Journal

he Viking Investments simulation presented a reality of many negotiations about money owed: It is beneficial for both sides to come to an agreement and avoid any legal situations. In this case, Pat (Pevsner) and Sandy (myself and Bierbryer) had a contractual agreement for materials and services rendered, however through miscommunication an upgrade was performed on the materials without Pat's personal approval. In order for this negotiation to be successful, Pat and I had to get past the petty arguments of who "screwed" up and who is legally responsible for the events leading up to this negotiation. If we continued debating the merits of one another’s positions, we would have ended up in court, I would have declared bankrupt and Pat would have ended up receiving a much lower percentage of the owed amount.

Fortunately, both sides realized this and the negotiation went smoothly. I know a deal would get done once we both agreed that it was important to talk about a solution not about blame. Both Pat and I focused on the numbers of the agreement, and how we could work/pay off Sandy’s debt, while still allowing WoodCrafters to flourish, and Viking Investment to continue its future expansion goals. We did find an arrangement that would allow for these goals to become feasible. We agreed to accept payment that would turn WoodCrafters no profit for work rendered, and allow for future work to be done as a means of paying off the $200,000 outstanding principal. Furthermore, we agreed that Viking would not call upon our owing the principal as long as we paid a certain percentage of our revenue (enough to provide legitimate relief to the owed principal, while not enough to force a detrimental situation on to