The Pacific Oil Company

Introduction

This paper will describe the problem that Pacific Oil Company faced as it reopened negotiations with Reliant Chemical Company in early 1985. Secondly I will identify and evaluate the styles and effectiveness of Messrs, Fonatine, Guadin, Hauptmann, and Zinnser as negotiations in this case. Finally I will outline what Frank Kelsey recommend to Jean Fontaine at the end of the case? Why?

Managing Conflict in Negotiation

The Pacific Oil Company went into negotiations with Reliant Manufacturing, and its goal was to sign a more long-term agreement prior to the contract ending in three years. Pacific anticipated that the new contract would be signed with no major obstacles or changes, and that the dominant point of negotiation would be price and potentially quantity. Jean Fontaine, who is the marketing vice president for Pacific Oil, went into a negotiation process with Reliant. Fontaine started the process several years before Reliant Manufacturing’s contract was up, positively hopeful to beat her competition to the lower price offers and leave with a contract extension of five years. Unfortunately, Pacific did not properly research and do their homework on her client’s needs or adequately analyze what the long-term outcome might be. Pacific Oil Company was not prepared to address the concerns and requests that Reliant brought up during the negotiation. Though both parties wanted to move quickly toward signing a contract, Pacific Oil Company lengthened this process because it did not have a well-planned negotiation strategy that included a contingency plan or best alternatives. It seemed like going into the negotiation phase it was a win situation for Pacific touting their long-term relationship in the past w...

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...me sort of alternative for this negotiation. Admittedly, the market was tough for them as it was, but they mentally, and then in reality, limited themselves to only one option keeping Reliant at any cost as their customer. Even though the case is not telling us what was the ultimate outcome of all those maneuvers, the final point described in the case was a very dire prospect for the Pacific when they did not have any control over the negotiation and were at complete mercy to Reliant.

Works Cited

Lewicki, J. R., Barry, B., & Saunders, M. D. (2011). Essentials of negotiation (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. ISBN-13: 9780073530369

Lewicki, J. R., Barry, B., & Saunders, M. D. (2010). Negotiation: Readings, exercises and cases (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. ISBN-13: 9780073530314

Fisher, R and Ury, W. Getting to Yes [Penguin Books, 1991], 100-01)