Chapter 2

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

A Presentation On Ethics In Negotiation By Members Of Team 2.

This chapter tries to analyse if there are or should be socially acceptable ethical standards for behaviour in negations and the goal is to determine among different criteria the basis for judging a negotiators actions especially when issues of ethics might be involved.

Before delving into the topic, “Ethics In Negotiation”, we think it’s proper to define the key elements in this write-up which are;
i. Ethics, &
ii. Negotiation.

Ethics
Ethics are broadly applied social standards for what is right or wrong in a particular situation, or a process for setting those standards.

Ethics can also be defined as that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.

From these definitions we can infer that ethics evolve out of particular philosophies guarded by norms from the environment we live in.

Negotiation .
Negotiation can be referred to as a win-win situation such as those that occur when parties are trying to find a mutually acceptable solution to a complex situation.

It can also be defined as a process of dialogue intended to resolve disputes, to produce an agreement upon courses of action, to bargain for individual or collective advantage or to craft outcomes to satisfy various interest. It is the primary method of alternative dispute resolution.


What Is The Relevance Of Ethics In Negotiation?

The purpose of studying the relevance of ethics in negotiation is to distinguish among different standards the basis for judging negotiators actions in his tactics before and during the negotiation process.
We will be looking at four standards for evaluating strategies and tactics in business negotiation:

i. The End-Result Ethics: this is based on the premise that negotiators do whatever is necessary to get the best possible outcome and self fulfilment (happiness/contentment). The major concern here is the definition of happiness and it’s measurement in attaining satisfaction.
ii. The Duty Ethics: Adherence to consistent principles, laws and social standards that define right from wrong is the central tenet here. The major concern here is the judgement of the uprightness of the rules made by the authorities guiding the institutions
iii. Social Contract Ethics: In this standard, the rightness of an action is determined by the customs and norms of a community.
iv. Personality Ethics: The rightness of an action is determined by one’s conscience. The major challenge here is finding uniformity, as all individuals are unique in their own way.

What Questions Of Ethical Conduct Arise In Negotiation?
In business negotiations, when is lying acceptable? Negotiation is all about meeting one’s interest and when someone else stands in the way, the negotiator faces the core ethical issue of negotiation: when are my needs and wants more important than treating this person in a moral or socially acceptable manner? Whatever choice you make may involve significant costs to yourself, to the other party and to the wider community. Often the “right” thing to do is not clear.

Negotiators use ambiguous tactics in achieving strategic advantage in negotiations. The major types of ambiguous tactics are deception and subterfuge. Deception can be by way of omission or by commission, the latter being the more severe.
Existing law generally provides that the duty of good faith applies only to the performance and enforcement of agreements, not negotiations. The unscrupulous negotiator might take this as a licence to behave unethically during negotiations for as long as such behaviour is not out and out fraudulent. With such negotiators there’s a reputation effect to deal with, one which a negotiator cannot afford to have.

Is it right to use ambiguous tactic? It might be allowed to use certain minor forms of misrepresentation or forms of omission but outright deception and falsification is wrong.

Why do negotiators use deceptive tactics?
1. To gain undue advantage over the other party.
2. To selfishly achieve their objectives to the detriment of the other party

How Can Negotiators Deal With The Other Party’s Use of Deception?
1. Ask probing questions.
2. Force the other party to back off.
3. “Call the tactic”.
4. Discuss what you see and offer to help the other arty change to more honest behaviour.
5. Respond in kind.
6. Ignore the Tactic


In conclusion, negotiators overlook the fact that, although unethical or expedient tactics may give desired results in the short run, these same tactics could damage their reputation in the long run.


Team Opinion:
We conclude that there is a very fine line between ethical and unethical tactics in negotiations though many commonly used negotiation tactics are fraught with ethical concerns. We believe the most effective negotiators are cooperative and cooperative negotiators strive to be ethical.
When negotiators share material information, the opportunity to engage in value-producing trades increases.

Chapter 9

TEAM TWO

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 9

ESTABLISHING LEADERSHIP THROUGH STRATEGIC INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

Effective internal communication provides organizational direction and employee motivation. If employees believe in their leaders, if they trust and respect them, they become change agent. The purpose of Chapter 9 was to recognize the role of communication by employees; assess internal communication effectiveness; establish effective internal communication; use mission and vision to strengthen internal communication as well as designing and implementing effective change communication.

Establishing leadership through strategic internal communication was discussed under six different scope as follows; recognizing the strategic role of employee communication; assessing employee communication effectiveness; establishing effective internal communication; using missions and visions to strengthen internal communication; ensuring effective mission and vision; and designing and implementing effective change communication


1. RECOGNIZING THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION

The strategic role of employee communication were identified in the chapter to include; educating employees on company vision and strategic goals as well as motivating employees to support the company strategy. It was identified that communication is capable of encouraging employees towards higher performance and limits misunderstanding and rumours that may damage productivity in a company.

2. ASSESSING EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS

It was identified that factors exist which could limit employee communication effectiveness. To resolve the factors, there would be need to identify the communication problem; pinpoint areas for improvement; close all communication gaps; and establish an effective internal communication approach.


