Scenario Summary
A supervisor in a large accounting firm is scheduled to interview a job candidate who comes
highly recommended and has excellent qualifications. Jim has an accounting degree
(bachelors) from a prestigious Ivy League school and has been working on his MBA by
attending an online program for the last 18 months and is close to earning his degree. In
addition, he has been working for one of your competitors for several years and has
excellent references attesting to his ability. Your payroll budget has recently been reduced
significantly as a result of a declining client base, and your manager has the final authority
in establishing salaries for the new hires, but generally is responsive to what his
supervisor's propose to a job candidate. In addition, the HR Director has established salary
ranges for new hires that are to be adhered to, unless there are extenuating circumstances
such as candidates with special expertise, the ability to bring in additional clients, or
excellent credentials, including having the CPA certification.
Your Assignment
Your role is to determine whether distributive or integrative negotiations will be preferred in
this scenario between the job applicant and the supervisor, and discuss the other potential
negotiations that may occur between the other individuals who have an interest in hiring the
job applicant. Your analysis should include your rationale for the preferred negotiation
strategy for each negotiation based on the specific objectives of each of the participants in
each scenario. Your responses to each question should be 50–100 words.
Sharon, Accounting Supervisor
I am the supervisor in a large accounting firm that is interviewing a prospective employee who comes
highly recommended and has excellent qualifications. Jim has a bachelors degree in accounting from an
Ivy League college and he is working on his MBA by attending an online program for the last 18 months.
He is close to earning his degree. In addition he has been working for one of our competitors for several
years and has excellent references attesting to his ability. Your payroll budget has recently been reduced
significantly as a result of a declining customer base and your manager has the final authority in
establishing salaries for the new hires but generally is responsive to what his supervisor’s propose to the
job candidate. In addition, the HR Director has established salary ranges for new hires that are to be
adhered to, unless there are extenuating circumstances such as the candidate having special expertise,
the ability to bring in additional clients, or excellent credentials including having the CPA certification.
Jim, Accounting Job Candidate
I have heard that the company has been struggling lately as a result of a major firm moving out of the
area in which they had provided all of the accounting services. You see this as a “blip” in their operations
and the firm has a solid reputation and is known for providing excellent developmental opportunities for
its junior accounts. Since I have two years of professional accounting experience, this is an area that I am
interested in since I have a long career ahead of me and I need exposure to the “best practices” of this
firm. I would like to receive at least a 10% increase above my current salary of $60,000 and will be firm
in my position with the supervisor interviewing me. Someday I would like to earn my CPA (once I
complete my MBA degree) and maybe the firm can support me financially.
Helen, Accounting Manager
I am in a bind with one of my supervisors who is interviewing candidates for one of our accounting
positions that recently became vacant. I have had to reduce the supervisor’s budget because of the loss
of one of our big accounts but we desperately need to fill this position as it is critical for us to continue
servicing our existing client base. The supervisor has informed me that she is considering an excellent
candidate with good credentials, including his experience and education, and should be able to obtain
him within his budget of $50,000 including benefits (20% of the total compensation of $50,000). I don’t
want to have to run to HR to get an exception from the established salary range for the position as it will
make me look like a bad manager, so the supervisor will have to stay within that range.
Richard, HR Director
I understand that our managers are having a difficult time with the diminished client base of late and
sympathize with the challenges in retaining accountants they have and filling the critical vacancies to
continue serving our remaining clients. I think we have reasonable hiring ranges for our junior
accountants and have been trying to “hold the line” with our managers so the firm can survive in this
economy. I understand that one of our supervisors has interviewed a “rising star” from another
accounting firm that would fill one of our critical vacancies. It will be interesting to see if the supervisor
will be successful in negotiating an acceptable salary that will not “break the bank” and stay within our
salary ranges.