Case study:
Questions:
Question 1. Before and during the negotiation, what specific strategic information does Elizabeth need to discover?
Question 2. And based on the negotiation process, what is the bargaining zone for the upcoming negotiation.
Question 3. What is Elizabeth's position, and Rafael's anticipated position?
Elizabeth Penning, the editor at Gallant Publishing Company's Medical Office Today, is concerned that going to a trade show at the request of Medical Office Today's publisher, Rafael Arroyo, will prevent her from meeting the deadlines of her magazine. Elizabeth and her assistant editor, Quentin Bell, determine that Elizabeth needs to prepare to negotiate with Rafael to meet her objectives: avoiding the trade show and producing her magazine on time.
Elizabeth:
Elizabeth notes:
1. Big trade show end of this month
2. Rafael promised the advertisers Elizabeth would go
I wonder what his problem is. He used to be more considerate and aware of my schedule. This is the third time this year he's demanded that I attend a trade show and this will be the third time I've missed our deadlines on the magazine because of it.
I'm really worried that if I go to the show, we may miss our deadline for the next issue. I need to stay here so I can go to the printer for the press check.
I don't know how we can meet our deadlines if I go to this trade show. I suppose I could transfer much of the work to you . . .
Quentin: Well . . ., you know you can count on me to give you all the support I can, but there are just some things that are your responsibility.
Elizabeth: I know. There's just no way I can go to this conference.
Quentin: Sounds to me like you'll have to negotiate this with Rafael . . . or maybe even ask Nate or Alyssa to help you.
Elizabeth: Well, Rafael and I have a meeting scheduled to talk about other issues at the end of this week. I guess I'll have to get this issue on the agenda. I really don't want to have to escalate this to Nate or Alyssa unless I have to because they already have so much to do. It'll be better for everyone if Rafael and I settle this issue ourselves. I guess the next thing to think about is how to negotiate this issue.
Quentin: I might be able to help you with that. I have a good friend who's pretty skilled at negotiation. Why don't you send me as much information as you have, and I'll do what I can to help you prepare.
Elizabeth: Thanks, Quentin. I knew I could count on you. I'll e–mail you all the information later today.
Organizational Players
Joaquin Aguero – President
Nate Demolick – Editorial Director Reports to President /Alyssa Lah – Vice-President Sales, Rpt Pres.
Elizabeth Penning – Editor – Reports to Nate/Rafael Arroyo – Publisher, Rpts. to Alyssa
Quentin Bell – Assistant Editor – Reports to Elizabeth
Editorial Director (Director)
Responsible for all editorial staffing and decision–making, including style, design, and content, for each magazine. Creates the annual budget for the editorial department. Reports to the president.
Position held by: Nate Demolick
Editor of Medical Office Today (Manager)
Nate, who was previously editor of Heritage Remodeler for 11 years, is new to the position of editorial director. Because his promotion is recent, many of the editors—and Nate himself, for that matter—are having difficulty adjusting to his new role as their leader. His difficulties are exacerbated by the fact that he is by nature a disorganized and grumpy fellow.
Responsible for editorial issues on his or her magazine. Duties include managing and meeting deadlines, generating some content, working in tandem with the magazine's publisher to ensure a cohesive relationship between editorial and sales, traveling to trade shows, assigning stories, completing the final edit, managing relationships with both advertisers and writers, implementation of annual budget, creating each issue's advertising/editorial layout, and supervising the assistant editor and the magazine's artist. Reports to the editorial director.
Position held by: Elizabeth Penning
Assistant Editor of Medical Office Today (Staff)
Elizabeth, who has been with Gallant for eight years, was promoted to editor of Medical Office Today four years ago. She previously was assistant editor of Marketing Advantage, and she enjoyed the subject matter and industry of that publication much more. Elizabeth is a rather glamorous woman and finds the medical office industry boring.
Responsible for generating content not supplied by freelance writers, first–line editing of all content, completing desktop publishing layout of the magazine's editorial content, scanning and importing pictures into layouts, and completing general administrative duties for the magazine, such as copyright clearances, registration of issues with the Library of Congress, and payment of freelance writers. Reports to his or her magazine's editor.
