Kidnapping Negotiation Assignment

Thomas Yin was put in a very difficult position right from the moment he received word that
his, brother, Steven had been kidnapped (Wheeler, 1998, p. 53). Psychological factors had
been present from the beginning as soon as Thomas received the information from his wife
that his brother Steven had been kidnapped. He presumably experienced feelings of confusion,
tense, and fear, during the immediate time after he received the information about his brother,
and while he was booking his four-legged itinerary to Asia (Wheeler, 1998, p. 53). While
Thomas was on the plane he only had time to reflect on what he would do when he was to
negotiate for his brother. He became more engaged in the details of the negotiation process
that he was going to undertake with the kidnapper when he got there to get his brother back.
He began by answering three questions in order to separate his thoughts from his frazzled
mind. What issues would he strategically cover, should he be the person doing the negotiation,
the beginning of a structural barrier, and how can he apply his experience and education to
save his brothers life. The information that he received in Tokyo about the opportunists made
him more anxious as he was air borne again he soon landed immediately bombarded by
reporters asking him the exact same questions he had been contemplating before alluding to
an issue being what the kidnappers demanded. His past negotiation experience served him well
as he communicated very well to the press he expressed very little emption dismissing all of the
medias notions. As Thomas became aware of the possibility that his brother could be dead he
portrayed a hostile emotion towards the police officer when he tried to offer his words of
reassurance Thomas became hostile towards the police office, flustered and restless he
speculated the police officer was conspiring against his and that he was actually working for the
kidnappers. Once again his professionalism and experience flaunted, as he, realized that he was
exhausted not having confidence in his own judgment. The kidnap had made him distrustful
and paranoid of the very people that are trying to help him. One thing that the entire family did
that helped keep the situation confrontational was go to the media, the familys decision that
no one would speak to reporters may have saved Stevens life because is the kidnappers took on
too much heat then they might just kill Steven to rid them self of the liability if they were ever
caught. After Thomas checked his accounts and realised how much money was immediately
available to him once again he became engaged in the negotiation process this Is when the
strategic barrier began for the Snake, Thomas knew he could not give up the 1,000,000 right of
the bat because the kidnapper would just demand for more. This rational strategy is deployed
by Thomas because he does not want to see vulnerable, due to the fact that his brothers life
was priceless and he was willing to pay whatever it took in order to get him back. Giving up his
financial position to the Snake right of the bat meant that he may get a mediocre deal where he
would have to raise more money than what was immediately available to him. When Thomas
got the telephone call from the actual kidnapper this is when his negotiation began and
immediately the psychological barriers are present. Thomas and the kidnapper were initially
faced with an uncertain outcome if they did not come to an agreement. Thomas did not know if
his brother is alive and the kidnapper did not know if he was going to receive any ransom
money at all. When he revived the conformation that his brother was still alive he was overrun
with relief. However, this feeling was shirt lived as it turned into confusion because at this point
all he knows is that his brother is alive and that he is being held by a man named Snake. When
the Snake demanded a ransom so close to Thomas calculations he once again became flustered
creating another psychological barrier where he is now forced to make a judgment based on a
personal bias of thinking that Steven had already given up the financials as he was the treasurer
of the company. Thomas denying the ransom offer saying that he didnt have that kind of
money the kidnapper felt annoyed and frustrated as a result of the strategic and psychological
barrier upon him he puts the ball into Thomass court now he made the initial offering now it is
up to Thomas to make a counter offer, the kidnapper still did not know if he would receive the
ransom that he desired. Thomas was in full strategic mode now purposely not contacting the
Snake for five days in order to give the illusion that he had been raising money the entire time
and that he was in some sort of distress over the situation. During the second phone call when
the Snake tried to call out Thomas for giving him a low offer, Thomas simply explained things in
a way that made the Snake sound smart. His replies were calm and very explanatory implying
that the snake did know about the American economy and the true value of repossessed cars.
