Usauto

USAuto is a company struggling to be competitive in the 21st century. Labor costs and foreign competition are driving profits down and the company's plants are described as "outdated". In order to survive, USAuto has spent a great deal of time and money developing a hybrid engine. Their hopes are pinned on a deal with AutoMex, a Mexican marketing company that is wishing to develop its own brand in South America. USAuto is hoping that southern expansion combined with the lower wages of Mexican workers will be enough to save them. AutoMex is a company seeking to expand its business interests from marketing to manufacturing. The company is interested in partnering with USAuto to produce hybrid vehicles both for import to the US, but for sale within South America.

The primary stakeholders in the situation are the negotiators from USAuto and AutoMex, the employees of both companies, and American and Mexican consumers. The USAuto negotiators are interested in preserving their intellectual property and increasing their profits. As Americans, they are more driven by results and since the company has been sitting on the hybrid engine, they are in a hurry to get a deal done. "For North Americans, negotiations are businesslike; their factual appeals are based on what they believed is objective information, presented with the assumption that it is understood by the other side on a logical basis" (Deresky, p. 160). The AutoMex negotiators are interested in expanding their business to include manufacture, technological education and growth for their workers, and increased profits. Culturally, the AutoMex negotiators are relationship builders, working "with whom they have achieved a comfort level" (Litteral, para.8). The USAuto employees are interested in a fair wage and job retention while the AutoMex workers also want a fair wage, but also technological training for an increased skill set. US automotive employees