Business · Unit 7 · Case study

Case study: 'Renegotiating a supplier contract mid-project'

Duration: 20 min

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← Lesson 7ALesson 7B →
Warm-up

Warm-up · Prime the case (5 min, solo)

Two micro-drills from 7A (past modals + BATNA) and 7B (verbs of the senses / reporting phrases + concession vs trade-off). Do both before opening the scenario.

Drill 1 — Past modal: read what already happened

Rewrite each hunch as a past-modal sentence (must have / might have / should have / can't have) that names the read.

  1. 'They agreed too fast on the delivery date.'

  2. 'Their lead negotiator went silent for 10 days.'

  3. 'We didn't ask for a payment-terms clause.'

Drill 2 — Concession vs trade-off

Label each move CONCESSION (give without getting) or TRADE-OFF (give in exchange for). Fix the concessions.

  1. 'We can drop the price by 8%.'

  2. 'We can move the deadline by two weeks in exchange for a Net 30 payment term instead of Net 60.'

Bridge to the case → Two moves the case will demand: (a) every silence, every fast yes, every walk-out gets a past-modal read out loud before you reply; (b) no concession leaves your mouth without an IF-clause attached. Open the scenario.
🎯 Final output

Final output — the BATNA memo + the Thursday call + the recap

Solo. (1) Draft the ONE-page pre-call BATNA memo — what you know, what you don't, what your walk-away point is, and what SPECIFIC trade you'll offer first. (2) Record a 90-second voice note of the OPENING of your Thursday call with Cristina, in your voice. (3) Write the 80-word recap email you'd send within 30 minutes of closing the deal. Every document has to answer: is this a trade-off or a concession?