Position held by: Quentin Bell
Sales/Publishing
Vice–President of Sales (Director)
Quentin graduated from college earlier this year, and his position with Medical Office Today is his first job. He aspires to start his own music magazine in the future and is trying to learn all that he can about the publishing industry during his time at Gallant. Quentin is young and unseasoned, but he puts a great deal of time and energy into his work. He and Elizabeth have an excellent working relationship, but Elizabeth is wary to rely too heavily on Quentin's limited skills.
Editorial Director (Director)
Responsible for all editorial staffing and decision–making, including style, design, and content, for each magazine. Creates the annual budget for the editorial department. Reports to the president.
Position held by: Nate Demolick
Editor of Medical Office Today (Manager)
Nate, who was previously editor of Heritage Remodeler for 11 years, is new to the position of editorial director. Because his promotion is recent, many of the editors—and Nate himself, for that matter—are having difficulty adjusting to his new role as their leader. His difficulties are exacerbated by the fact that he is by nature a disorganized and grumpy fellow.
Responsible for editorial issues on his or her magazine. Duties include managing and meeting deadlines, generating some content, working in tandem with the magazine's publisher to ensure a cohesive relationship between editorial and sales, traveling to trade shows, assigning stories, completing the final edit, managing relationships with both advertisers and writers, implementation of annual budget, creating each issue's advertising/editorial layout, and supervising the assistant editor and the magazine's artist. Reports to the editorial director.
Position held by: Elizabeth Penning
Assistant Editor of Medical Office Today (Staff)
Elizabeth, who has been with Gallant for eight years, was promoted to editor of Medical Office Today four years ago. She previously was assistant editor of Marketing Advantage, and she enjoyed the subject matter and industry of that publication much more. Elizabeth is a rather glamorous woman and finds the medical office industry boring.
Responsible for generating content not supplied by freelance writers, first–line editing of all content, completing desktop publishing layout of the magazine's editorial content, scanning and importing pictures into layouts, and completing general administrative duties for the magazine, such as copyright clearances, registration of issues with the Library of Congress, and payment of freelance writers. Reports to his or her magazine's editor.
Position held by: Quentin Bell
Sales/Publishing
Vice–President of Sales (Director)
Quentin graduated from college earlier this year, and his position with Medical Office Today is his first job. He aspires to start his own music magazine in the future and is trying to learn all that he can about the publishing industry during his time at Gallant. Quentin is young and unseasoned, but he puts a great deal of time and energy into his work. He and Elizabeth have an excellent working relationship, but Elizabeth is wary to rely too heavily on Quentin's limited skills.
The job: Responsible for all sales decision–making and staffing, and ultimately, the fulfillment of sales goals for each magazine. Creates the annual budget for the sales department. Reports to the president.
Position held by: Alyssa Lah
Publisher of Medical Office Today (Manager)
Alyssa has been with Gallant Publishing for only a year, but she has been in the magazine publishing industry for 22 years. Previously, she was publisher of a major international business magazine. Alyssa is a very motivated, strong, and busy person, and she has little patience for incompetence. She is formidable and uncompromising.
Responsible for managing sales issues on his or her magazine. Duties include managing and meeting deadlines, working in tandem with the magazine's editor to ensure a cohesive relationship between editorial and sales, ensuring fulfillment of sales goals, some sales calls, implementing the annual budget, managing advertiser relationships, traveling to trade shows, developing sales policies for the magazine, and supervising the magazine's two sales representatives and administrative assistant. Reports to the vice–president of sales.
Position held by: Rafael Arroyo
Rafael joined Gallant Publishing a year ago as publisher of Medical Office Today. He had been a project manager at a major book publishing house, but the stress of his current job allowed him to be convinced by his friend Alyssa Lah to join the team at Gallant. Rafael is polished and professional, but many Gallant employees question his sales abilities, since he has little to no experience in the sales end of publishing. Of course his years of creating book deals and signing authors have given quite a bit of experience with negotiating agreements.
Sales Sheet for Medical Offices Today:
Physicians are trained to give the best medical care possible. Often, how to run a business is not included in that training.
