新编剑桥商务英语高级第三版 第9.2 9.3

新编剑桥商务英语高级第三版 第9.2 9.3 9.2 Negotiating Reading 1 Reading the following extract from Getting past no by Willam Ury. How could the AT&T negotiator have avoided this breakdown in communication? An AT&T sales team was negotiating to sell Boeing a new telecommunications system valued at $150 million. The sales team made a persuasive pitch on the kind of service to be delivered, the company?s prompt response to problems, and the speed of repairs. Then the Boeing purchasing director said,“Fine. Now put each one of your promises in writing. And we want guarantees that if the system isn?t fixed on time, you?ll pay us damages.” „We?ll make our best efforts,? replied the AT&T sales chief, „but we can?t be held liable for all the things that can go wrong. Lightning can strike…? „You?re fooling around with us!? interrupted the Boeing negotiator, losing his temper. „ First you tell us about your services—now you?re not willing to commit yourself to what you promised!? „That?s not true!? protested the sales chief, aghast at the turn in the negotiation. „Let me see if I can explain…? But the Boeing negotiator refused to listen. „You?re not negotiating in good faith!? he complained. „We can?t deal with you.? 2 Read the advice that William Ury gives following this story. Do you agree with it? Are there situations where you simply cannot continue negotiating? To break through your opponent?s resistance you need to reverse the dynamic. If you want him to acknowledge your point, acknowledge his first. To get him to agree with you , begin by agreeing with him wherever you can. 3 Study the following phrases. Which do you think would have been a good response to the Boeing executive?s request tp put all his promises in writing? A „That would be no problem for us.? B „I think we both know that in practice that would be almost impossible to work out.? C „I think that?s fair request and I?ll see what we can do.? D „In principle, that sounds OK, but I would have to speak to my people before agreeing the details.? E „OK, but what would you be able to do for us in return?? F „Interesting question, but just put yourself in our shoes and I think you know the answer.? 4 Write your own response. SPEAKING Business angels : a negotiation 5 This is a negotiation between entrepreneurs who have a new product to develop and business angels who are looking for investment opportunities. ?Work in groups of four(two entrepreneurs and two business angels). ?Read the instructions for your group below and decide which aspects of the product each of you is going to present(entrepreneurs)or to ask about(angels). ?Prepare for the meeting. Entrepreneurs The product You have developed a lightweight paper parasol. It has a telescopic cardboard handle so that it can be carried or planted in the ground to give protection from the sun. It is cheap to manufacture($1per unit) and could retail at just $6. The design has an international patent. The market It can be used at all types of outdoor summer events: prices, garden parties, music festivals, porting events, etc. It can be printed in one of four standard designs or with a custom-made design. So an event sponsor could have his own corporate logo and message printed on it. You expect to sell 50,000 units in the first year. You needs You are looking for an investment of $120,000 to build a management team and to market the product. You are prepared to sell 20%of the company for this investment. You would also welcome the advice of the business angels in how best to bring the product to market. Business angels You each invest on average $2 million per year in new product innovations and start-ups. Of these only 15%are successful. You always try to protect your investment by: either selling the business quickly if the products do not take off, or by investing with another business angel. ?the value of the product at the moment(parents, any sales or contracts to date). ?the potential size of the market for the product. ?the ability of the entrepreneurs to sell their idea. ?the ability of the entrepreneurs to manage the company. 6 Did you reach an agreement? Which factors were most important when reaching your decision? What did you think of the negotiating style of the other side? 9.3 Reading and Listening Tests: Part Three EXAM FORMAT Part Three of the Reading Test and Listening Test practice the same skill: our ability to interpret the main ideas being communicated and to find an answer which paraphrases what is actually written or said. Part Three of the Reading Test is a long business-related article or text (500-600 words) followed by six 4-optin multiple choice questions. Part Three of the Listening Test is a dialogue with two or more speakers followed by eight 3-option muitiple choice questions. This section uses the Reading Test as an example. APPROACH Follow these steps. ?Reading the instructions twice and make sure you understand the context of the passage and what you are being asked to do. ?Skim read the text for two minutes to get the general idea, paying most attention to the first and last paragraphs. ?Reading the first question and identify key words that will lead you to the answer in the text. ?Formulate your own answer to the question before looking at the four choices. ?Choose the answer closest to your own. ?Repeat this procedure for each question. KEY SKILL Key words Exam Success Reading Train yourself to answer each question before looking at the four choices. This will help you to be less distracted by the wrong answers. Listening As with all parts of the listening test, use the time before the conversation is played to study the questions. 1 Look at the question below and decide what the key words in it are. 1 Why does the author say that it?s useful to talk to people in the industry? 