David Carlson, Research Paper Example

When the negotiations begin, David Carlson argues in favor a corporate wide EIS because it appears to provide a competitive advantage. The only individual that is in complete agreement with him at the beginning of the argument is Helen Freeman, who sees a corporate wide system as the best option, although she believes that a smaller scale version of the proposed system would be ideal.

Stokes believe that the proposed plan would be generally attractive to him or his division provided that he determines that it is cost effective. Furthermore, he agrees that the uniformity in hardware and software that the plan would bring is important. Last, he agrees to support Carlson’s leadership role.

Stokes is completely opposed to the idea of an open corporation. Furthermore, he wishes for his own system to be implemented throughout the corporation. Last, he claims that a time extension for Carlson’s plan would be absolutely necessary, as his current plan will be too costly to enact within Carlson’s desired time constraints.

If Stokes did not agree to the final plan, it is possible that his department would have lost some of its funding in order to cover costs for any alternatives. Ultimately, this would be the case because he stated that he believed that costs should be shared equally.

Morris believes that an EIS system may be beneficial for the other departments.

Morris believes that the system would be too costly and detrimental to his department because it would allow for the sharing of information he does not want to become public. Furthermore, he believes that the system will benefit the other departments more significantly so they should take on more of the cost.

Morris wants active participation in insuring division specific analyses, meaning that he is incentivized to remain involved.

To advance the negotiation process, one of the most important techniques that Carlson used was the ability to get the others to agree to a small commitment, rather than trying to get full agreement up front. This plan worked on Carlson’s behalf in several different ways. First, his idea that the plan should take place in approximately eight months was met with concern, so he demonstrated a willingness to allow the installation of the equipment to take longer. As a consequence, he was able to allow the other individuals present at the meeting to agree with this aspect of his approach, which paved the way for other forms of approval. When Carlson notes his plan, Helen Freeman demonstrates agreement almost immediately, which Carlson uses to convince the other individuals present to agree with the plan as well. As such, because Helen Freeman is willing to agree to a small commitment, the others present appear to be more willing to do so as well.

Once the initial plan has been established, Stokes notes his concern over cost of the project. As a consequence, Carlson is able to leverage his point by taking cost into consideration with regards to the time of the project. Since it was already deemed by the members in the group that eight months would be took quick of a time period for the installation of the equipment, the other individuals present became more accepting of the potential costs that the project would require. Carlson’s tactic appears to be effective because he demonstrates that in order to get some aspects of the plan accomplished, there must be an overall willingness to negotiate the terms. For example, if time is a significant issue, it may be necessary to overlook some of the aspects regarding to cost. Furthermore, by convincing Helen Freeman to agree with his plan, he paved a way that would allow the other members of the group to eventually come to agreement with him as well, even though the plan was not able to completely appease the opinions of all present.