绿肥红瘦
作者: 赖小琪
午夜的霓虹, 熟悉的街头
静夜里, 走在一个人的宇宙.
如果爱情是忧伤旋律一首,
今夜, 寂寞将它演奏.
凄风苦雨里, 我们都没有退后
苦尽甘来时, 我们却没能坚守.
走在分岔的路口,
我们转身, 不曾回头
曾经说过, 彼此的信仰, 我们都会守候
突然明白, 不是情人, 也不可能是朋友.
远去的背影, 你的眼睛湿透
造化弄人, 我输得一无所有.
多年后, 我们在同样的街头邂逅.
不同的是, 你牵了另一只手.
远远站立, 对视彼此的眼眸.
我佯装自在, 笑容夹愁.
蓦然发现, 你是绿肥, 我是红瘦.
Reflections on the Negotiation of “Bullard Houses”
This week’s negotiation activity is a little bit different from those we have done in the past. It involves a very significant issue—ethical issue. This time I was acting as a senior partner in the Gotham City’s real estate firms. My client was Absentia Ltd controlled by the Gonrad Milton Hotel Group, a publicly held company that owned and operated 83 luxury hotels worldwide. Milton learnt that Downtown, another real estate company, was intended to sell its Bullard property, a historic area that was a chic area filled with remodeled row houses, gourmet restaurants and trendy boutiques after it was regentrified. The down had originally prepared the property for eventual sale to a condominium developer and thus had been on the way to evict tenants living in the property with compensations. However, the Gotham City passed Tenant’s Right and Anti-Condo legislation that tremendously extended the relocation process and required significant cash payments to departing tenants. Therefore, as the number of tenants dwindled, so did downtown’s cash flow. Worse still, Taxes rose and Downtown awoke to the reality that it cost almost as much to heat a near-empty structure as a full one. That was why they finally decided to sell it out. Milton wanted to buy it to develop a Milton Hotel. However, Downtown wanted us to preserve this historic site and develop it into luxury residential housing. If they knew we would rezone the area and develop it into a hotel, they would by no means promise to sell the property to us. Therefore, I should never reveal the real purpose of purchasing the property.
When the negotiation began, I showed my interest to buy the Bullard property to the representative from Downtown. Downtown also showed the interest to sell the property. But when I was about to know the price they would offer, they asked me the intended use of this property. I knew I should not reveal the authentic use of it, but I had no idea whether I should tell a lie or not. Finally I told them the property would “probably” be used to develop luxury residential housing, which was exactly they expected. However, they seemed to sense my uneasiness and knew we would probably use the property to do other commercial activities such as building a club or a hotel, which would definitely destroy this historic area and its fame. In order to make sure we would not use it to develop a hotel or a club, they requested to sign a contract with us, which distinctively stated the prohibition of building a hotel or a club.
Then I tried to ask them how much compensation we needed to pay if we breached the contract. They said it would be twice the purchasing price. I told them that I planned to use the property to develop luxury residential housing, but I could not guarantee my plan would be implemented smoothly due to some unpredictable emergencies. If there were some irrevocable factors that hindered our original plan, we would probably change the use of the property. For example, if the cost was far higher than the revenues would obtain, we would have to change its use. Actually I was just seeking an excuse for us to change the use of the property in the future, because my client intended to build a hotel in it. I just wanted to close the deal as soon as possible. But meantime I felt kinda guilty of telling a lie. Nevertheless, the other party said no to me and claimed that I should never conduct commercial activities other than develop luxury residential housing. They also asserted that if I did not promise their request, they would not go on talking with me.
I was eager to reach a deal with them, so I told them if the price they offered was reasonable, I would follow their request(another lie again!). They offered me 28 million, which was way beyond our budget of 24 million. So I rejected their price immediately. Then they tried to lower the price to 24 million, which was rejected by me again. The maximum price I would like to pay was 20 million. Then they seemed to make a compromise again and proposed 20 million, but I argued I could only pay 15 million. They definitely did not agree and claimed that their lowest price was 18.5 million. Then I told them I could accept the price they offered on condition that they allowed us the possibility to change our use of the property in the future. Finally they agreed with our request.
In retrospect to the whole negotiation process, I think the other party did a good job on the whole. They knew to draw upon the contract to restrict our use of the property. I had no idea whether their main purpose of using the contract to preserve the historic site or as a negotiating advantage to ask for a more favorable price later, but objectively they had achieved a higher price eventually. But if I was in their shoes, I would not promise the deal because the price offered was still too low. Also, judging from my performance in the negotiation, they would have learnt that I was eager to seal the deal and thus they got the upper hand at that time. So even though they stuck to 20 million, I would have promised the deal. But that is also where I should learn and correct in the future. I should not show my eagerness to seal the deal. I should maintain composure in the whole negotiation process.
Later when coming back to the classroom and listening to the teacher, Stephen’s lecture , I came to realize that I had made a terrible mistake in the activity. That is I should not tell lies in the negotiation!! Even though I should not reveal the real purpose of purchasing the property, nor should I tell the other party that we would use it to develop luxury residential housing. Concealing my purpose does not mean that I have to lie to the other party. If I lie in the negotiation, even though I may obtain my desirable objects, I will ruin my reputation at the same time. It is especially critical when I would like to develop a long-term relationship with the other party. Once I have ruined my fame, it is impossible for the other party to go on trusting me and cooperating with me. Moreover, my “notorious” fame may also be echoed to other companies’ ears and no one would like to deal with me any more.
Altogether, now I attach greater importance to the ethical issues in the negotiation activities. That is the greatest harvest I have got in this activity! |
