war of the lotuses - determining the batna - the best alternative to a negotiated agreement in a...

Mediator, LectureSoft Skills Trainer

World Mediation Organization

Thomas G.Giglione

Mobile : +84 1265 539 748Email :

offertosettle@outlook.comSkype : galletita1557

Meet

Thomas Giglione

(pronounced - Jil- yo - ne)

He is a Canadian Mediator

Lecturer &

communication soft

skills trainer

For the World Mediation Organization

He offers dynamic workshop seminars

using customized role- plays

specializing in conflict resolution and

NLP

(neuro- linguistic programming

techniques)

The recent PRO BONO ADR seminars that

were held in Hanoi, Vietnam in August

2013 was made possible by the assistance

of a professional team of volunteers from

various backgrounds including law, and

business studies.

Seminar participants come from different

backgrounds

Vietnamese“Thomas believes that with a better education comes with it a better life”

VietnameseHe offers communication and negotiations training workshops in ADR Alternative Dispute Resolution for business people, lawyers and law students

His ADR training uses methods from Harvard Negotiations Project and from the internationally best selling book “ Getting to Yes” written by Roger Fisher and William Ury both Professors Emeritus from Harvard University.

The workshops offers participants to learn practical negotiating skills that are used to resolve commercial disputes

… family law disputes, workplace disputes and community disputes

from interesting guest lecturers in the field of law and arbitration

The Workshop Seminars are conducted using the following format

Vietnamese

The last PRO BONO Seminar that was held in Hanoi, Vietnam in August 2013 was attended by 145 participants.

57% lawyers

19% law students

13% Business People

11% from Government Ministries and others

STEP 1: INVITE PARTICIPANTS AND VOLUNTEERS THAT COME FROM VARIED BACKGROUNDS

VietnameseSTEP 2: ORGANIZE A SERIES MINI LECTURES BY VARIOUS GUEST SPEAKERS IN THE FIELD OF LAW, ARBITRATION AND MEDIATION

Vietnamese

a guest lecturer lasting not longer than 20 minutes

that focuses on learning VISUALLY through video or

Power Point Presentations

Why short VISUAL PRESENTATIONS ?

From listening from reading from seeing

After all, seeing is believing

Also research shows that learners typically have attention spans of between 10-20 minutes . That means that any presentation….. be for a lecture or a business meeting should never be more than 20 minutes long to gain the most impact and learner retention

VietnameseStep 3 : Question and Answer Session and PollingThere is Q& A Session with the lecturer and participants are later polled in real time using real time polling software such as Poll Everywhere

Vietnamese

to review what has been learned in the short lecture

Step 4 : Stage an Improvisational Show

Who said that learning has to be so serious ?

Here is example of a “Mini Lecture about Determining the BATNA- Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement – in a family Law dispute in Vietnam”

War of the LotusesHOW TO DETERMINE YOUR

B.A.T.N.A.Best Alternative To a Negotiated

Agreement

Tuan Nguyen were happily married in Hue in 2001 and had two children.

Thu Dang filed for divorce because of irreconcilable differences in 2013 after the financial crisis.

One of these differences was made worse by Thu discovering that Tuan had a secret mistress who was a” gold digger”

Họ ở hữu hai biệt thự với trị giá xấp xỉ bằng nhau, một ở Đà Nẵng và một ở khu vực Ciputra, quận Tây Hồ, Hà Nội.

The price of both of the villas dropped from 500 Billion VND in 2005 to 100 Billion VND or 50 Billion each in 2013.

They both decided that it was best for the children to live in Hanoi .Thu moved to Hanoi with the two children

Tuan lived with his new “gold digger” girlfriend in the villa in Da Nang

All that was left was dividing Thu their profitable Vietnamese-Canadian construction business, Tom Long Investments that her family help start.

Thu owned 51% of the company and Tuan owned 49% of the business from an agreement that they both signed in 1999 before they were married.

An independent audit from a foreign Canadian auditor determined that Tom Long Investments dropped from 100 Billion VND and is now only worth 20 Billion VND in August 2013 at the time of separation.

Thu refused to negotiate with Tuan after many months because of her anger and betrayal. Tuan was desperate for money to keep his new girlfriend happy because she threatened to leave him if he did not pay for her new cosmetic surgery in Thailand and did not build a 6 bedroom house for her parents in Hoa Binh.

Thu’s lawyer suggested a final offer Tuan 8.5 Billion VND for Tom

Long Investments because it was her family’s business . Her lawyer felt that Tuan owed less because it was Thu’s family business and he should be punished for being unfaithful to Thu. An offer was sent to Tuan’s lawyer of 8.5 Billion VND

Tuan was furious with his lawyer and his ex- wife. He told his lawyer that he helped build Tom Long Investments with his hard work and he owned 49% or approximately or about 10 Billion VND. He told his lawyer that she owed him 10 Billion and that was his fair share.

