Springfield Rental (A): Logan Jones, Potential Renter

The scenario is the rental of a 2-bedroom apartment between the owner and a potential renter. The renter wants to optimize its use of money, and the owner wants to be sure it has a renter they can trust, minimize hassle and time waste, and maximize financial value. There is potential for creating value in several different ways. However, there are some value creation blockers that make it quite hard to do.
Instead of succeeding in creating value, many students will opt by their good alternatives (other interested renters and other interesting vacant apartments) whereas others will opt to compromise (sacrifice value) in order to reach a deal and very large value creation potential.
This role-play, despite being very short, quick, simple, direct, and easy to discuss, has many different possible outcomes and dynamics. This gives large amounts of debrief material for the trainer to discuss most negotiation topics in depth.

1.General negotiation skills
-The case can be used to teach fundamental negotiation skills such as building relationships, communication, value discovery and value creation, legitimacy and value claiming and managing alternatives.
2.Negotiating when the counterparty has many alternatives
-To teach how to negotiate when the counterparty has many alternatives, by both quickly developing relationship and the perception of high potential value in the deal

3.Value discovery and creation
-To teach how to do value discovery and creation in negotiations under power and time pressures.

4.Value Creation Blockers and how to overcome them
-To teach how to overcome some value creation blockers, such as:
1.having good alternatives (both parties)
2.believing we have more power than the other side
3.negotiating to close deals rather than maximizing value
4.the preparation for the negotiation not being appropriate
5.having unethical possibilities to trick the other negotiator

5.Deciding using Risk/Reward
-To teach how to make decisions in a negotiation by considering the risk/reward of the different moves.

6.Estimating power
-Using all available information, not only some, to make assessments about the other side’s power, and our uncertainty of that assessment.