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This negotiation exercise was a difficult exercise compared to other cases we have done . This case was a challenge because it has limited scope for creativity. This Negotiation was between the mining company and the city council. The objective of this negotiation was to get a better deal rather than shutting down the company.

PLANNING AND PREPARATION:

I represented Twin Lakes Mining Company. My objective was to achieve a deal that would help the company to retain this mine, and take out the company out of bad publicity. My goal was to negotiate the filtration plant financing, Roads paving financing, roads yearly maintenance and Taxes reduction. First I decided to identify and prioritize the variables, but I soon realized it was difficult to prioritize the variables as we had just three and each had its own restrictions. I realized that all the variables were equally important as there was gain and loss for both parties in every variable.

Twin Lakes CIty had to do the cleanup whether they stay or leave the site due to legal requirements on the other hand council has economic dependency on the mining operation It was in interest of both to Find a win-win situation. I planned to exploit this common interest in my negosition. Twin lake mining company has more funds than the council. I plan to use it as my strength , I will use it as a sweetener during my negotiation. I decided that I will use logrolling technique to trade and get the city council to float the bond. I know I have to clean up the water, and I am ok to install a water filtration system but I want council to float bonds and finance it. My next strategy is to bundle air quality and tax cuts together and get tax abatement less than $1.6 Million for paving and $160,000 for maintenance. In case company purchase the road then Twin lakes CIty will decide the clean-up methods. I also decided to use Snow Job tactics, my plan is to overwhelm the counterpart by giving too much information and try to reduce company expense from the city. Based on these options I decided upon my BATNA

ACTUAL PROGRESSION OF EVENTS:

We came to our final agreement very quickly. It took less than thirty minutes for actual negotiation. . My counterpart, who was representing the city council started the discussion. He raised concerns one by one. First we discussed the Quality of water, this was his major concern, as water quality has deteriorated due to the mining activities. He wanted the company to install the water filtration system. He emphasized that the city council was aware that state and federal agencies have mandated a cleanup as well. I acted very sympathetic about the water quality situation and agree to install a water filtration and try to get empathy by stating that financing is the real challenge for us if city can help us financially we might able to resolve it. I knew from my past experience the city would not agree to invest completely on this project. My target was that the city should float a 25-year bond for $40 million with 6% interest paid by the company. I used log rolling tactic, that is the company will pay $10 million at end of 25th year in addition to interest of $4 million if the city didnt accept the initial offer. After some discussion we agreed towe agreed to float a 25 years bond for 40 Million and the company would pay $ 2 Million as interest for 25 years, which includes the amount towards apart from $32,000 per amount from sale of recovered iron. This was a much better deal than my offer using log rolling technique.

After this we discussed our next variable air quality. As expected the city wanted the company to take the complete cost $2.4 million for paving and $300,000 for maintenance (repair, plowing, and so on). I disagreed by emphasize that city roads were mostly used by public its council responsibility to do the maintenance. However I am here to help them. I am their friend. I understand the council position. I wanted my counterpart to see that I am on there side and decided to use the tactic of bundling and bundled both air quality and tax cuts together. I suggested that I would agree to pay $1.2 million for paving and $100,000 for maintenance if the city agrees to reduce my annual taxes from $800,000 to $600,000 on all company-owned land and also reduce the right-of-way assessments from $400,000 to $200,000. In case council did not agree with my offer i was prepared for my second strategy i.e. Snow Job technique, where I planned to overwhelm my counterpart with more information that could help the city reduce the expenses. But to my surprise the city representative agreed for tax rebatement and I didnt have to use the Snow Job technique.But at the same time.

I think our FInal agreement is the best solution for both parties. Both can benefit from this mutually. As both were flexible and understanding and were willing to have an openended discussion and able to find common negotiating grounds. Final agreement is better than my BATNA because I got the bond to be floated by the city council, got tax abatements for company owned land and ensured that the plant would continue its operations without any issues.

SOLUTION ACHIEVED:

Going into negotiation my main objective was that the plant continues its operation without any interference and we get tax abatements. My other objective was to have a deal that is better than BATNA.

Our final agreement is much better than my BATNA. Going into negotiation I expected the most challenging task would be to get the council agree for the tax abatement. I did my preparation before hand and was able to use bundling technique effectively and able to achieve my objective. I also used logrolling technique for floating a bond and prepared to use Snow Job for variable Air Quality but didnt used it as I got better deal without using it.

EVALUATION OF INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE:

I had two objectives as I prepared for this negotiation. One was to maintain good relationships with the city council and Second had an agreement better than BATNA. I think I am able to achieve both of my objectives in this negotiation. I think I did prepare well for this negotiation, I had a spend lot of time in Planning and Preparation. I prepared multiple approaches such as logrolling, bundling, snow job and sweeteners so that I can use these tactics to achieve a deal in my favor. I also was able to identify my counterparts primary interest which is the need of fund for the citys development. I realized this early on that doesnt have capital to develop and I tried to capitalize on this as company had funds that could be utilized for improvements which I used as a sweetener to get tax abatement. I was able to achieve better deal than BATNA because I planned multiple approaches and used it appropriately. . I think our agreement is win-win for both of us. I was able to get tax rebates and on other hand city got its infrastructure. I think I performed very well as I got better deal than BATNA.

SUMMARY:

I enjoyed this negotiation process as it was very insightful. It helped me to learn about my negotiation skills and realized what my weaknesses are. It is important to use tactics at the right time which is crucial in negotiations. My approach for this negotiation was to have a open discussion to ensure a win-win solution for both parties. My negotiation strategy was to focus on interests and not positions, I insisted on the objective criteria and to invent mutual gain options.

During the negotiation I was flexible and stick on to the path of my counterpart. As his focused was to reduce the expense in developing the city, I ensured that my approach should be guiding him to reduce the expenses at the same time choose the tactics that benefit the company.Next time, If I had to negotiate again, I would suggest some measures that reflects a revenue generating methods for the citys council and I will have the city council partner with the company in installing the water filter system thereby reducing the expense to $20 Million from $40 Million.