Critical Thinking: Midwestern Contemporary Art Case Study

After reading the Case 5: Midwestern Contemporary Art in your text book, prepare your case analysis based on the following scenario.

You are Peggy Fischer. You want to collect the $5 million pledge from Peter Smith, and previous calls have gone unanswered. Your board wants to sue, but you would like to try some tactics to pressure the Smiths instead of going through with the lawsuit. You put together the following worksheet to help you plan out your influence tactics. You can make the following assumptions in preparing this worksheet: a) you are able to reach and communicate with the Smiths, b) you are focusing on what to do now rather than what you could have done to avoid the situation, and c) if the MCA board decides to sue, it will be personally embarrassing to you, with a very public acknowledgment that you could not avoid the scandal of a lawsuit.

1. What were the goals of an original negotiation?

o Was your original BATNA? What was its value?

o What are your interests (as opposed to your position)?

o What are some options for mutual gain?

2. Identify influence tactics: which ones could you use on the Smiths?

3. What power bases do you (as Peggy Fischer) have in regards to each of the Smiths? Explain.

4. How might you (again as Peggy Fischer) draw on your personal network to influence each of the Smiths? Explain.