Pemberton's
Heidi Hughes
Personal Journal
Pemberton’s Dilemma
MAN 6446
Dr. Nasser Kutkut
On January 5, 2013, I was presented with a negotiation role-playing exercise titled, “Pemberton’s Dilemma,” that presented the opportunity to negotiate using an integrative approach. In the exercise there were two town stores that were grappling with the decision to remain in-line with the small-town tradition to stay closed on Sundays, or to try to maximize profits by opening on Sundays. Kris Hanigosky and I played the role of managers of the Country Store while Poonam Bhatla and Ola Adelekan represented the Corner Store, a similar competitor in the same town.
To prepare for this simulation, I researched the financial impact of various scenarios. I used Microsoft Excel to run what-if scenarios to determine the best and worst case outcome. I also analyzed the risks of remaining closed versus staying open, such as loss of potential profit by remaining closed and scarring the store’s reputation by opening on Sundays. I also prepared several versions of a contract to present to the other team for consideration to cooperate after the first four weeks and during our first opportunity to negotiate.
My teammate and I decided to begin by choosing to remain closed during the first four weeks and then try to convince the other team to also remain closed for the ensuing eight weeks. While we could have increased our profits by opening some or all weeks, the risk of losing greater profit was too daunting. Also, the legal ramifications could have led to a forced closure, fines, and/or damaged reputation. Unfortunately, at the last minute, I thought the other team would begin by opening and I raised the Open card versus the Closed card. To our surprise, the opposing team chose to remain closed during the first week. Because our goal was to both maximize profit and minimize losses, we then stuck to our plan of staying closed for the next three weeks.
At this point, we took a
Personal Journal
Pemberton’s Dilemma
MAN 6446
Dr. Nasser Kutkut
On January 5, 2013, I was presented with a negotiation role-playing exercise titled, “Pemberton’s Dilemma,” that presented the opportunity to negotiate using an integrative approach. In the exercise there were two town stores that were grappling with the decision to remain in-line with the small-town tradition to stay closed on Sundays, or to try to maximize profits by opening on Sundays. Kris Hanigosky and I played the role of managers of the Country Store while Poonam Bhatla and Ola Adelekan represented the Corner Store, a similar competitor in the same town.
To prepare for this simulation, I researched the financial impact of various scenarios. I used Microsoft Excel to run what-if scenarios to determine the best and worst case outcome. I also analyzed the risks of remaining closed versus staying open, such as loss of potential profit by remaining closed and scarring the store’s reputation by opening on Sundays. I also prepared several versions of a contract to present to the other team for consideration to cooperate after the first four weeks and during our first opportunity to negotiate.
My teammate and I decided to begin by choosing to remain closed during the first four weeks and then try to convince the other team to also remain closed for the ensuing eight weeks. While we could have increased our profits by opening some or all weeks, the risk of losing greater profit was too daunting. Also, the legal ramifications could have led to a forced closure, fines, and/or damaged reputation. Unfortunately, at the last minute, I thought the other team would begin by opening and I raised the Open card versus the Closed card. To our surprise, the opposing team chose to remain closed during the first week. Because our goal was to both maximize profit and minimize losses, we then stuck to our plan of staying closed for the next three weeks.
At this point, we took a