於是今晚，他們宿舍樓的同學朋友們要為他們兩個舉行壹個送別的party，他們也邀請我去參加，所以我就去了．這個party真的讓我大開眼界，吃到了很多從前沒有吃過的東西．整個廚房都被我們霸占了，壹***有差不多20個人．他們來自美國，德國，意大利，西班牙，印度，比利時等不同的國家．我壹去到就被我眼前的各種食物吸引了，有剛煎好的牛排和羊排，有各種各樣的巧克力，餅幹，啤酒，紅酒，果汁，香腸，薯片，還有好多各種各樣的小吃．後來聽那些同學講才知道，那些小吃全是來自不同國家的．就這個晚上我吃到了來愛爾蘭這麽久最豐盛的晚餐了，真的很開心！喝了兩杯紅酒，雖然我不太會喝，可是壹入口我就發現這幾瓶紅酒不是壹般的貨色，壹問才知道每瓶要花73歐元（差不多人民幣650元）．喝了紅酒又喝啤酒．我真的很佩服老外的酒量，喝啤酒好像喝水壹樣，壹會兒壹瓶，壹會兒又壹瓶．最慘的是我是那裏唯壹壹個中國人，當他們聽說我不喜歡喝啤酒時，就喜歡起哄，壹個個輪流要我幹杯．本來我不想喝的， 可是想想來了這裏這麽久了也沒有好好地”瘋過”，難得今晚大家這麽高興，所以我也來者不拒，就好像今年畢業晚會壹樣，喝了差不多6瓶啤酒！後來Arvind還煮他的”印度茶”給我們喝，剛開始我不以為意，因為我不喜歡喝茶．可是他把茶煮好以後， 我喝了壹口，發現超級好喝！！壹連喝了好幾杯．印度茶和中國的茶完全不同，茶葉像小沙粒壹樣，很細致的．放到鍋裏煮牛奶， 再放些姜片和白糖去，慢火煮它個十幾分鐘，那味道真的堪稱壹絕！就這樣我們鬧了三個多小時才散．臨走時，大家都和那兩位即將離去的主人公擁抱再見，那情景真的讓人有壹種想落淚的感覺．我從來沒有想過我會和壹些老外的友情這麽深，從前我總是覺得和外國人有壹種cultural gap，很難深交．可是漸漸地我發現其實不盡然．當妳遇到壹些主流思想壹致的老外時，妳們真的可以成為很好的朋友！在這裏我願他們後天的旅程壹路順風！
說完開心的事，也要記壹下今天的”慘事”．今天中午12點開考第壹科．首先是要坐車到考場．這是我最納悶的地方：為什麽考試不在學校的課室裏考而要專門坐車到另壹個所謂的考試中心去考呢？我根本沒有到過那個地方，所以不懂怎麽走．幸好昨晚就和Yuky說好了今天早上大家壹起出發．Yuky是香港大學和我們學校的交換生，香港本地人，她讀的是本科金融．剛好她和她同學也正要去那個考試中心考試，所以我們就壹起去了．說到Yuky，壹個可愛的小女生，我真的忍不住要在這裏稱贊壹下她．雖然她來自香港，可是沒有壹點香港人的架子，很多香港人會看不起我們中國大陸的人，但是她不會．相反她很親切善談，很好相處．更讓我佩服的是她的英語，非常流利地道，真的非常厲害．和她壹起來的幾個香港中文大學的學生，和她比起來，就遜色多了．看來港大的學生真的很牛！
到了考試中心，進了大廳以後要到壹個黑板去查看自己的座位號．人多得不得了！好不容易擠進去了，發現N張名單，不知從何找起．後來發現原來是按姓名的字母序號排序的，終於找到自己的位置，可是那時已經快開始考試了．舉目四望，發現好多個考場，而我卻不知道自己的考場在哪．不過我還是挺幸運的，因為我突然看到壹個我們班的同學經過，所以他帶我進去．進考場前要把書包放在外面，匆忙間我忘了拿筆進去，幸好那個同學又借我壹支筆．那種尷尬真的讓我想找個洞鉆進去．進了考場我真的嚇了壹跳：整個考場就像壹個體育館壹樣，1200多個考生同時在這個”體育館”考試！這些學生來自不同的專業和年級，有本科的也有研究生，甚至還有博士生！考場前面有壹個總的指揮臺，有幾個老師在上面念壹下考試規則等東西，並且時不時會在上面說哪門考試的哪頁卷子題目有問題等等，讓人頭暈目眩．我當時想：我的天啊，這真是不折不扣的”大鍋飯”！
考試開始了，我拿起筆就開始答題了．整個卷子都是主觀題，壹***五道大題，選三道來回答．我大概瀏覽了壹下題目，謝天謝地，沒有我想的那麽難．老師之前給了前幾年的考試題給我們看，看得我心驚膽顫，可是這次的題目好像沒有以前的難．可是沒有以前的難不代表它不難，每道題的答案要想半天，然後還要飛快地寫，因為時間很緊．越到後面時間越緊．到後面我只記得我的筆不停地寫，寫到手指關節都痛了，但是我不知道我寫了什麽東西．臨交卷前的五分鐘，我終於完成，差點趴在桌上暈了過去，感到”元氣大傷”．數了壹下，我居然寫了密密麻麻八頁的答案！當時我想：為什麽不用電腦機考呢？我平時習慣了在電腦上打文章，好久沒有用筆寫過英語了，所以很不習慣，書寫也難看了很多，真是慚愧～～不過不管怎樣，總算考完了，分數好不好我已經不在意了，過了就行了！
