B) Read again. Complete the following phrases from Stella’s opening statement

a). Well, thank you ______ ______ ______ ______.

b). May I begin by _______ ______ ______ ______ …

c). First of all, we see it very much as a first meeting, a ______ ______to ______ ______ in which we can perhaps...

d). There are two, possibly three, ways in which we ______ ______ ______.

e). I’d like to ______ these under three headings.

Exercise 8 Suggest phrases for each of the following at the beginning of a negotiation. Try to bring all the phrases together in a single opening statement.

a) Welcome the other side.

b) Develop small talk (trip, weather).

c) Mention plans for lunch – make your visitors feel welcome (see city centre / local restaurant).

d) Suggest you start talking about the main subject of your meeting.

e) Introduce a colleague (Luke Fox, Marketing Department).

f) Explain general aim or purpose of the meeting. (Establish beginnings of a partnership / learn about supply systems / price variations and supply costs.)

Bargaining / Making concessions / Agreement / Rejecting

Exercise 9 Read the following dialogue concerning bargaining stage of negotiations. This is a part of a negotiation between Arco, a German-owned manufacturing company in Ireland, and an Irish research company called Central Auto Systems, CAS.

Twelve months ago Arco and CAS agreed a joint development programme to manufacture an engine designed by CAS. However, Arco has recently carried out a major restructuring of its activities. The company has decided not to proceed with the joint venture for the new engine.

The negotiation is about ending the joint venture and agreeing compensation for CAS. In the extract, you will read the conversation between Dietmar Topfer and Erich Rinalder of Arco talking to Celia Spencer of CAS. Read once and mark the following as true (T) or false (F):

a) The reversal of rights is linked to the compensation agreement.

b) Dietmar Topfer thinks Arco’s work on the fuel system must be considered.

c) It will be difficult for CAS to find a new partner.

celia: One consideration is the question of compensation to CAS, another is the reversal of all rights presently held by Arco. Now, clearly the question of rights is very important to us.

dietmar: Yes, yes, we understand that. But, we have to think about the joint development aspects. The fuel injection system has been developed using Arco technical expertise. In fact, we are happy that you have all the rights, we accept that the engine is basically your design. On the other hand, since we have contributed to the engine, we hope that the compensation we agree to pay... we want compensation to take our work into account.

celia: So you’re prepared to give up all rights, basically the whole product reverts to CAS?

dietmar: Yes, we can agree to that... so long as we can accept your compensation demands. So, we need to link the question of rights to compensation.

celia: Well, as you know, we’ve been thinking about compensation based on two years’ earnings from the product.

dietmar: Right, I think Erich has some comments on the two years’ proposal.

erich: Yes, we feel that two years is a little too long, especially if we revert all rights to CAS. The problem is that if we revert all rights, we have to keep the compensation within acceptable limits. Two years is a lot. We believe this, particularly because you will find a new partner. And this is important: the time spent this year has included useful advances, good progress, in the design. So we need you to reduce your compensation demands a bit.