3. ESTABLISHING EFFECTIVE INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

To establish an effective internal communication in an organization, a simple analytical model was used which composed of five strategies namely supportive management, targeted message, effective media/forum, well positioned staff and on-going assessment.

a. Supportive Management. This implies that management should model the communication behavior they expect and should support it and encourage others to follow the model. Management should include communication as part of management review and appraisal and be willing to accept good and bad news without penalties.

b. Targeted Message. Management should communicate relevant messages, which must be clear and understandable.

c. Effective Media/Forum. Management should analyze the various media through which employees could be reached which include meetings, text, memo, mail, notice board and newsletters. Communication cost should be computed after which the best media to reach all employees will be chosen.

d. Well Positioned Staff. For effective internal communication, communication professionals should be hired by organizations. Communication professionals should be elevated and recognized. They should be present during deliberations and aware of decision making. They should be given high management positions in the organization for respectability and followership.

e. On-going Assessment. Management should include communication as part of employee evaluation.

4. USING MISSIONS AND VISIONS TO STRENGTHEN INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

The chapter explained the need to understand the importance of mission and vision in strengthening internal communication. The importance were enumerated to include inspiring individual action, determining behavior and fueling motivation; establishing firm foundation of goals and standards for corporate planners. Others include providing direction for everyone; and satisfying company need for efficiency and employee need for group identity.

Missions and Visions were defined in the Chapter and their characteristics were stated. Mission was defined as a statement of the reason why a company exist. It is usually intended for internal use. A mission is the basic business purpose and should establish a simple noble purpose and enduring reality. On the other hand, a vision was seen as establishing the company’s aspiration which is achievable within a reasonable time frame. While mission can be seen to be here and now, vision is entirely in the future.

5. ENSURING EFFECTIVE MISSION AND VISION

The characteristics of mission and vision was highlighted as well as the process of building an effective mission and vision. The characteristics of mission are that it must be clear and makes sense in the market place; it must be inspirational and suggest excellence; it must be stable but flexile for minor changes, and it must empower both employees and customers. A vision on the other hand must have goals and provide direction; it must be prepared for the future and must be applicable to the company. It must also be actionable.

The process of building an effective mission and vision were stated to be three which include CEO Developed. CEO developed is common in hierarchical structured organization; Leader – Senior Team developed which is applicable in team based organization, and Bottom-up Visioning which is prevalent in small organization.

The steps towards building an effective mission and vision most evolve from leaders. They are developed by leaders. Leaders are to ask for inputs from employees before having a final mission and vision statement. The overall procedure will involve creating initial draft; clarifying the meaning of the statements amongst employees; telling the world about what you are and what you want to become in a concise words. Others include developing strategies to make the vision very specific and actionable and continually testing the mission and vision through evaluation in the market place.

6. DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING EFFECTIVE CHANGE COMMUNICATION

It was recognize that organization change will be impossible without effective communication. It recognizes human and employees to be the barriers to change. It proposed effective communication with employees before, during after major change program as key to a successful change programme.

The chapter analyzed the procedure and scope for a change communication program. The procedures include determining the effectiveness of existing internal communication practice; taking stock of current communication practices in organizations and making improvement where necessary. The scope were identified by asking probing questions such as: Is the change a major change? Is it company wide or specific to a business unit? How many employees are involved? The response to the questions will unveil the extent of change required and the communication strategy to be adopted.

A three-phased communication plan was adopted in evaluating the structuring of a communication program for major change. They include determining change communication strategy and plan; launching the change communication and ensuring understanding by all; as well as monitoring results through feedbacks and making adjustments.


Group Opinion

Group 2 was of the opinion that several lessons were learnt in the Chapter 9 which will assist in internal communication as well as evolving a strategic mission and vision statements in our place of work.

We have also been equipped with the relevant skills to effect meaningful change programs in our organization.

Chapter 10

TEAM 2

BA 370 LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATIONS AND NEGOTIATION

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 10 LEADING THROUGH EFECTIVE EXTERNAL RELATIONS

The objectives of this chapter are;

1. To develop an external relation strategy
2. To build and maintain a positive corporate image
3. To work with the news media.
4. To handle crisis communication

This chapter provides guidelines to help manage external relations in day –to-day encounter and in crisis situations so that the company
Project a positive image.

DEVELOPING AN EXTERNAL RELATION STRATEGY
Effective external relations require a sound communication strategy. The step to developing a strategy includes:
1. Clarify your purpose and strategic objectives
2. Identify your major audiences or stakeholders
3. Create, refine, and test your major message.
4. Select, limit, and coach your spokespersons.
5. Establish the most effective media or forum
6. Determine the best timing.
7. Monitor result.

1.) Clarify your Purpose and Strategic Objectives
A company must have a strategy for all of its external relations activities: managing the press and media, establishing relationships with the financial analysts or investor groups, and creating and distributing all publications that touch stakeholders.

