Steps to Successful Negotiation

Negotiation skills are an attribute which every woman wanting to get ahead must have. In business today, successful negotiation is extremely important and is one of the pre-requisites for achieving success. The following are 5 steps which should be followed in order to negotiate successfully in business.

The very first step is to place yourself in the shoes of the person whom you are negotiating with. Look at things from the other persons perspective and evaluate what their objectives are. This will help you to understand what outcome they are looking for and hence could give you an advantage in the negotiation process. You will also be able to analyze how the other group views you and your proposal.

The next step which should be followed is to know everything about the business you are dealing with. You need to prepare prior to your meeting and find out as much as possible about them. Things which you need to consider should be how well the business is doing at the moment, whether they are carrying out the deal to meet some financial requirement and/or what the purpose is for them to be carrying out business with your company. The main reason for this step is to find out the motive behind the business dealing.

Always remember the person asking the questions is the person who holds the power. Ensure you ask questions to clarify the outcome are required and what is required from you.

There are many techniques involved with negotiation and you should make use of the one you feel most comfortable with. There are generally 3 types of techniques which every woman should select from. These three techniques are:

-Competitive/Conflict negotiation
-Cooperative Negotiation
-Problem Solving Negotiation

Each of these techniques is unique on their own and follows a different plan. Research them all and then select one, which suits your style of negotiation and which also, helps your company fulfill its business needs.

The fourth step is to prepare a strategy. In order to achieve your objectives and come out successful from the negotiation, you need to have a well thought out and planned strategy. You can never predict what is going to happen so being prepared is the best option. Prepare the things you need to say and what you want to achieve beforehand. Knowing this information in advance, frees your mind to concentrate on managing whatever happens on the day.

Some of the tasks you should focus on completing before the meeting should be the time at which you will be carrying out the negotiation – is it suitable to both parties? Next, the duration of the meeting should be kept in mind, have you left enough time between meetings, so you dont have to rush from one to another staying focused is the key. Where should the meeting be held to ensure a successful outcome is also very important?

The fifth and final step in negotiation is that you remain calm. There will be aspects in the meeting when you will not know what to do or say. At these moments the best thing to do is remain calm and patient. Do not let them know you are feeling pressured and most of all, do not let the other party intimidate you. If in doubt, ask a clarifying question.

Telecommunications The Early Years

Throughout time the main forms of communication required that one person be within visual sight of the other in order to be able to successfully communicate. Either that or be within visual or audible range of the means of communication, as in semaphore (physically signalling between ships), or smoke, or drum signals. Then during the 1830s and 1840s telecommunications was born in the form of the telegraph.

The definition of telecommunication, is the means of communicating over great distances, which means that semaphore, drum and smoke signals do not come under the heading of telecommunication, but Telegraphy, telephony and electronic mail do come under the telecommunications heading.

Telegraphy and telephony requires the use of metal wires in order to transmit messages between sender and recipient. During the 19th century, thanks to the invention of the telegraph, these metal cables were laid along the ocean beds, connecting the continents of the world and thus allowing international telecommunications (first one completed on the 27th of July, 1876 linking the USA with Great Britain).

Wireless telecommunications – The 20th century brought the advent of long distance communication without the need for physical connectivity. The first versions were created by Guglielmo Marconi, and manifested themselves in the form of the wireless radio, for which Marconi won a Nobel prize. This was achieved back in 1909.

Other intrepid contributors – Besides Marconi, there were a number of others making headway in the field of wireless communications, they include, Alexander Graham Bell, Samuel Morse, Lee de Forest, Joseph Henry, Nikola Tesla, Edwin Armstrong, and John Logie Baird.

Earliest form of telecommunications – A Frenchman by the name of Claude Chappe back in 1792, came up with a communication system that allowed rapid (rapid for the time) transmission of a message by setting up a series of towers that were about 6 miles apart. From these towers operators could receive messages from one tower then transmit those messages to the next tower. The transmission of messages was done by semaphore. Semaphore is achieved by the use of moving arms that dependent on the position of the arms would have different meanings. Chappe’s communication system lasted up until 1880, when it was forced out of existence by the far superior telegraph system.

The telegraph – In 1839 one Sir William Fothergil Cooke and one Sir Charles Wheatstone built the first commercial electrical wire based telegraph system. This was actually an improvement on the existing electromagnetic telegraph system.