Tuan rejected the offer of 8.5 Billion VND and each party prepared for an expensive lengthy trial resolving the issue of dissolution of Tom Long Investments and the amount of spousal and child support payments that he would have to pay for their two teenage children to study at private high school in Canada .

Tuan’s lawyer calmed Tuan and his girl friend and assured him that the court will judge in his favour and award him an approximate 50/50 Outcome. Did Tuan make a fair and smart financial decision?

Quyết định của Tuấn có phải là quyết định đúng đắn và sáng suốt về mặt tài chính hay không?

Tuan’s rationale for rejecting Thu’s offer of 8.5 Billion VND seemed reasonable enough especially since Tuan’s lawyer assured him a court ruling will rule in his favour .

ANSWER :TUAN DID NOT MAKE A SMART FINANCIAL DECISION- He made the WRONG choice. THE ANSWER IS NO

He could have figured this out if he had assessed his BATNA—his best alternative to a negotiated agreement. Or best alternative to a negotiated agreement, a concept that Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton introduced in their seminal book, Getting to Yes: Negoti- ating Agreement Without Giving In (Penguin, 1991, second edition). ( go to amazon.com get image of book)

A negotia- tor’s BATNA is the course of action he will pursue if the current negotiation results in an impasse.

An evaluation of your best alternative to a deal is critical if you are to establish the threshold at which you will reject an offer.

WHY did Tuan make the wrong choice?

Effective negotiators determine their BATNAs before talks begin.When you fail to do so, you’re liable to make a costly mistake—rejecting a deal you should have accepted or accepting one you’d have been wise to reject.

In negotiation, it’s important to have high aspirations and to fighhard for a good outcome. But it’s just as critical to establish a walkaway point that is firmly grounded in reality.

To determine your BATNA in a given negotiation, follow these four steps:

List your alternatives. Think about all the alternatives available to you if the current negotiation ends in an impasse. What are your nodeal options?

Evaluate your alternatives. Examine each option and calculate the value of pursuing each one.

Establish your BATNA. Choose a course of action that would have thehigh- est expected value for you. This is your BATNA—the course you should pursue if the current negotiation fails.

Calculate your reservation value. Now that you know your BATNA, calculate your reservation value—the lowest-valued deal you are willing to accept.

If the value of the deal proposed to you is lower than your reservation value, you’ll be better off rejecting the offer and pursuing your BATNA.

If the final offer is higher than your reservation value, you should accept it

Why was Tuan’s decision not to accept a bad choice ?

Thu’s offer to Tuan was higher than the reservation value and he did not accept it.

• To assess his BATNA, TUAN first should have obtained the following infor- mation from his lawyers:

• estimated litigation costs, 500 Million; his likelihoodof winning in court, approximately 70%; and the fact that if he won, he would receive 10 Billion VND for his shares, whereas if he lost, he likely would receive only 3 Billion VND.

• Next, Tuan’s lawyer should have used this formula to determine the actual value of his BATNA:

(0.7 x 10 Billion) Value if he wins in court + (0.3 x 3 Billion VND) Value if he loses in court – 500 Million VND Cost of litigation =7.4 Billion

Tuan should then have determined his reservation value for the negotia- tion with Thu: What is the least he would accept?

If your current negotiation reaches an impasse, what’s your best outside option? Most seasoned negotiators understand the value of evaluating their BATNA by asking this question

“What will he do without a deal?”

STEP 5: MAKE A VIDEO RECORDING WHILE PARTICIPANTS ACT OUT

THEIR ROLE PLAYS

The participants at the seminar apply what they learned in small groups around a table consisting of 6-8 people.Students change their seating positions to take on different roles to gain different perspectives.

Step 6 : Feedback and Debrief

Each group Participants are shown video taped excerpts of their role-play sessions

Step 7: Students receive a certificate of Achievement from World Mediation

Organization www.world-mediation.org as an

introductory credit course towards earning the WMO Certified Mediator Certificate

Step 1: Invite ParticipantsStep 2: Short lecturesStep 3: Questions and AnswersStep 4: Stage an Improvisational ShowStep 5: Make a videoStep 6: Feedback and DebriefStep 7: Certification

The result is a unique memorable educational experience. Not just theory,

but learning practical skills in conflict resolution.

Mediator, LectureSoft Skills TrainerWorld Mediation

Organization

Thomas G.Giglione

Mobile : +84 1265 539 748Email :

offertosettle@outlook.comSkype : galletita1557

A: 5th Floor, Charm Vit Tower , 117 Tran Duy Hung Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi,Vietnam

W: world-mediation.org offertosettle.com