Week 13

14/06/2021

Negotiation is indeed the best way to solve problems. From the video and the article on Disney and Pixar, I learned a lot about how having an upper hand in a negotiation gives a number of advantages to your side to win or pick a fair fight. In the article, I understand that Disney was in a position where it would get the most out of the negotiation whichever option it chose since it had the upper hand. Meanwhile Pixar, which was previously named Lucasfilm, was also in a somewhat same position where it would not lose anything and would also gain things out of the negotiation. It sure is a rare scene to find a negotiation with various positive assumed endings, and that’s the case for this. 

Disney and Pixar got to be in this situation due to their past collaboration on a successful animated movie, and to continue on the relationship would fairly be a good option. However, by just collaborating, there would not be much benefits both would get in the future and they could possibly call off the contract anytime since winning would definitely be their only target at the moment. Another option should be the best option I believe because it would let both sides take on one another’s strength and fit to be much stronger. As both companies have always had their own sturdy brand loyalty, merging would be the perfect way to widen their empire and dominate the field which surely would go down in history. I mean, what would be a better way to succeed other than achieving something more with a much promising future ? 

In the meantime, for the video, I did not get to have a proper discussion with my other discussion mates in the break out room because of the lack of time. However, from my own understanding, one thing that definitely should be highlighted during the whole negotiation process between Igers and Lucas was that the attentive attitude both sides have shown which depicts their respect towards one another as if they were both invested in the casual conversation in the name of their future companies. The way Igers approached the situation personally and not formally indeed renders that he for sure knew the best way to handle important matters which should not settle via phone calls. Plus, he, knowing that familiarity atmosphere would help a lot in gaining confidence, by meeting at a place where both sides did not have connection with, I would say that he wasn’t biased to win, but only aiming to really negotiate with Lucas. 

All in all, this case study of negotiation was indeed one of the most exciting case studies I’ve learned from this semester. I barely knew anything about Disney and Pixar’s history before, well maybe only by names and the movies, but thanks to this I found a new understanding and new scenario of negotiation. Even though there’s still a lot to highlight in both video and article, I guess by underlining on parts that caught my attention the most would already be worth it.