Create options for mutual gain.Generate a variety of possibilities before deciding what to do. Aim for an outcome based on some objective standard. Pay a lot of attention to the flow of negotiation. Take the intangibles into account, communicate carefully. Use active listening skills, rephrase and ask questions and then ask some more1.
3 Some of the components for negotiation tactics are:Never Tell a Lie, Be Nice, and Consider the Timing, Do your home work, Research the other party, Consider your alternatives, Unbundle the items to be negotiated, Anticipate the other party’s needs, Establish your bargaining Range, Identify your leveraging points and what you can give up, identify the decision makerconvey confidence but not cockiness, set the stage for agreement, ask open-ended questions, listen and restate comments, watch for nonverbal cues, Stay cool and depersonalize disagreements, have seperate discussions for problems from Exploration of solutions, do not compare offers, no ultimatum, use your leverage, bring materials to backup, Understand how to develop and deliver presentations2.1 A presentation for Providing Information – This format encompasses anything from a team meeting that gives updates on a project or upcoming event to a demonstration that shows product functions.A Presentation for Teaching a Skill – Your company just installed a new system or implemented a new process that requires people to learn how to use the new tool and apply the process.Presentations for Reporting Progress – As you integrate the new system into your daily routine, your boss wants to know how it’s working.
You might schedule a divisional meeting or group off-site to share the progress.A Presentation for Selling a Product or Service – A briefing like this might include a recap of the product or service, next steps and action items, or a discussion of needs and improvements before the product is ready to sell.Presentations for Making a Decision – It’s time for the annual holiday party and ideas are being tossed around the office. When giving your input on the location, make sure to share the must-haves and nice-to-haves for the event. When it’s time for the final decision, you can see how your idea stacks up to the other options.Presentations for Solving a Problems – This could be in a panel setting or other meeting where the problem is identified, the facts of the problem are presented and a list of causes is generated. From here, you lay out the ideal outcome, present solutions and discuss your recommendation.
2.2 – 2.3 – 2.4 With any presentation, know your objectives. If your purpose is to inform or update, you will most likely use one of the first three types of presentations. On the other hand, if you’re wanting to persuade someone, use one of the last three presentation types. Not every presentation has to mold itself into a traditional presentation; it can be an interview, status report, program, pitch, speech or demonstration, for example.There are two main methods for how a presentation can be created.
One of the most common approaches is a non visual presentation, if you head down this route then other facts will need to be included to keep the attention of the audience, using tactics to include the interaction of the group. The other is using visuals either on a flip chart or Powerpoint presentation, this has already got an element to keep the audience engaged. Having a flexible attitude within the presentation may help if the timing of individual items needing to be shown on the presentation requires alteration, and having easy access to all of the individual components.Knowing your audience allows you to choose the best delivery method for the presentation. Keeping to a time frame for the length of the presentation is important. Remembering that a persons ability to retain information and attention span is limited, breaking up the presentation so that facts are delivered then a break is inserted where you may get the audience to interact verbally or in roll playing. Its preferable to use Non Visual presentations for shorter presentations as you are limited on components to keep the engagement factor up to its highest.
Watching your audience to keep an eye on their attention span and altering your delivery if required. Using a varied vocal pitch can also keep the audience engaged longer, with animated body language and gestures.2.
5 Once the presentation is over the feedback is an important component that needs to be collected, this can be done through either a questionnaire with a ‘smiley rating’ of how happy they were with the different aspects, or comment boxes for suggestions that may not have been discussed during the presentation. You can monitor the outcome with improvements within the company that you have implemented after discussions. Or you can have a ‘Close-the-Loop’ feedback form completed.
Understand how to create bespoke business documents3.1, 3.2 Bespoke business documents are made to order, they are specially designed for the client to specific requirements or purpose.
a template can still be used but it will have to modified to be unique, it may include forms, specifications for products or services, publicity materials, questionnaires. They must meet specific requirements, support internal processes and procedures, increase brand awareness, business portfolio, corporate presentation, publicity material, compliance with legislation and regulation, auditing and reportingProducing attractive and high-quality business documents is important for any business to share essential information. Business documents portray the image, culture and professionalism of the organisation. You will have to consider the specification requirements and needs of users, consider permissions, copyright, acknowledge sources of research where relevant and avoid plagiarism when designing documents. Corporate Factors included in your final documents will convey the corporate identity or branding and will engage users, be attractive, high quality and fit for purpose.Resource factors that are taken into account are the software, hardware, paper, staff knowledge and skills when creating the document.
The layout and style of document, fit-for-purpose, file format, security, output are a serious consideration for the final document, copies and distribution.3.3 Legal requirements regarding content and gathering information for the documents include, Plagiarism, Copyright law, Data protection and Data protection. Information management systems must have procedures in place to protect personal information about third parties. Personal data which is anything that identifies a living individual, like the name, contact details, and anything that can be related to a living individual, like the account number, showing the current salary of a job post when there is only one person carrying out that job.The Principles of the Data Protection Act, information must be obtained and processed fairly and lawfully, the information will be obtained and used for only one or more specified and lawful purpose, this should be adequate, relevant and not excessive, the information should be accurate and up to date, it should be kept no longer than the purpose requires.
Other confidential information relating to the company’s financial position, the new product development, Information about reorganisation or mergers should be handled in the same manor. Leaking this sort of information could have a serious impact on the organisation’s stability and securityThe information gathered must adhere to Copyright regulations. The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 limits what you can copy or distribute to others. You can only use extracts from the material or book under certain circumstances, like if you acknowledge the source of the material, ie the author, the title, the date it was published and the publisher’s name. Photocopying is also not permissible unless the document or book states otherwise.
