Category Archives: Case Studies

Tiger Woods Video Analysis

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Below are my observations of the Tiger Woods press conference.
Overall, Tiger’s emotions, non-verbal communication, and words were very much aligned. He was truthful as he represented his feelings at the press conference. I did notice a couple of occasions when additional emotions leaked out.  There was a subtle undertone of anger throughout spots of the press conference, I believe this to be Tiger’s disposition as a result of having his personal life subject to scrutiny.  So without further adieu here are my observations.

  • 0:38 Tiger’s initial apology “I am deeply sorry….”, you can see the relief in his body as his shoulders droop ever so slightly indicating his genuine remorse. Yet, directly following his statement he flashes a partial emblem “No” as his head moves side to side.  I’m torn – what do you think?
  • 2:12 Tiger mentions letting “Those of you who work for me” down with his action.  I pick up a hint of anger during this statement.  One can only speculate why he’s angry at Team Tiger.  I don’t know enough to engage in any speculation.
  • 3:40 Tiger again reiterates his apology for all his actions. His statements are genuine and his actions are consistent with his words.  You will see a hard swallow, exhale, drooping shoulders, all consistent with his statement
  • 4:18 When he discusses Ellin’s grace and poise.  This statement appears to be false.  Tiger displays a flash of anger followed by a distinct “No” emblem (head shaking back and forth) as he claims Ellin deserves praise not blame.  Perhaps Tiger blames Ellin subconsciously for some of their marital problems, pure speculation.
  • 4:52 “I stopped living by the core values that I was taught to believe in”.  During this statement Tiger displays a subtle increase in his non-verbal manipulators as he rocks back and forth shifting his weight.  I’m not sure Tiger believes his statement.
  • 5:46 “I don’t get to play by different rules”, again an increase in non-verbal manipulation indicates he doesn’t believe this statement.  After all, if you’ve got $500 million in the bank, I’d say you’ve got a different set of rules than the rest of us.
  • 7:20 “It’s hard to admit I need help”, very subtle expression of disbelief across his mouth and eyes.  Although it could be a swallow as he prepares for his next statement, it was hard to distinguish because his head was tilted down towards his notes.
  • 8:01 When discussing whether Ellin and Tiger will stay together a subtle expression of doubt creeps across his face.  I don’t blame him, given what they have been through, doubt is a reasonable reaction here.
  • 8:28 Finally when Tiger denies taking performance enhancing drugs, his statement appeared to be truthful.

Overall, Tiger was genuine in his comments and showed a great deal of disappointment in his actions.  It is not uncommon for someone to conceal their emotions even when they are being honest.  I’d love to hear your comments and thoughts as well.

Viacom’s attempt to Position vs. Music Industry

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February 12th Philippe Dauman, Viacmon’s president and CEO, issued the following statment:

As we go forward, we are continuing to focus more on software than hardware, looking to reduce the cost structure associated with Rock Band, being selective in the music titles that we choose for Rock Band based on their cost. The music industry will assist with this category to make sure that it can continue on a profitable basis in the future and then finally we think we have the best games in the category, we’ll continue to rollout exciting products.

An obvious signal to the Music Industry as he begins the negotiation by creating his position through the media.  It is even more effective when followed by a letter/email/phone call to each company with his offer.  Effective positioning helps to shift the frame of reference before the negotiation technically begins.  Philippe is preparing the industry to receive his demands. To truly shift their expectations you need to deliver an offer, effectively dropping an anchor.

The Music Industry would be wise to attempt to shift the focus back onto their position with a preemptive strike.  Instead of allowing Viacom to open the discussions with some ridiculous offer like 50%, they need to provide an anchor of their own to begin the discussions around their position.  By opening first the initial expectation is set.  This is definitely shaping up into a classic Hard Bargaining negotiation.  I’ll keep my eye on any developments.  What do you think?

John Edwards – another Politician that Lies

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Humintell posted video clips of the John Edwards interview on ABC when he first denied the rumors of his affair and secondly denied fathering a child. Here are my comments on the John Edwards video. Which I’ve reproduced below.

I reviewed five minutes of video #1 and one minute of video #2. So here is my question, What do you see?
Here’s what I saw.

Case Study: The Music Business

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Today I thought it would be interesting to take and dissect a real negotiation to see some of the concepts in action.  So here is the setup, I’ve obscured some of the facts to protect the guilty:

Parties Involved:

1.  Record Company – Very large entertainment company Continue reading →