Morse steps on to the scene – Not only were communication system to use Samuel Morse’s means of coding messages, but Morse himself, in 1837, created a much simpler telegraph system to that already in existence, that which was created by Wheatstone and Cooke (see above).

International telephone link took a long time coming – Although there was a cable connection Great Britain with the United States of America laid back in middle part of the 19th century, it was not good enough to be used for transmitting telephone signals. It had been originally set-up for communications via telegraphy between the then President of the USA, James Buchanan, and Great Britain’s Queen Victoria. The original cable failed fairly quickly and had to be replaced, but was of no use for the telephone system. It was not until 1956 before telephone telecommunications was successfully set-up between the USA and Britain.

Large-scale Telecom Mergers Will Appear

There are already clear signs that mergers and acquisitions of the telecommunications industry may rise steadily in 2011 and 2012. Some operators have announced plans to conduct large-scale transactions.

In 2008, before the growth of the global economy slowed down, the telecommunications industry has been in the pursuit of large-scale mergers and acquisitions. But in the subsequent two years, operators set aside most of the transaction to focus on addressing the economic crisis. However, after the two years of the quiet period, many telecom operators become saturated in the development of its domestic market users. In the fierce competition they begin to continue their former growth plans.

They have recognized the limited opportunities to enter new markets. New potential opportunities and the single market opportunities are few. By the merger they will be able to achieve their goals. Therefore, the trading activity of the telecommunications industry may again become active. The next wave of M & A wave is likely to be the industry’s consolidation.

Compared with other industries, the telecommunications industry remains very fragmented. The income of the largest operator accounts for only a small part of the total industry revenue, indicating that this area is in the golden age of further consolidation.

In the new round of growth period, the re-shuffle merger of the telecommunications industry includes three types: first, the large-scale cross-border trading is expected to become the mainstream. Operators who can take the opportunity to take advantage of this integration is expected to become the winner of the global telecommunications industry. They will also have sufficient financial resources and strong organization, including management, business structure, processes, etc.

Second, the merger may be at the market level, including the business combination of the same market. Operators will look for opportunities to acquire the existing business of a competitor, merge competitive organizations. Although this form is not as popular as cross-market integration, it allows operators to increase the number of users, fight for greater market share and eliminate direct competitors at the same time. Finally, the third kind of merger will appear within the operators.

In the short term, carriers will be possible to achieve recovery and accelerate growth through the three types of merger. However, the operator inter-group cross-market mergers and acquisitions may reshape the telecommunications industry. The analysis also showed that cross-market integration is in a upward momentum, while the opportunities of market integration at the same level will gradually decrease.

Dot Allots Sp Codes To Reliance Jio For Long Distance Services

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL), a telecom venture of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), has been allotted prominent signalling point (SP) codes by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT). These codes will help the company to launch National Long Distance (NLD) and International Long Distance (ILD) services.

As per an internal DoT note, these codes have been allotted to Reliance Jio in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Karnataka for both NLD as well as ILD operations. The note also stated, if Reliance Jio failed to use the SP codes in six months, then the Government will be liable to withdraw the codes and re-allocate them to some other company.

The benefits of SP codes to Reliance Jio

The signalling function will enable exchange of information over long distance telecom networks. SP codes are nodes that facilitate actual routing of information between two points. SP codes will let NLD networks connect with local networks.They will also enable ILD operators to inter-connect with other overseas network.

This development will take Reliance Jio a step closer to the launch of its telecom services.

Subsidiaries of Reliance Jio

Reliance Jio is awaiting for DoT to give a nod for the company to merge its two subsidiaries, Infotel Telecom and Rancore Technologies, with itself. The development will thus be beneficial to Reliance Jio, at this time. Currently, Reliance Jio holds a unified licence;Infotel holds licence for both NLD and ILD services while Rancore is an R&D unit. Reliance Jio is seeking to offer NLD and ILD services under a single permit.

Infotel Telecom is a part of a global consortium building the huge Bay of Bengal Gateway (BBG) sub-sea cable system. The 8,000 km submarine cable system will enhance global connectivity between South Asia, Southeast Asia and West Asia. It will link India with other Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Oman, UAE and Sri Lanka through the landing stations, Chennai and Mumbai. It will also have interconnections to plug on the sub-sea links across Africa, Europe and the Far East.