Using newspaper or magazine cuttings also requires the permission of the publication they appeared in.3.4 You can use different types of document forms to create a bespoke business document, this all depends on the audience and the information that needs to be conveyed, so knowing your target audience is a must – Letters, correspondence, Reports, proposals, Minutes, agendas, Forms/invoices, Newsletters, brochures, leaflets, Posters, notices. The information has to be informative with accurate information, using facts to persuade the client. The presentations have to be of a high presentation standard. Researching and then learning the content is to your advantage so that questions can be answered quickly and accurately.
3.5 Methods for gaining approval of a bespoke document can be affected by face-to-face meetings; on-line meetings, conference calls the use of technology (sharing documents, editing documents, tracking changes to documents). The approval may be affected by the initial proposal, by sending out the first drafts of the document, discussing this and making changes if required after the negotiation then the completion of the final documentation.
Working methodically through all the criteria and getting the structure correct and the content accurate.Understand information systems in a business environment4.1 Typical stages that are essential for system developers are, planning, analysis, design, and implementation. It includes evaluation of present system, information gathering, feasibility study and request approval.During the planning phase, the objective of the project is determined and the requirements to produce the product are considered. Personnel and costs are considered, all of the information is analyzed to see if there is an alternative solution to creating a new product. If there is no other viable alternative, the information is assembled into a project plan and presented to management for approval.The Analysis Stage determines the end-user requirements.
Often this is done with the assistance of client focus groups, which provide an explanation of their needs and what their expectations are for the finished product and how it will perform. The design phase is the “architectural” phase of system design. The flow of data processing is developed into charts, and the project team determines the most logical design and structure for data flow and storage. For the user interface, the project team designs mock-up screen layouts that the developers uses to write the code for the actual interface.Then it moves on to the construction phase where the developers execute the plans laid out in the design phase. The developers design the database, generate the code for the data flow process and design the actual user interface screens. During the construction phase, test data is prepared and processed as many times as necessary to refine the code.Testing is then required for all aspects of the system to check the functionality and performance.
The system is tested for integration with other products as well as any previous versions with which it needs to communicate. Essentially, the key elements of the testing phase are to verify that the system contains all the end user requirements laid out in the analysis phase, that all the functions are accurately processing data, that the new system works with all other systems or prior systems, and that the new system meets the quality standards of the company and the customers.The product is then given to the client to test, feedback from clients begins, and the code is tweaked for any performance issues or the mishandling of data.4.2 Transaction processing systems meet the data collection, storage, processing and outputting functionalities for the core operations of a business. TPS information systems collect data from user inputs and then generate outputs based on the data collected.
An example of TPS system could be an online booking system. Where the user selects a product and then the system updates the end user with product sales, availability etc. The system then generates a bill and a copy of the ticket. TPS information systems can be based on real-time or batch processing, and can help business owners meet demand without acquiring additional personnel.
The downside to this is that the electronic system may get a glitch, it might not be coded correctly, or it could get hacked.Business owners use customer relationship systems to synchronize sales and marketing efforts. CRM systems accumulate and track customer activities, including purchasing trends, product defects and customer inquiries. The capabilities of typically CRM information systems allow customers to interact with companies for service or product feedback and problem resolutions. Businesses may also use CRM systems internally as a component of their collaboration strategies. As such, CRM information systems allow business partners to interact with each other as they develop ideas and products. Collaboration can occur in real time even when business partners are in remote locations. This still relies on the customer service side to have the relevant training to handle the complaints and queries, and respond adequately whilst interacting with clients.
Business intelligence systems can be complex as they identify, extract and analyze data for various operational needs, particularly for decision-making purposes. BIS information systems may provide analyses that predict future sales patterns, summarize current costs and forecast sales revenues. Business intelligence systems collect data from the various data warehouses in an organization and provide management with analyses according to lines of business, department or any breakdown that management desires. The accuracy of the information is vital in this case, otherwise the forecast will be off. This also doesn’t take in to account that people are unpredictable and you can never fully predict what may happen.
Variables are ever changing. The economy may take a spike due to governmental decisions.Knowledge management systems organize and dissect knowledge and then redistribute or share it with individuals of an organization. The purpose of these information systems is to bring innovation, improve performance, bring integration and retain knowledge within the organization.
Although KMS information systems are typically marketed to larger enterprises, small businesses can also benefit from harvesting knowledge. KMS information systems serve as a central repository and retain information in a standard format. These systems can help business owners maintain consistency and enable speedy responses to customer and partner inquiries. 4.
3 Any information stored in an organisation has to follow the security and confidentiality procedures. Information security and confidentiality is the process where data is kept away from unauthorised persons. It applies to both physical and electronic data.
All organisations store a large amount of confidential information about their employees, customers, company’s status, products, surveys, finances, etc. Appropriate protection is required for all forms of information, paper or electronic, to avoid breaches. Organisations and their information systems face security threats from a wide range of sources, including computer-assisted fraud, sabotage, vandalism, theft, fire or flood.
Computer viruses and hacking is becoming increasingly common. Dependence on information systems and services means that organisations are increasingly exposed and vulnerable to security threats. The information should only be passed to people who have the authority or those the owner has given consent to, even though procedures still have to be upheld.4.4 Tracking can be used to monitor the use of an information system and ensure that only those users with appropriate permissions are performing information tasks for which they have been authorised.
Tracking systems can range from a handwritten note to an automated transaction in an electronic document management system. All tracking systems, however, have to meet the test of locating any record within the appropriate time period and ensuring that all movements are traceable. There are many issues that can create problems with information systems. Electronic information can be attacked by viruses or by hackers. Physical file information can be damaged due to fire or flood. Confidentiality can be breached by people who do not have authority to access information. Lack of communication also can lead to misuse or wrong storage of information.
