Medlee Negotiation

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Having a BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) is extremely important. The BATNA used during this negotiation is that there was a company in Selma Alabama that I contacted who provides the same type of products that Med Devices produces that has overseas distributorships in Japan and Saudi Arabia. I contacted Tom Allen and found out that the CEO of his company wants him to find a distributor for Thailand in the next six months. I made a follow up meeting with him for next month to discuss the details of a Joint Venture.

When we asked Med Devices to agree on a sole source clause in the agreement they refused stating that the 60:40 split that they agreed to would not allow them to sign a non-compete clause. The alternative to that was Lee Medical would hold Med Devices to a minimum of a three year non-compete and nothing more. Med Devices agreed to this.

Communication is the key to a successful negotiation. One thing that I found during this negotiations exercise is that teams on the same side as well as the final authority have to negotiate to some degree. In this negotiation we were limited in our negotiation with the owners of the company, but as a group we had to negotiate meeting time, and date. We as the Lee Medical team had to agree to what we understood the owner to want. We as a team also agreed on what was negotiable and what was non-negotiable. The limits were set on the negotiable instruments and what the stance would be on the non-negotiables.

Everything seemed to work well in this negotiation, with the understanding that this was not designed for us to do our due diligence on the company prior to the negotiation. The lectures and the text both point towards, “The one with the most information wins”. With that I wanted to have as much information as possible. I learned how to find out what other cultures do with regard to business negotiations, but even more importantly than that I learned what customs are common to the United States. It was an eye opener for me to learn what is expected from Americans during business meetings. Although this was a small group, all males, and face to face via Go To Meeting, I was surprised to see how people with different interests and positions can come to amicable agreements so quickly, while still holding ot the desires of the directive. I was not surprised to learn who the leaders are in a group. Manners seemed to slip when it comes to negotiation. Everyone, or mostly everyone wants their point to be heard. Surprisingly, there are those who sat and watched quietly and listened to the entire negotiation. Only when their point was not discussed did they voice an opinion. What did not work is the fact that there was one person who controlled or tried to control the conversation throughout the entire negotiation, yielding to others only when the other negotiator ignored or was forced to talk longer. Next time I have a group negotiation there will be a more scripted agenda and each person will have his or her time on the floor. We were able to discuss all of the issues but did so in a shotgun fashion jumping from issue to issue and returning to discuss issues we had already resolved. At the end of the day the preliminary agreement is set but it was not without some confusion. We were able to create a follow up meeting date with key deliverables from both sides:

Both companies will create and share individual organizational charts of their company

Both companies will create a version of what the joint venture org chart will look like, including Thailand and US operations.

Clear definitions will be provided to each company and agreed to before submission

Maximum withdrawal limits will be set

Follow up meeting scheduled for November 18th, 2016 9:30am EST US at Lee Medical office 77/77 Unit 6C CCM Complex Moo 6, Chalermprakiat Rama 9 Road Rasada, Muang, Mueang Phuket District Phuket 83000, Thailand