Assignment: Final Paper
Student: Jocelyn Teh
Speaker: Dr Michael Benoliel
Talk Title: The Best Practices of World Class Master Negotiators
During Week 10, Dr Michael Benoliel gave an unforgettable talk that taught me many pointers, which I could apply in the future wherever I go. His main topic was on the best practices of world-class master negotiators where he shared with us the factors that differentiate these world- class negotiators with the other average ones. Before he started, he shared with us briefly some of them that are currently in the area of politics diplomacy, business and sports and also those who specialise in Asia. He then mentioned and shared with us his experience with Singapore’s Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh, where Dr Michael Benoliel sent an appointment to have a talk with him. However, instead of being interviewed, Mr. Tommy Koh turned the tables around and postponed the interview to gather information before interviewing Dr Michael Benoliel instead. This was very entertaining and surprising as to how he was so tactful in changing the direction of the interview.
Thereafter, he shared with us the big picture of negotiation where there were four important factors that played a role in the process and outcome of negotiation. Firstly there was the factor of the people who were involved, specifically the negotiators which depend on the type of personality they exhibit, their emotions (where negotiators who are highly neurotic are less able to control their emotions and have higher tendency to showcase them), their gender and even their culture. This could significantly influence the direction of the negotiation in some way or another. Secondly, the content of the negotiation was important as it included the quality of the discussion/ negotiation and the quantity, and in cases of a sales item, the pricing of the product. The better and more aware the negotiators were of
References: Brams, S.J. (1975) Game Theory and Politics. New York: Free Press. Bowles,H.R., & K.L, McGinn. (2008). Gender in Job Negotiations: A Two-Level Game. Matsumoto & Juang. (2008 ): Cultural & Psychology. Canada: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Markus, H.R., & S. Kitayama. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98: 224-253