Coming to an Agreement
As you create win-win situations, you will begin the bargaining stage, and this may move back and forth as each side explains their needs in more detail and what outcomes they would like to occur. Read this critical thinking case about negotiating salary and answer the questions at the end. What additional information could you gather to bargain in this situation?
Critical Thinking Case
College Corp.
Janice just graduated college, she's ready to head out on her own and get that first job, and she's through her first interviews. She receives an offer of a $28,000 salary, including benefits from COLLEGE CORP, from an entry-level marketing position that seems like a perfect fit. She is thrown off by the salary they are offering and knows that it is lower than what she was hoping for. Instead of panicking, she takes the advice of her mentor and does a little research to know what the market range for the salary is for her area. She feels better after doing this, knowing that she was correct and the offer is low compared to the market rate. After understanding more about the offer and the rates, she goes back to the HR representative and asks for her preferred rate of $32,500, knowing the minimum that she would accept is $30,000. Instead of going in for her lowest amount, she started higher to be open to negotiations with the company. She also sent a note regarding her expertise that warranted why she asked for that salary. To her happy surprise, the company counter offered at $31,000 - and she accepted.
Questions:
- What key points of Janice's negotiation led to her success?
- What could have Janice done better to get a better outcome for her salary?
Source: J. Stewart Black and David S. Bright; OpenStax, https://openstax.org/books/organizational-behavior/pages/14-critical-thinking-case
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