Medical Office Today is focused on helping physicians navigate the challenges of the business side of medicine. There are plenty of magazines that offer clinical information to doctors; Medical Office Today is about managing a profitable private practice.
Medical Office Today, the number one magazine in its industry, is received at no cost by over 30,000 doctors' offices in the United States. Doctors from all specialties and disciplines receive the magazine.
The staff of Medical Office Today is focused on delivering a timely, topical magazine to subscribers each month. The magazine boasts the industry's highest number of original articles and product–focused departments. Editor Elizabeth Penning has 11 years of publishing experience and a strong understanding of what information her readers need, and publisher Rafael Arroyo is committed to serving advertisers' needs.
The staff of Medical Office Today is committed to the following promises:
creating an interesting, informative monthly magazine that helps physicians run their practices
informing physicians about new trends in medical equipment, drug innovations, and other office management technologies in the fastest way possible
providing readers with at least 112 attractive, engaging color pages per month
delivering each issue in the first week of the month to all United States subscribers
serving any and all needs of the medical marketers that make the publication successful
Physicians look to Medical Office Today to keep them current. Advertising in Medical Office Today puts your product information in the hands of decision-makers. Contact Rafael Arroyo today to make sure your ad is in the next issue
Gallant Publishing Company
To: Rafael Arroyo, Medical Office Today
CC: Quentin Bell, Medical Office Today
From: Elizabeth Penning, Medical Office Today
Subject: Re: Show Dates
I just received your e-mail about the trade show you want me to attend next month. Rafael, the dates for the trade show are February 13-17! You should certainly know by now that the magazine prints between those dates every month, and I have to be in town for the press check. This is the third time you've done this, and the other two times, the magazine mailed a week late as a result. I think your request is particularly unreasonable because your advertisers can't be happy about the magazine mailing late!
To: Elizabeth Penning, Medical Office Today
From: Rafael Arroyo, Publisher Medical Office Today
Subject: Show Dates
Elizabeth,
There's a trade show next month (Feb. 13-17) that I need you to attend. I have promised several advertisers that you'll be there and will be able to write stories about their products. Since they will probably sign multimonth advertising contracts after they meet with you, it is paramount that you attend the show. Please contact my administrative assistant to set up your travel arrangements.
To: Quentin Bell, Medical Office Today
From: Elizabeth Penning, Medical Office Today
Subject: ideas for the negotiation
I guess the thing that annoys me most about this entire situation is that he never even consulted me about this trip. If you add in the fact that he doesn't even realize that the show is going on at the same time that the magazine is going to press . . . well, it makes me question just how involved and engaged he is in the production of his own magazine.
Anyway, I've been thinking about some possible strategies and ideas for the negotiation with Rafael—would you take a look at them and let me know what you think? I've structured this in the form of statements I could make, and then I explore Rafael's potential responses.
Because I don't know exactly what days and evenings I'll need to be here for the press check (it varies from month to month), going to the trade show is impossible.
Rafael's response here will probably be to move the magazine's printing dates back a week. Making the magazine late reflects badly on both of us. Nate and Joaquin invariably make an assumption that it's my fault, because I'm the editor and it is ultimately my responsibility. Rafael's advertisers will be furious that the issue is late, because in many cases the ads ask readers to visit company booths at trade shows that happen at the beginning of the month. If readers don't receive their magazines until perhaps the fifth or sixth of the month, they'll miss that opportunity . . . and we'll look ridiculous.
I could set up phone interviews with representatives of the companies Rafael has made promises to and still attend the press check on time.
Rafael won't like this either. I know he wants me to have face–to–face meetings with the advertisers, because they'll be expecting me to see their product demonstrations. He also wants me to have dinner with them and help reinforce the magazine's commitment to giving them editorial coverage. I know he'll think that a phone interview just won't accomplish that.
I could probably come to the show for one day either before or after the press check.
This would be very, very inconvenient for me, but I suppose that if it is absolutely necessary, I could do it. But he will probably object to even this, because he's clearly already set up dates and times for these appointments. Sometimes the company representatives come in for the shows late or leave early, and these appointments are often hard to come by, because our competitors schedule appointments early, too. Asking for the dates to be rescheduled could be embarrassing for Rafael.
