So the whole bloody saga has ended……apparently.
I am involved in large business negotiations on a regular basis so the recent events swirling around Quade Cooper’s contract interest me professionally. I think Quade’s camp have ignored some basic negotiation rules and that’s a big part of why they have not got the deal they wanted. The ARU have not been perfect either but let’s look where things went awry.
The Starting Positions
The starting position for Quade’s management team must have been to maximize the contract value he would get. They would have set a value they believed he is worth as their target, then set accept and walk away prices. It’s called a trading plan and it would cover salary, appearance fees, slice of merchandise, etc.
The ARU would do the same and smart negotiators will make an estimation of their opponent’s positions too. Where there is overlap of common ground a deal can be struck. Negotiations in good faith, with good communication will generally find where this is.
Taking a Risk
In 2010 Quade’s camp declined a 3 year offer, claiming to be “insulted” by the 300,000 on the table from the ARU (see here). He flirted publically with the NRL, eventually turning down 800,000 from the Eels before signing a one year deal with the ARU. Clearly the strategy was that he would play the house down at RWC 2011 and be in a much better position to negotiate. Quite a risk in my view
Risks like that should be calculated and factored using a blend of quantifiable and judgment based non-quantifiable methods (known to geeks like me as “heuristics”) so as produce a figure in dollars. Let’s assume Quade felt in 2010 he was worth 600,000 a year and could get that with a ripper of an RWC behind him, but was only being offered half that.
In effect he would risk a certain a 300,000 to have a chance at, say, 600,000. No corporate risk manager would stay employed for long if they proposed to risk 50% of the total contract value on offer on the chance of doubling that in 12 months without good evidence to back it. I’d take a bet that Quade’s camp didn’t know many outside backs suffer ACL tears per match, on average before they took that risk. They got blinded by the Eels offer and it was, frankly, piss poor career advice and novice risk appreciation.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
Of Khrushchev it was said “he knew to never force his opponent into a corner, for then, negotiation is impossible”. By tweeting before thinking and then compounding things on TV, Quade forced the ARU to a position where to grant him his desired contract would be a major loss of face. His briefing before going on Fox TV clearly took no account of the ARU’s reaction, or if it did, it was dead wrong.
Events of 1963 also taught us of the need to communicate better. In negotiations, it’s key and it’s an area where both can improve There’s little doubt who fed the “rookie contract” line to the press as a means to try to force the ARU’s hand. It took the ARU a week to tell the press that it wasn’t such a contract. When dealing with bad press, you have to respond immediately, not after a week – just ask any politician. Bad communication has been a constant in this saga.
Playing hardball and damaging goodwill is a poor negotiation tactic if you intend to continue a long term relationship. Robbie Deans will eventually leave but the suits who run the ARU are going to around for a while. Ill-considered and short sighted from Camp Cooper.
Where the ARU went wrong
The ARU needs to learn some joined up management. By this I mean the lead negotiator’s issues should be understood by the head coach. By saying publically he nearly hooked him against the Puma’s, the pressure on Quade to respond increased. It was short sighted by the ARU (Deans) to throw him under the bus like that and put Quade’s camp further into their position.
Where now?
Quade’s camp have shown poor risk management, they’ve forced the ARU into a corner & they’ve communicated as much via the Sydney Morning Herald as they have face to face. He’s also the only player in Wallaby history with such obvious flaws in his game (his tackling and his mouth) to demand such a contract. The ARU are not good with Gen Y kids with armies of twitter followers. They need deal with this better and all get on the same page but in the end they have managed affairs better than Quade et al.
The reality is he wouldn’t be sure of a spot in the match day squad if Rabbits and KB were both fit and he does not appear to recognize this fact. Amazingly, despite the amateurish negotiation strategy and him pissing his employers off no end, the contract on offer has gone from 300,000 to up to 600,000 (see here). I doubt the ARU will miss dealing with him.
Is this another well considered risk that Dingo will go after the Lions tour and he can come back and sign a contract that makes Inglis jealous? One doubts.
Photos c/o @quadecooper
