Technology Negotiation Role-Play: Telecom Services

TitleTechnology Negotiation Role-Play: Telecom Services
Publication TypeMiscellaneous
Year of Publication2005
AuthorsDoherty, B, Susskind, L
Keywordsagreement, agreements, contract negotiation, contract negotiations, contracts, creating value, creating value in negotiation, HNI, negotiate, negotiation, negotiations, PON, reservation value
Abstract

Two-party, two-issue, integrative, scoreable negotiation over the terms of a telecommunications services contract.

URLhttp://www.pon.harvard.edu/shop/telecom-services/
Full Text

Data Voice markets telecommunications (“telecom”) services to residential and business customers. This year, a small firm called Consulting Integration needs to renew and adjust its telecom services contract with Data Voice.

This will be Consulting Integration’s second three-year telecom services contract with Data Voice. Technical specialist Robin Rigley represents Consulting Integration in the service contract negotiations, and regional sales manager Kelsey Kidd represents Data Voice.

Robin and Kelsey have to negotiate a difficult issue: the number of integrated voice/data/video workstation setups. With a large part of its business devoted to onsite client consulting, Consulting Integration does not currently require the integrated workstation packages that Data Voice offers. However, when Consulting Integration’s website improvements begin to expand its offsite consulting services, the need for integrated workstation packages may grow.

Before Data Voice expanded its telecom platforms, Data Voice lost many clients who preferred to maintain telecom service agreements with a single carrier. In response, Data Voice began to offer data and video telecom services, bundling them in package agreements like those of their competitors. Because of the additional networking hardware required to offer these services, Data Voice has had to expand its technical, operational, and customer service divisions threefold. Thus, Data Voice can no longer afford to continue contracts restricted to voice-only packages. As the regional sales manager, Kelsey Kidd is responsible for giving each client a “fair” number of voice-only packages. These “fair” numbers are based on the total number of workstations the client fits out, and on Kelsey’s judgment of each client’s need for voice-only setups.

Robin and Kelsey are about to meet to discuss their telecom services contract adjustment and renewal.