15.10.2018 - Sally Soprano and the Lyrics Opera / The Trust Game

Sally Soprano and the Lyrics Opera

During the last class, we played a negotiation game during which we had to negotiate the salary for an artist, Sally Soprano, who was tipped to perform the title role in an opera, Norma, a production of the Lyrics Opera. 

There were two parties, the first one represented Sally’s interests and the second one represented Lyrics Opera’s interests. Ophélie and I represented Sally Soprano’s interests and Alina represented Lyric Opera’s interests. 

We had 20 minutes to prepare our BATNA and build a strategy to convince our opponent and make a good deal for both of us. Considering all the information we had, we decided to use Sally’s advantages as good arguments to prove that she deserved a salary at the height of her talent. On the other hand, we prepared counter-arguments in case our opponent would highlight Sally’s weak points, such as her age or her declining reputation. 

Firstly, our best arguments were the fact that Sally’s had already played the role of Norma 4 years earlier, and that she perfectly knows the role, which was imperative considering the fact that the first representation was scheduled 3 weeks later. Actually, the Lyrics Opera needed Sally more than Sally needed the Lyrics. Then we also talked about Sally’s reputation and the fact that she’s experienced and motivated. Moreover, we said that her maturity as an artist and as a woman perfectly suited the character of Norma. 

Considering these arguments and the inflation of the theatre market, we decided that our higher offer would be $50,000 and that our reservation price would be $28,000. That fixed our bargaining zone. After a very long negotiation process, we finally reach a deal and we fixed Sally’s salary at $38,000 for the first year with a contract signed up for the next two years (after the first year, the salary will be lower, $30,000). 

At the end of the negotiation process, both parties showed up its figures and we were all very satisfied with what we obtained. Indeed, Alina’s bargaining zone was between $28,000 and $45,000.

The reason why the result was more satisfying this time is that we had more time and more information at the beginning, so we were considerably better prepared to what would happen and what we would have to face off. Even if the negotiation process was way more exhausting, it was also very interesting and formative because we learned how to take advantage of the other side’s arguments. Personally, I also learned to manage a conversation during a negotiation process in order to obtain what I want without hurting the other side, and even more, making it happy too.

The Trust Game 

The Trust Game consisted in playing cards speculating on other players’ choices in order to earn points. So we started the game, and then came the round 5 during which we had a few minutes to talk together and try to find a common strategy to make everyone win this round. By playing a Y, we could all have won some points, but if one player decided to cheat by playing an X, she/he would earn a lot of points but the other players would lose a lot. That’s what happened, someone cheated (I won’t reveal her/his name because I am a pacifist). At that moment, the trust was broken. Every player’s goal was to win, trying to find the best strategy to be the best one. Then, round 8 allowed us to talk once again, but we didn’t. No one trusted the others, so we kept our strategy secret and we played our cards. Finally, for the last round, we decided to talk. We established a strategy, but the trust was still broken of course. So, obviously, all this « WE’RE GONNA MAKE IT TOGETHER » strategy was a big lie, and everyone cheated except a very very kind and honest person. Unfortunately, she lost. At the end of the game, we were all disappointed (except the winner, of course) because we all thought that we could have won if we would have played selfishly. Actually, we were wrong. The best strategy would have been to establish rules that would have enabled us to win together. For instance, during the 5th round, we could have decided to only play our Y cards until the end of the game, and to be sure that everyone would have respected the rules, we would have left our X cards on the table. 

So, thanks to this game, I learned that the lack of a common strategy and the lack of trust are bad in a group, like they are during a negotiation process because a personal strategy doesn’t serve the group strategy. So, the best solution is to think of ways to make people satisfied and to think about ways to build and strengthen trust.