1.

Role-play A: Elisabeth Knoll

You are responsible for distribution of your company’s products, ready meals. Your
company already uses a transportation company but you are interested in finding a more
reliable one. You have therefore spoken to another transportation company on the telephone
and have arranged a meeting with their representative, Carl Downes, which will take place
in 10 minutes.
Prepare for the meeting by making notes of what you want to say, what your demands and
expectations are andhow yo u would like to make your points. Here are some notes to help
you:
Your current supplier often delivers late which is causing problems for your customers.
While price is an issue your current distributor is much cheaper than the others you have
found so you are prepared to pay a little more (you have already briefly discussed price and
are aware that the new supplier’sprices ar e 30% higher than your current ones).
You want to make sure the salesperson understands your needs.You would like to find out
about their network – your current distributor has a fleet of 300 vehicles and you feel
this may be too small for your needs. Your current supplier gives you gives you a 60-day
payment term which you like. If you are offered a good deal you are happy to agree today.

Role-play B – Carl Downes

You are a salesman for a transportation company. You are about to meet Elisabeth Knoll
who is responsible for distribution for a company which produces ready meals. They are
interested in meeting you to discuss your company taking over their distribution.
Prepare for the meeting by making notes of what you want to say, what you can offer and
how you would like to make your points. Here are some notes to help you:
Find out what the situation is with their current supplier. Why are they interested in
changing?
You have already briefly discussed price and are aware that your prices are 30% higher than
their current suppliers. You can negotiate down to 10 % but no less.Yo ur company has over
30 years’ experience in the business. You have a network of 450 vehicles around the
country.
Your regular payment terms are 30 days. You would like to reach an agreement today since
you are under pressure from your sales manager to complete it.
Role play 2
One person will play the role of Terry, the department supervisor. The other person will
play Dale, Terry’s boss.
The Situation: Terry and Dale work for hockey-equipment manufacturer Bauer. Terry
supervises a research laboratory. Dale is the manager of research and development (R & D).
Terry and Dale are former skaters who have worked for Bauer for more than 6 years. Dale
has been Terry’s boss for 2 years.
One of Terry’s employees has greatly impressed Terry. This employee is Lisa Roland. Lisa
was hired 11 months ago. She is 24 years old and holds a master’s degree in mechanical
engineering. Her entry-level salary was $52 500 a year. She was told by Terry that, in
accordance with corporation policy, she would receive an initial performance evaluation at 6
months and a comprehensive review after 1 year. Based on her performance record, Lisa
was told she could expect a salary adjustment at the time of the 1-year evaluation.
Terry’s evaluation of Lisa after 6 months was very positive. Terry commented on the long
hours Lisa was working, her cooperative spirit, the fact that others in the lab enjoyed
working with her, and herimm ediate positive impact on the project to which she had been
assigned. Now that Lisa’s first anniversary is coming up, Terry has again reviewed Lisa’s
performance. Terry thinks Lisa may be the best new person the R & D group has ever hired.
After only a year, Terry has ranked Lisa third highest in a department of 11. Salaries in the
department vary greatly. Terry, for instance, has a basic salary of $93 800, plus eligibility
for a bonus that might add another $7000 to $11
000 a year. The salary range of the 11 department members is $42 500 to $79 000. The
lowest salary is a recent hire with a bachelor’s degree in physics. The two people that Terry
has rated above Lisa earn base salaries of $73 800 and $78 900. They are both 27 years old
and have been at Bauer for 3 and 4 years, respectively. The median salary in Terry’s
department is $65 300.
Terry’s Role: You want to give Lisa a big raise. While she is young, she has proven to be an
excellent addition to the department. You don’t want to lose her. More important, she knows
in general what other people in the department are earning, and she thinks she is underpaid.
The company typically gives 1-year raises of 5 percent, although 10 percent is not unusual
and 20 to 30 percent increases have been approved on occasion. You would like to get Lisa
as large an increase as Dale will approve.
Dale’s Role: All your supervisors typically try to squeeze you for as much money as they
can for their people. You understand this because you did the same thing when you were a
supervisor, but your boss wants to keep a lid on costs. He wants you to keep raises for
recent hires generally in the range of 5 to 8 percent. In fact, he has sent a memo to all
managers and supervisors stating this objective. However, your boss is also very concerned
with equity and paying people what they are worth. You feel assured that he will support
any salary recommendation you make, as long as it can be justified. Your goal, consistent
with cost reduction, is to keep salary increases as low as possible.
The Negotiation: Terry has a meeting scheduled with Dale to discuss Lisa’s performance
review and salary adjustment.
In your role of either Dale or Terry, take a couple of minutes to think through the facts in
this exercise and to prepare a strategy.
Role play 3
Students work in pairs to negotiate a contract between a famous couple and an underwear
manufacturer. The contract relates to modeling for an advertising campaign.
1. Choose a famous young couple.
2. Tell the students that the well-known underwear company Knick-Knackers are seeking to
make a deal with the young couple’s agents. Knick-Knackers want the couple to model their
range of underwear as part of their new worldwide advertising campaign. The photo shoot is
to take place on the beautiful South Sea Island of Miburoo.
3. Assign roles.
4. Send the agent to one end of the room and Knick-Knackers’ negotiator to the other.
5. Instruct the agent to work out what he/she would like to get from the negotiation.
6. Instruct the negotiator for Knick-Knackers to work out how much they are willing to pay
and what expenses they are prepared to cover. In addition, he/she should decide when the
shoot should take place.
7. Stop the preparations and put the negotiating pairs together.