考完了就直接坐車去市中心買東西．市中心好熱鬧啊，特別是臨近聖誕的這個時候，到處是小攤，販賣各色裝飾品．各個商店也在打折促銷．最讓我驚奇的是路邊很多表演看，弄得我走走停停， 差點忘記了要去買東西．最讓我難忘的是壹個樂隊的表演，有人在奏樂有人在唱歌，真的唱得超好聽，聽得我都不想走了！本來壹貧如洗的我都忍不住給了他們三歐元的小費，覺得不給太對不住他們的表演了！聖誕前的熱鬧讓我想起了家鄉新年集市的熱鬧情景．突然好想回家，可是今年過年註定是要在這裏過的了！想到這裏不禁感到壹陣落寞．
今晚同班同學Michael要在他家舉行壹個聖誕party，他發信息邀請我和別的壹些同學參加，可是由於我要參加Arvind和Jack的晚會，所以沒辦法去了，真的感到很遺憾！不過相信以後會有更多的機會的！試考完了，不過還有很多作業沒有做完，未來這十天左右的時間還是要天天讀和寫．明天還有壹個小組討論，想起來有點心煩．不過日子還是要過的，所以還是積極樂觀地面對吧！
Reflection on the Negotiation of “Galbraith and Company”
This week’s negotiation activity is a bit different from the previous ones. It is a multi-party negotiation. This time I acted as a senior member of the executive committee of Galbraith & Company, a professional services firm. There were five senior members in the executive committee, namely, Adam, Downs, Baldwin, Chambers and Eagly. Adam was the CEO of the company. I played the role of “Chambers”, who was responsible for information technology consulting. We were going to hold a discussion concerning several issues as follows: 1) whether to buy the magazine Management Quarterly (MQ);2) Whether to approve Downs to cash out all his stocks;3) Who would get Eagly’s professional team of 7 consultants;4) Who would get the Informatics account from Adam.
For me, I exhibited a great interest in Eagly’s professional team, because my group had recently been decimated by a series of defections caused by other firms who had stolen away some of my best talents. Therefore, I was in great urgency to rebuild my team. I was also intended to obtain the Informatics account from Adam. The Informatics account was now the client of Adam. Only by getting Adam’s permission could I get the client from him. However, compared with Eagly’s team, it was less important to us. So my primary task was to try to gain the professional team from Eagly and if possible, I would also try to gain the Informatics account.
