NEGOTIATION EXERCISE REFLECTION

Name: Akanksha Sansanwal

Date: March 9th, 2026

Negotiation Exercise Title: Summer Interns Program

Role Played: Sam Stokes (Director of Engineering)

Preparation and Strategy

Goals and priorities

My main goal in this negotiation was to ensure that the two interns I had already hired stayed in
my division and were paid through the Personnel Division's Summer Interns Program. I needed
the interns' help to finish a power station project that was already delayed and would likely go
over budget, if not completed on time. My priorities were to keep control of the hiring of
qualified interns who had the required practical engineering skills while improving the efficiency
and flexibility of the internship program, such that interns could be hired as needed and were not
subjected to the rigid guidelines of the hiring processes.

BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement)

My BATNA was to leverage my position at Levver Corporation in order to unite fellow

Planned strategy (e.g., competitive, collaborative, mixed)

I approached the negotiations with a combination strategy. I was open to collaborate with the
personnel division's director to improve the structure of the Summer Interns Program, and I
proposed that both the personnel division's director and I be a part of the hiring panel next year
to make the hiring process easier and better match the needs of the department; however, I did
not back away from what I felt was an essential issue, intern selection should not be solely based
on GPA. I strongly stated that, especially for the engineering department, experience, skill level,
and practical knowledge outweigh academic grade. My goal here was to improve the process in
order to ensure that future interns were able to meet the practical requirements of the engineering
department.

2. Negotiation Process

How the negotiation unfolded / key moments

The negotiation began with Bennett expressing disapproval of my hiring interns without first
going through the personnel department; however, I explained that due to the fast-paced nature
of my division's project, the interns I chose were already qualified and had the skills necessary to
perform the functions required. I also expressed that interns sent through the SIP in the previous
year had made many mistakes, costing the department approximately $30,000. Additionally,
those interns also required a detailed explanation of construction procedures, which slowed the
operations. However, during the negotiation, there was a turning point where the issue of
violating the hiring process was put aside to consider whether we could make adjustments to
how the SIP could be improved to match the department's needs. I was able to use the negative
impact of under-qualified interns from the program on my division's operations and my BATNA
to turn the conversation towards making constructive changes.

Communication dynamics (e.g., trust, conflict, cooperation)

The negotiation initially started with tension and conflict, as Bennett accused me of overstepping
my authority while I felt that he was interfering with my division's operations. As we progressed
through the negotiation, we began to concentrate more on organizational goals rather than
internal departmental goals. Additionally, our cooperation started to improve once we discussed
potential solutions like hiring interns together for the engineering department, thereby allowing
personnel to keep control over the internship programs and giving the engineering department
more flexibility.

3. Outcome and Evaluation

Final outcome

The final agreement allowed the two interns in the engineering division to continue in the
program, with the engineering department paying for their stipend. In future, both the Personnel
and Engineering directors will sit on the hiring panel to improve the effectiveness of the hiring
process. Intern qualifications will also include experience and practical skills, along with GPA
requirements. Moving forward, interns will be hired on a monthly basis instead of being hired all
at once. Orientation will consist of three days with the SIP team and two days with the
engineering team. The mentorship program will move from Tuesday mornings to Friday
afternoons to better fit the operations schedule.

Did the outcome meet your goals? Why or why not?

The outcome largely met my goals because I was able to retain the interns who were necessary to
complete the project and at the same time, I was able to address a number of structural problems
with the internship program such as, qualification requirements, mentorship program schedule
and orientation timeline. I did not achieve my goal of having the interns paid through the
Personnel department's Summer Interns Program, as the Engineering department had to cover the
cost for keeping the interns, however the proposed modifications to the internship program
would provide greater flexibility and influence to the Engineering division related to the hiring of
qualified interns, which will help in ensuring that future interns meet the qualification
requirements of the department.

Comparison to BATNA
The final outcome was better than my BATNA of escalating the issue to senior management
which might have led to the cancellation of the internship program. Although escalation might
have given divisions more control over hiring interns, it could have damaged relationships with
Personnel and created more organizational conflict. Negotiating improvements to the program
allowed both of us to achieve our goals without escalating the dispute.

4. What Worked Well

Effective actions, strategies, or behaviours

One effective strategy was to highlight the effect of delays on the engineering projects from an
operational and financial perspective, which was instrumental in demonstrating to the personnel
director why it is important to be flexible while hiring interns. Additionally, proposing
alternative practical changes to the internship program rather than resisting Personnel's policies
helped the personnel division's director consider my proposed changes. Moreover, referencing
my BATNA and the dissatisfaction of other divisions' directors further strengthened my
position.

5. Challenges and Areas for Improvement

What did not go as planned / areas to improve

The initial conflict with the Personnel Division's director was a challenge as it created tension
early on in the negotiation. Initially, I focused heavily on defending my actions rather than
discussing the Personnel's concerns. This likely contributed to the escalation of our
disagreement. In future negotiations, I would try to address the other parties' concerns sooner and
present my concerns in terms of the organization's goals instead of departmental goals.

6. Key Lessons Learned

Main insights from the exercise

This negotiation showed me the importance of how leveraging power effectively while providing
practical solutions can help in conducting successful negotiations. By explaining how SIP
interns' mistakes previously cost the engineering department about $30,000 in losses and slowed
down operations because they needed constant explanations regarding procedures, I was able to
justify why engineering interns should be selected based on skills and experience rather than
GPA alone. Additionally, I also determined that by using my BATNA frequently as leverage and
providing solutions to problems (i.e., offering to join the personnel division's director on the
hiring panel) helped me facilitate a successful negotiation.

7. Application to Future Negotiations

What you would do differently next time / skills to develop

In future negotiations, I will prepare several proposals for improvement to allow negotiations to
proceed directly towards acceptable solutions instead of spending a lot of time focusing on
disagreements. I would also focus on identifying common goals earlier in the negotiation process
and frame all concerns around the organizational goals and the financial impact of the concerns
on the organization. Additionally, I would continue developing my ability to manage conflict in a
calm manner and utilize strategic leverage (like BATNA) without increasing conflict.

Overall Reflection

Overall, this negotiation highlighted the importance of preparation, leveraging power and
adaptability. I successfully protected the operational needs of my department and improved the
structure of the SIP by using my BATNA and by proposing to resolve problems through
collaborative techniques. The final agreement was mutually beneficial to both departments as it
supported effective and relevant hiring of future interns.