Reliance Jio Infocomm

Mumbai based Reliance Jio is headed by the renowned industrialist, Mukesh Ambani. The company has acquired permits to offer high speed 4G data and voice services across the country. It is gearing up to launch its 4G wireless services in 2015 through airwaves in the 2.3 GHz band.

In February this year, Reliance Jio had bagged 1800 MHz bandwidth in 14 circles with which it will offer voice services, too. The company holds 2300 MHz spectrum in 22 circles as well. Last year in October, the company had obtained a unified permit. It had to pay a sum of Rs. 1,658 crores which is the requisite amount internet service providers holding wireless broadband airwaves pay for offering voice services.In the past, telcos had to secure distinct permits for offering voice, data and other added services.

Things That Can Get Educators in Legal Hot Water

Remember those World War II posters that warned, “Loose Lips Sink Ships?” Well, that dire wisdom is just as urgent today. It is possible that a comment ingenuously made in the faculty room, in an email, during an IEP meeting or a phone call can cause a teacher embarrassment, at best, or a district to become embroiled in a lawsuit, at worst. Caution to be professional at all times as well as ever mindful of confidentiality laws has always been a top priority of school districts. However, in our digital age, this issue has taken on a new meaning and has escalated caution to another level.

In order to ferret out the most critical concerns facing schools today and some tips for how to deal with these concerns, I spoke with four lawyers who work with schools on a regular basis. Following are some of the insights gleaned from those conversations.
What is considered written documentation?

Anything and everything written about a student on school grounds can be subpoenaed for use in court. Attorney Dianna Halpenny of Sacramento, California, reinforces that anything in writing with a student’s name in it is part of the official student record. It is not necessarily true that if teachers keep it at home that it is not a student record.

Email communication

When faced with the challenge of keeping email private on school servers, teachers used to be advised to use web mail versus a downloadable email client such as Microsoft Outlook, Eudora, or Thunderbird. The belief was that web mail such as Yahoo mail; Hotmail, Mail2Web, etc. were safe.

Attorney Pamela Parker of Austin, Texas, reveals another, less known, fact: even web-based email is forensically accessible. Web-based email history may still be on the school server. Parker acknowledges that schools are not necessarily monitoring emails; however, a forensic computer specialist can recreate the emails if necessary. The reality of today’s world is that everything that is digital lives forever. Parker employs a sound analogy, “Having a conversation by email or text message is no different than having a private conversation on stage at Carnegie hall in front of a full house. Most people won’t pay attention, but some will.”

Teachers may send an email to a parent, colleague, supervisor, etc. believing that the email will remain confidential between them. However, there is no guarantee that the recipient of an email will respect that confidentiality or realize the importance of keeping the interaction private. Sometimes, despite all good intentions, emails are forwarded accidentally. This easily happens when the writer uses “reply all” or continues to respond to an email that has the entire thread attached. I’ve been amazed at what I’ve had included in a message to me when I have been added as a recipient midstream in an email conversation. When I scroll down, I might read conversation to which I should not have been privy. Here’s a tip: Look at what’s attached to the bottom of your email before you hit “send!”

Phone messages

Another consideration is phone messages. Not only can they be overheard, they can be forwarded. Parker contends that even a teacher’s children might see and pass on text messages or phone emails. Parker advises educators to have critical conversations in person.

Attorney Brad King of Richmond, Virginia, goes on to explain that even messages on personal phones, especially those regarding relationships with students, can become public domain. He explains that teachers’ phone records can be involved in litigation. Again, the digital age brings a new level of accountability to the issue. Digital phone messages, as well as text messages, are easily forwarded and potentially retrieved.

Text messages

Have you ever gotten a text or sent a text that was meant for someone else? Are you sure that deleted texts are not potentially accessible if a related case was brought to court? How much text messaging is available is dependent on your telecommunication carrier. There may be information out there that you do not know is there.

Contributors:
Diana D. Halpenny
Attorney at Law
Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard, Inc.

Pamela Parker
Attorney at Law
Austin, Texas

Bradford A. King, Esq.
Thompson McMullan, P.C.

Mark Joel Goldstein
Attorney