2.) Identify major audiences or stakeholders
A company’s external stakeholders consist of any persons, groups, or organization outside of the company that may be affected by the company’s activities or influence by its message and image. Among the stakeholders are: media, community, customers, investor, analyst, board, partners, distributors, suppliers\Vendors, and trade associations. The list should include anyone even remotely touched by the company’s products and services.



3.) Create, refine and test your major messages
Messages meant for external audiences are far more vulnerable to interference, interruptions, and barriers than messages to internal audiences. Many external audiences will be only weakly motivated to attend to your messages, and they will often be ignorant of much of the knowledge you can assume for your internal audiences. For example, while you may be able to assume that an internal audience will know the jargons of your industry, you cannot assume that outsiders will. You must ensure that all of your external messages conform to the following criteria: honesty, clarity, consistency, meaningful.

4.) Select, limit, and coach your spokesperson
Selecting the right spokesperson(s) to deliver external messages can be almost as critical as the messages themselves. Three major rules apply to selecting spokespersons: (a) they must be at the right level for the problem, (b) they must project a positive ethos, and (c) they should have received media training. The rank of the person delivering the message is as important as the message, if a low ranking office deliver the massage it could signal that the company does not view the issue being discussed as important enough.

5.) Establishing the most effective media or forum
Deciding on the most effective media or forum to ensure reaching the identified stakeholders is yet another critical component of external relations. A company will often use several different media to reach external audiences, depending on the important and magnitude of the communication event. Some of the medium includes: press conferences, press release, fact sheets, press or media kits, hotlines, websites, tombstone or advertising statements, and analyst briefings.

6.) Determining the best thing
Depending on the context, the timing of an external message can be critical, you must ask yourself what is going on around your communication event that will influence how your audience receives your message.

7.) Monitoring the result
Measuring the impact of your message on your constituencies is important, but it can also be difficult, expensive, and time-consuming.

Building and Maintaining a Positive Corporate Image
Reputation affects the bottom line, and even the strongest companies will have difficulty surviving damage to their reputations. Leaders of organizations must give high priority to establishing and maintaining a positive corporate image. Some of the medium that can be used in building corporate image includes: media relations, corporate public relations, government relations, and investors relations.

Working with the Media
The mistakes that tarnish a company’s reputation are most often uncovered and publicized by the news media. To increase chances for favourable treatment, it is important for a company to establish a positive relationship with the media and for every senior manager to know hoe to work effectively with them. The following should be considered before a company decides to talk to them:

 Understanding the media’s role and importance
 Deciding when to talk to the media
 Preparing for and delivering a media interview

Handling Crisis Communication
At one time or another, most companies will face a crisis. A situation requiring crisis communication involves a specific, unexpected and non-routine event or series of events that create high levels of uncertainty and threaten or are perceived to threaten an organization’s high priority goals. The following guidelines will help companies respond appropriately in most situations. They include: develop a general crisis communication plan, respond quickly to crisis once it occurs, the right people ready to respond and they will respond with the same message, put yourself in the shoes of your audience, do not overlook the value of the web, revisit your crisis communication plan frequently, build away to monitor the coverage, and perform a post crisis evaluation.

COMMENTS
Perception is becoming important these days because outsiders (external audience) will relate to an organization based on their perception. This chapter worth studying and it impart more knowledge to me. Moses

TEAM MEMBERS ARE; MONDAY, MOSES, BENJAMIN, DORIS, OLUSEYI, ADESHOLA, HASSANNAT, EFOSA, SOPHIE

Chapter 2

LETTER OF INTRODUCTION - OGBOYI BENJAMIN OSENI

BA 370: LEADERSHIP IN COMMUNICATION AND NEGOTIATION

LETTER OF INTRODUCTION

NAME OGBOYI BENJAMIN OSENI

STUDENT NUMBER: 10

SEAT NUMBER: 9

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

After my secondary education at St. Charles College Ankpa Kogi State I proceeded to Ahmadu Bello University Zaria where I graduated with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science.

For effective management, I obtained a postgraduate diploma certificate in management from Lagos state university.

RESEARCH WORK

I have undergone two research works. They are Participatory management style and its effects on productivity, a case study of Nigerian German Chemical Lagos and Construction and Evaluation of Thermal Solar water pump for Rural Dwellers.

WORK EXPRIECENCE

I have work as Marketing Officer and administrative Officer to Inyas Nig Ltd, External Consumer Panelist to Nestle Food Nig. Plc, Operation/IT and Investment Officer to SMADAC Securities Ltd.

I am currently working as an Investing Analyst and Stockbroking.

I am a member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, and A member of Chartered Institute of Stockbroker.

A self-motivated young man, ready to pursue and develop career and make meaningful contributions in a result oriented organization, and as well as control a business of my own. Through Lincoln MBA in which I am currently undergoing, I wish to make this dream a reality.

SOCIAL/HOBIES

I admire beautiful people and environment, my best game is tennis, my favorite player is Pete Sampras and Maria Sharapova.

As a catholic, I also belong to Catholic Young men Association and Sera Club of St. Agnes Maryland Lagos.