2 Now go to the part of the passage where these key word(s) appear and look for the information that provides the answer. Write down your own answer. Your idea is probably not new. Just because you haven?t seen it in the market doesn?t mean much. It could be available in another country, through another sales channel that you are not familiar with, like a specialized mail order company. It?s quite possible that your idea has already been tried and failed(for market or technology reasons that still hold true). The only way to find that out is to talk to industry experts. 3 Look at the four choices. Which is closest to your answer? A to get advice on how to market and sell your product B to find out in which countries the product could be successful C to find out if the product has been developed before D to take advantage of their technical knowledge 4 Following the approach described above, do Reading Test Part Three on page 95. PART THREE ?Read the following article about? deal design? in negotiating and the questions that follow it. ?For each question 1-6, choose the best answer(A,B,C,D). Traditionally, when we negotiate we?re advised to find win-win agreements by searching for common ground7. While identifying common ground almost always helps, many of the most frequently overlooked sources of value in agreement arise from differences among the parties. „Deal design? principles can systematically point to agreements that create value by dovetailing differences. For example, when two countries were negotiating over a disputed piece of land, they could not agree where to draw the boundaries. When negotiators wemt beyond the opposing positions, however, they uncovered a vital difference of underlying interest and priority: Country A cared more about security, while Country B cared more about sovereignty. The solution was a demilitarised zone under Country B?s flag. Differences of interest or priority can open the door to unbundling different elements and giving each party what it values the most at the least cost to the other (as the two countries did): a core principle of deal design. A good win-win negotiator may well come up with such creative agreements through focusing on interests, not positions, and brainstorming options. The distinctive contribution of deal design, however, is to crystallize and such much more systematically develop the underlying principles. Let?s look at an example of another kind of difference. Suppose an entrepreneur who is genuinely optimistic about the prospects of her fast-growing electronics components company faces a potential buyer who likes the company but is much more skeptical about the company?s future cash flow. They negotiate in good faith, but at the end of the day, the two sides sharply disagree on the likely future of the company and so cannot find an acceptable sale price. Instead of seeing these different forecasts as a barrier, a savvy deal designer would perceive opportunities to bridge the „value gap?. One option would be a deal in which the buyer pays a fixed amount now and a contingent amount later, with the latter amount determined by the future performance of the company. Properly structured, such a contingent payment (or „ earn-out?) can appear quite valuable to the optimistic seller-who expects to get that earn-out-but not very costly to the less optimistic buyer. The seller?s willingness to accept such a contingent deal, moreover, may give the buyer the confidence he or she needs to go through with the deal. A host of other differences make up the raw material that skilled deal designers transform into joint gains. For example, a less risk-averse party can „insure? a more risk-averse one. A more impatient party can get more of the early money, while his more patient counterpart can get considerably more over a longer period. Differences in cost or revenue structure, tax status, or regulatory arrangements between two parties can be concerted into gains for both. If one party mainly cares about how a deal looks, while the other focuses on substance, the right deal design can create value for both. Indeed, for a savvy deal designer, conducting a disciplined „differences inventory? is at least as important a task as identifying areas of common ground. 1 The benefit of using „deal design? principles in negotiating are that A they focus on shared interests. B they help people to forget their differences. C they focus on differences and how to reconcile them. D they bring a completely fresh approach to negotiating 2 The focus of the negotiation over the piece of disputed land was A how to make the area secure B where the border between the two countries should be C who would control this area D which flag would fly over the area 3 The solution of a demilitarised zone under Country B?s flag worked because A it accommodated the different needs and goals of each party B both sides were forced to compromise C a new boundary was drawn D it was based on fundamental principles 4 In the example of the electronics company, the owner and the potential buyer have different opinions about A what kind of business the company should be involved in B who will run the business C how well the company will perform in the next few years D whether they need to trust each other 5 One suggested way to bridge the differences between them would be to A link the amount paid for the company to its future financial results B persuade the buyer to be more optimistic about its future performance C fix on an amount between the asking price and the offer price D pay the amount in instalments 6 It?s the job of deal designers to make joint gains out of the two parties? A raw materials C income structure B risks D differences