Questions for the Negotiation Session
The negotiation between the company’s human resource officer and the employee seeks to identify a zone of potential agreement (ZOPA) and the best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA) acceptable to Alice. Sharon should avoid asking personal questions about religion, age, marital status, pregnancy, and race. Some of such personal questions are illegal and amount to discrimination (SNHU A11y Remediated Videos, 2017). The session should focus on questions that will identify the negotiating parties’ BATNA and ZOPA.
Open-Ended Question
- What is your perspective about Netflix’s workforce management policy?
Closed Question
- Do you think Netflix’s termination process is fair?
Alternative Question
- Do you want to challenge the company legally, or would you accept the severance benefits?
Leading Question
- The company provides a severance package upon termination, is it a fair offer if the termination is legitimate?
Value of the Questions Asked
Since this is an integrative bargaining process, it focuses on identifying compromises rather than offering positional arguments. Open-ended questions are designed to identify the interests of the parties in the negotiation (Sprangler, 2016). By asking about Alice’s perspective on workforce management policy, Sharon will get a glimpse of her interests. In addition, closed questions seek to evaluate the consequences of the positions the company may be planning to implement (Sprangler, 2016). For instance, by asking whether Alice thinks Netflix’s termination process is fair, the human resource manager will determine whether a legal battle may follow. Further, alternative questions identify and brainstorm the options available to the other party without criticizing any initial suggestion (Sprangler, 2016). As shown above, Sharon will use the alternative question, “Do you want to challenge the company legally, or would you accept the severance benefits?” (See – Appendix), to inquire whether Alice is willing to accept current severance benefits or if she would like to initiate a legal challenge. Finally, the leading question listed above leads to who gets what. The human resource manager may use responses to predict how Alice will respond to the ultimate negotiation settlement.
Impact of the Questions
The open-ended question seeks to identify whether Alice understands the severance policy. By asking her to offer her perspective on Netflix’s workforce management policy, Alice will perceive the chief human resource manager as a fair negotiator (Opresnik, 2014). The question will help the chief human resource manager decide whether she will provide more details about the company’s policies. Secondly, the closed question shows that the chief human resource officer will consider Alice’s position. By getting to know Alice’s position on the fairness of Netflix’s human resource termination policy, Sharon may adjust her ZOPA and BATNA to suit Alice’s position. As long as the adjustment does not violate the company’s interests, some compromise is welcome to hasten the negotiation settlement (Opresnik, 2014). However, the alternative question of whether Alice intends to challenge the company legally or will accept the current termination terms may appear manipulative. It would be difficult for Alice to attain favorable terms from the negotiation session if she declares that she is committed to a legal challenge in the future. Finally, the leading question is fair because it focuses on the support the company will offer Alice post-termination (Opresnik, 2014). Based on the company’s concern for her post-termination, Alice will adopt an open approach while negotiating the company’s offers.
References
Opresnik, M. O. (2014). Hidden rules of successful negotiation and communication. Springer International Publishing.
SNHU A11y Remediated Videos. (2017, November 7). WCM 510 8 Things Employers Aren’t Allowed to Ask You (CC) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG-4y_3MXx8
Sprangler, B. (2016, July 7). Integrative or interest-based bargaining. Beyond Intractability. https://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/interest-based-bargaining
Appendix
| Category | Question |
| Open-Ended Question | What is your perspective about Netflix’s workforce management policy? |
| Closed Question | Do you think Netflix’s termination process is fair? |
| Alternative Question | Do you want to challenge the company legally, or would you accept the severance benefits? |
| Leading Question | The company provides a severance package upon termination, is it a fair offer if the termination is legitimate? |
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Question 
Prompt: For this assignment, develop four questions that could be asked of Alice Jones, senior Netflix executive, during an upcoming negotiation session. This information should be helpful in crafting an integrative bargaining proposal, i.e., a win-win situation that increases the likelihood of reaching a mutually beneficial outcome.
Questions for the Negotiation Session
In other words, it meets, as best as possible, the extrinsic and intrinsic interests of both parties.
Specifically, you should keep these criteria in mind:
Create questions that will obtain information about Alice Jones’ interests in the bargaining session. They should cover all four categories: open, closed, alternative, and leading, as defined below. Possible questions could explore Alice Jones’ short- and long-term career plans, personal interests, and any personal challenges she may be facing. In other words, you are trying to determine Alice Jones’ zone of potential agreement (ZOPA) and her best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA).
Open-Ended or Socratic Questions—Begin with who, what, when, where, how, and why. Example: “Why aren’t you taking some time off?”
Closed Questions—Can be answered with “yes” or “no.” Example: “Are you ready to begin?”
Alternative Questions—Offer the listener a choice with a few options. Example: “Do you want to start the meeting at 3:00 or 4:00?”
Leading Questions—These are aimed at soliciting a particular point of view. Example: “The new vacation policy is very fair, don’t you think?”
Make sure the parameters of your questions are within acceptable legal limits, e.g., avoiding topics such as age, marital status, any disabilities, religion, race, or pregnancy-related questions. For legal advice, click on this Investopedia link: 8 Things Employers Aren’t Allowed To Ask You. Click WCM 510 8 Things Employers Aren’t Allowed To Ask You (CC) for a captioned video.
Compare and contrast the value of each type of question and whether it will advance an integrative bargaining position. Refer to the following link for an excellent guide on integrative bargaining and crafting questions that identify the interests of the other party: Integrative or Interest-Based Bargaining.
Explain the possible impact of each question, including whether it would improve the likelihood of success during the discussion(s) and how it would be perceived. In other words, how will the questions be perceived? Will they seem manipulative? Fair? Biased?