His tone of voice and strategic responses is making the kidnapper even more frustrated and
annoyed with him but still leaving the ball in Thomas court allowing him to make the next
move. One major structural barrier that is present throughout the case is the poor line of
communication between Thomas and the Snake, with the snake failing to contact Thomas at
times. Thomas realised that all the kidnapper would do is keep increasing the price on him until
they got their desired amount of ransom. So the next time they had a conversation on the
phone Thomas was the one to now hang up on Snake building excitement and curiosity for the
Snake as he does not know what kind of offer Thomas will bring to the table. Thomas deployed
a strategy of using a loan shark in order to raise more money to pay the kidnappers. This was
something that Thomas could use to counter offer the kidnappers offers giving them an
attractable option that was only available for a limited amount of time. When he said the loan
shark was giving him a day to respond, he was actually imposing his strategy on to the snake
telling the snake he has one day to decide or the deal will fall through and they will be stuck
with less money making when the Snake called back with the offer of 100,000 Thomas took it
fully knowing that he could have paid ten times that amount. Telling the public that he had
escaped and not that a negotiation had been reached leaved the identity of the kidnapper a
secret provoking less kidnapping in the future as it has become a rationalized business with
many independent operating units working together. The primary barrios in the case are
Structural, Strategic and Psychological. In the beginning and in the initial stages of the
negotiation Thomas had psychological and strategic barriers to overcome. The lack of a solid
communication line between him and an information source was the driver his rash decision
making, which was based on his own personal bias stemmed from the lack of communication
and large gap in the information he had. As the negotiation moved along the barriers moved
from Thomas onto snake as The Snake was now strategic barriers and psychological ones as
well. Snake had an idea of what The Yin business was worth but he was unsure when his offer
had been substantially reduced he was now subject to his own judgment as if he was going to
receive any ransom at all, this derived from the structural barrio that exists due to Thomas not
giving up his vulnerability during the negotiation because then The Snake would take advantage
of him and his emotions. Thomas experience from Harvard Business School had given him the
principals inorder to achieve his goals:
Went to the Balcony
o See everything that is happening from a neutral point if view.
Determine BATNAs
o For him self steven and the kidnapper
Zone of possible agreement (ZOPA)
o Initially snakes offer was used to guage how much Thomas was willing to pay, he
realised this and counter offered with such a low offer that it changed snakes
perception keeping him intrested but stalling his expectations.
Know the intrests of everyone involved
o Of the Snake (ransom, providing for family, a future for son, contimuting the
family name and legacy)
o Hunch the intrests of the Snakes affiliates
Thomas used strategic and psycological barriers inorder to position himself to bring the
negotiation to a close
o The loan shark was a way for Thomas to create a deadling but not one that is
arbitrary where his motives would become obvious
o The final number was much higher than thomass initial offer, but much lower
than snakes beginning offer. As the number increased the value did as well now
the kidnapper is happy with an amount nine times less than he initially offered.
The feelings impacted the negotiation from both sides. However, Thomas past
education and experience in negotiations had goven him the edge when negotiation as
he was able to keep jus judgment relatively free of his own bias regardless of what kind
of information he had at the time. On the other hand the feelings of the Snakes side
lead his to make decisions that were way beyond the scope of his initial expectations.
In a similar situation I would react by letting somon else do the negotiqion. I dont have
the skile nor the patience to sucsessfully get results from the tryp pf emotion fueled
negotiation. I would probably make rash disicions giving up all my money at once in
hope of getting my brother back, my emotions are strong and I listen to them, this being
said I dont think I would be able to bear the burden of negotiating for my brothers life.
My response at this point in the course would not have changed from the beginning of
the ourse I still would not be the one to engahge in negotiationas I I dont think I would
be able to make smart decisions that were not fuled by emotions. If I did not have a
choice in the matter than my response to Snake would be much different than if I was in
the first day. I would probably do the same thing that Thomas did organizaing my
thoughts and determining neutral issues between both parties as well as identifying the
orher paries positions, red flags, that allow us to explore their intrests inorder to better
understand the opponent of the negotiation. Generating mutual intrests so both arties
can stand on commonground I would create an agreement based upon the mutual
intreses instead of the positions. At the beginning of the year I would probably be so
nerve racked and lossed that iw ouldent be able to say anything on the phone. The
Negotiations and conflice resolution class is confusing at first, venturing out to
uncharted territory im slowly starting to understand why this process is relevant in not
just business and practice but in our day to day lives.