Another negative about this scenario is that since I won't know the exact days of the press check until a day or so before it begins, I probably would have to buy a plane ticket to the show the day before I would be going. This would be very expensive, and Nate would be very upset about the expense. This one plane ticket could use up my entire travel budget for the year. And if that happens, then I won't be able to go to the publishing industry shows I'd like to attend later in the year.
Perhaps you could go to the trade show in my place.
I don't know how receptive he'd be to this idea, and frankly, I'm not so sure it's a good idea either. You've never personally dealt with advertisers, but I'd certainly rather have you at the trade show instead of at the press check.
Quentin, I hope you can help me sort this out. I have to get as much information as I possibly can before I meet with Rafael, and I have to have a clear idea of my best alternative to a negotiated agreement. I want to know exactly how much I can get from a negotiation and what is the most I can give up. I'm very frustrated by this, and I just don't see a solution that Rafael will agree to.
Thanks,
Elizabeth
Gallant Publishing Company
To: Quentin Bell, Medical Office Today
From: Elizabeth Penning, Medical Office Today
Subject: Fwd: Our "meeting"
See what I'm up against? I don't have time for this back–and–forth nonsense! Quentin, we've got to be ready!
To: Elizabeth Penning, Medical Office Today
From: Rafael Arroyo, Medical Office Today
Subject: Our "meeting"
Elizabeth,
Do we really have to have a meeting about whether or not you're going to the trade show? Can't we just settle this informally? I don't think there's really anything to discuss.
Rafael
From the Desk of Nate Demolick, editorial director
Gallant Publishing Company
Notice to editorial team members:
I just wanted to send you a reminder about keeping your travel expenses under budget in the coming year. As you know, Gallant is facing many challenges right now, and I want to make sure that editorial is helping out wherever possible. Please book flights as early as possible to take advantage of discounts, and if possible stay at hotels with rates lower than $100 per night.
Thanks,
Nate
Gallant Publishing Company
To: You
From: Quentin Bell, Assistant Director Medical Office Today
Subject: my notes
Thanks so much for agreeing to help Elizabeth and I with the preparation work we need to do for her upcoming negotiation with Rafael. I've been giving some thought to internal issues going on here that I thought you might find useful. I thought I would pass notes about them on to you.
Notes for Elizabeth's negotiation:
I get the feeling that Rafael doesn't really think of Elizabeth as an equal, so he's just planning to tell her what to do. He obviously doesn't care about their relationship. He's so domineering, and he treats everyone in editorial—even Nate—as inferiors. And of course Alyssa would back him up, no matter what.
One more thing that you should know is that this company is like every other publishing company when it comes to who has the most power. Every publisher that I have ever worked for has always said that we are all one happy family (and Joaquin (President) says that a lot). But the fact is, the publishing side of the house always has more power than the editorial side. They are always going on about how they are the ones who generate the money so they should be more powerful. So keep in mind that although Elizabeth and Rafael look like equals on the organization chart, the fact that Rafael is on the publishing side of the house means that he has more power—and everyone knows it.
Nate may be a useful in this effort, but only if Rafael doesn't choose to escalate the negotiation to Alyssa. I believe Nate will back down if Alyssa becomes involved.
I overheard Gisele Weatherstone and Heidi Fontenot from Heritage Remodeler talking about some bonus the publishers will get if they land contracts during the next two months. I'll bet that's why Rafael is so insistent that Elizabeth attend the trade show.
I really appreciate you're doing this prep work for us. It should come in handy for Elizabeth (and me!).
From the Desk of Alyssa Lah, vice president of sales
Gallant Publishing Company
Rafael,
As you know, publishers will be entitled to an extra three percent commission on any advertising contracts signed in the next two months. I know there's a big trade show next month, and I'm counting on you to close at least seven contracts at the show. We need to get more advertising dollars by any means necessary, and you should do whatever you can to get your potential advertisers to make a commitment to Medical Office Today.
Remember, I'm expecting big dollars from you at that trade show.
Alyssa