The Inn Owner - Afghanistan

Sarwar Khan was owner of an inn in the town of Spin Boldak. One day, a merchant came to the town, on his way to sell camels at the border. The inn owner prepared him a good meal of chicken, egg curry and bread for his prosperous-looking merchant, which he thoroughly enjoyed. The next morning, the inn owner made him a breakfast of tea, boiled eggs, fruits and cakes.

'Brother, I can not pay you for boarding and lodging this time for I have not sold my camels yet. I shall pay my dues on my return'. The host agreed.

After three months the merchant returned to the inn. He was served with a good meal and a heavy tea in the morning. 'Brother, you have been a good host to me twice, how much I owe you?'. 'It's not much sir, only one hundred dinars'. 'WHAT?', asked the traveler highly surprised, 'it can not be more than twenty dinars on both accounts...'. But the inn owner replied: 'The interest had accumulated. Let me explain. You had a chicken and four eggs three months ago. During that time, the chicken would have laid many eggs, the eggs would have hatched into chicks and laid more eggs who have become chickens...'. The merchant became angry. 'You are cheating me', he acclaimed. Then he realized this inn was the only one on his merchant route. He decided to let the qazi (judge) decide...

On the date of the trial the merchant did not show up. Three days passed and both the qazi and the inn owner became annoyed. