Market Share, Market Risk

Even as Company A owns and enjoys the biggest share of demographic market for teens, it begins to direct a zealous eye towards another section of the market, the one dominated by competitor Company B. 

Company A looks at the sales and profits of Company B and decides: “we’d like that share”.

Company A undertakes a campaign to grab market share from B.  A few expensive months of marketing begins to make substantial progress.  After a couple of years, Company A is swamped by regulatory demands which were never a problem with their other market.  Consequently, the profit margins end up far far less than originally expected, and the headaches far, far more.

Companies do this all the time.  They notice a market share and say: “we’d like that”. 

But they forget that markets are characterised not only by profits: they also come with market costs, market responsibilities, and market risks.

It seems company B was more adept at managing the risks of that market, hence its profits.  Company A did not have the experience managing the risks of that market, hence its headaches.

Negotiation Bibliography / Library

 General Negotiation

Adler, Bill. How to Negotiate like a Child: Unleash the Little Monster within to Get Everything You Want. 2006.

Asherman, Ira, and Sandy Asherman. The Negotiation Sourcebook. Amherst, MA: Human Resource Development, 1990.

Beasor, Tom. Great Negotiators: How the Most Successful Business Negotiators Think and Behave. 2006.

Billings-Yun, Melanie. Beyond Dealmaking: Five Steps to Negotiating Profitable Relationships. 2010.

Brams, Steven J. Negotiation Games: Applying Game Theory to Bargaining and Arbitration. New York: Routledge, 1990. Print.

Cohen, Herb. Negotiate This!: By Caring, but Not T-H-A-T Much. New York: Warner, 2003.

Cohen, Steven P. Negotiating Skills for Managers. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. Print.

Cohen, Steven P. Negotiate Your Way to Success: 24 Steps to Building Agreement. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007. Print.

Dietmeyer, Brian J., and Rob Kaplan. Strategic Negotiation: A Breakthrough 4-step Process for Effective Business Negotiation. Chicago, IL: Dearborn Trade Pub., 2004.

Donaldson, Michael C. Fearless Negotiating: The Wish-want-walk Method to Reach Solutions That Work. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.

Evans, Eric. Mastering Negotiations: Key Skills in Ensuring Profitable and Successful Negotiations. London: Thorogood, 1998.

Fisher, Roger, William Ury, and Bruce Patton. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving in. New York, NY: Penguin, 1991.

Kolb, Deborah M., Judith Williams, and Deborah M. Kolb. Everyday Negotiation: Navigating the Hidden Agendas in Bargaining. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2003.

Lax, David A., and James K. Sebenius. The Manager as Negotiator: Bargaining for Cooperation and Competitive Gain. New York: Free, 1986.

Fells, R. E. Effective Negotiation: From Research to Results. Cambridge [England: Cambridge UP, 2010.

The Harvard Business School Publishing Guide to Smart Negotiation. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Pub., 2003.

Holden, Reed K. Negotiating with Backbone: Eight Sales Strategies to Defend Your Price and Value. 2012.

Karpov, Anatoly, Jean François. Phélizon, and Bachar Kouatly. Chess and the Art of Negotiation: Ancient Rules for Modern Combat. 2006.

Karrass, Chester Louis. "In Business as in Life-- You Don't Get What You Deserve You Get What You Negotiate" 1996.

Korobkin, Russell. Negotiation Theory and Strategy. 2002.

Lax, David A., and James K. Sebenius. 3-D Negotiation: Powerful Tools to Change the Game in Your Most Important Deals. 2006.

Lewicki, Roy J., Alexander Hiam, and Karen Olander. Think before You Speak: The Complete Guide to Strategic Negotiation. 1996.

Lewicki, Roy J., and Alexander Hiam. Mastering Business Negotiation: A Working Guide to Making Deals and Resolving Conflict. 2006.

Low, Patrick Kim Cheng. Successfully Negotiating in Asia. 2010.

Lum, Grande. The Negotiation Fieldbook: Simple Strategies to Help Negotiate Everything. 2005.

Mulholland, Joan. The Language of Negotiation: A Handbook of Practical Strategies for Improving Communication. 1991.

Nikolopoulos, Andreas. Negotiating Strategically: One versus All. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

Oliver, David. How to Negotiate Effectively. London: Kogan Page, 2006.

Raiffa, Howard, John Richardson, and David Metcalfe. Negotiation Analysis: The Science and Art of Collaborative Decision Making. Cambridge, MA: Belknap of Harvard UP, 2002.

Saner, Raymond. The Expert Negotiator. 2008.

Thomas, Jim. Negotiate to Win: The 21 Rules for Successful Negotiation. 2005.

Watkins, Michael. Breakthrough Business Negotiation: A Toolbox for Managers. 2002.

Young, H. Peyton. Negotiation Analysis. 1991.

 Interesting / Important Works Which I Don’t Have

Ross, George H. Trump-style Negotiation: Powerful Strategies and Tactics for Mastering Every Deal. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2006.

Ury, William. Getting past No: Negotiating with Difficult People. New York: Bantam, 1991.

Bazerman, Max H., and Margaret Ann. Neale. Negotiating Rationally. New York: Free, 1992.

 

Action is King

Nothing happens without action.  Change produces benefits.  Only action produces change.

You can spend years studying how the stock market works, but unless you take action, you will not reap the benefits.  You can spend a lifetime studying how to swim, but without diving into the water, you would not acquire the skill.  You can spend a lifetime thinking about a decision, but without taking the decision, and acting upon the decision, nothing will happen.

There are a few exceptions. You might receive a rich inheritance from a relative who passes away.  You might be born into a rich and wonderful family.  Another exception. but for most other things, if we want improvement in our life, we need to take action.

Why don’t we take more action?  There are two reasons.  First, deciding the right act is hard, for action can bring benefits, but it can also bring disaster.  This fear prevents many people from taking action.  I think buying stocks of ABC will increase my money, but it can also lead to losses, so I will not act for now and think more about it.   I think this more senior role will give me more satisfaction in my work, but I might fail and lose my job, so I will remain content in my current position.

That is why thinking behind an action is important.  What are my options?  Which one should I choose?  What are the rewards?  What are the possible consequences?  Can I survive these consequences?  What are my options if the consequences occur?  Is it worth it?  These are questions for which thinking and information gathering is required in order to set the right course of action. 

But without the action, knowing the right course of action produces nothing.  It is no different from not knowing the right course of action.  So, only study the right course of action if you will take the next step to act on it. Otherwise, it is all just a waste.

The other reason is that it is hard to take action. You want to write a book, but it takes a lot of effort and sacrifice, so you don’t do it. You want to get a better job, but it takes a lot of rejection, so you don’t do it.  There is no shortcut here. You just have to do it.  These most successful inventors worked very hard.  Many of the most successful people work very hard.  The top employees at Goldman Sachs are famous for being wealthy and for having to work very very hard and for very very long hours.  Why should you be an exception? 

But here you can get some help with tools.  Tools like computers and software and reduce the tediousness of work.  Writers from an earlier generation had to write their books using typewriters, and do their research from libraries.  You can write your book using your word processor, and do your research through Google.  The work require is not as hard as before.  It could be that you are just lazy.