In the first ten minutes of the meeting, each member of the executive committee proposed their own concerns. We put out what we wanted. Then after that, we would have a chance to talk to each other regarding our own issues and hoped that others could support us. First of all, I had a meet with Eagly. I told him that I knew he was good at developing talents within his team and that I wanted a professional team of 7 consultants from them because my group had to be rebuilt and was now in short of hands. But he told me that 7 consultants were too many for his team because if he gave me 7 consultants, his team would also face the risk of shortage of hands. He also added that personally speaking, he would not like to transfer his consultants to other members of the executive committee. But he also asserted that if I voted against for Adam’s proposal of buying MQ, he would consider giving me 3 consultants. Eagly reiterated that if the company bought MQ, it would be doomed to suffer a great loss. That was why they were strongly against the buying of MQ. Actually, although I retained a close relationship with Adam, I was also skeptical of the value of Adam’s idea of buying MQ. And more importantly, I was eager to get a professional team from Eagly. Therefore, I argued that if Eagly could promise me 5 consultants, I would stand in line with him on the issue of MQ. He wanted to further reduce the number to 4, but I did not go backward this time and strongly insisted on 5. Besides, I proposed my second best alternative that if I agreed with Adam on MQ, he would surely grant me the Informatics account. Seeing this, Eagly finally acceded to give me a team of 5 consultants.
Then I had a talk with Adam. Adam told me that if I could vote for him on MQ, he would definitely give me the Informatics account. However, I told him that though I wanted Informatics account very much, the team from Eagly meant far more to me. So in order to gain the most needed, I had promised Eagly to cast a con ballot on MQ. Adam felt upset about my response but he still said that he would respect my choice.
Then I had a talk with Downs who would like to cash out all his stocks. According to the company charter, shareholders of the firm could not sell off all their stocks at once, especially when they owned a substantial amount. Instead, any partner who decided to leave the company and sold his stocks should allow the company to buy back his stocks slowly for fear that the company would run out of its cash instantly. So Downs’ request was blatantly violating the company’s rules. Nonetheless, considering that Downs had served the company for so many years and made a great contribution to the development of the company, I promised to vote for him on cashing out all his stocks.
My final private talk was conducted with Baldwin. Baldwin told me that he was desperately longing for Adam’s Informatics account and hoped that I would not compete with him on it. I told him that I had rejected Adam’s idea of buying MQ, so probably he would not grant me the account. So if Baldwin agreed with his request, Adam would give him the Informatics account.
At last, after 25 minutes of private discussion, we came back to the table to vote for the issues we proposed in the beginning. Out of my surprise, I got both the team from Eagly and the Informatics account from Adam! Adam did not grant the account to Baldwin because Baldwin did not vote on his idea of MQ. Baldwin claimed that from a company’s perspective, it would be a loss to buy MQ and might render the company into great crisis. So he claimed that he would not sacrifice the company’s long-term benefits for the sake of his own. So eventually Adam’s idea of MQ did not go through. Downs got what he wanted because his contribution to the company was acknowledged by most of us.
I have learnt something in this negotiation. This is my first to engage in multi-party negotiation, so it is kind of challenging as well as exciting to me. I have learnt that In the multi-party negotiation, you should know what is the most important thing to you. It is the same in normal negotiations. After you know what you want, you can adjust your strategies according to the parties involved in the negotiation. You should know what all the other parties want and try to see whether you can help each other to achieve your goals respectively. If necessary, you should know to sacrifice something minor in order to get what you need most. In my case mentioned above, I intended to sacrifice the Informatics account in order to get the team from Eagly. But unexpectedly, I got both at last. Also, as far as I am concerned, I strongly oppose telling lie to other parties. Maybe you can get what you want by cheating this time, but in the long run, when all the people see you through, your reputation will be ruined and no one is going to trust you. On top of that, I think I learn from Baldwin that we cannot always focus on our own individual benefits and disregard the overall benefits of the firm. Once the firm goes bankrupt, all of us are destined to suffer. Therefore, we should always see things with far vision!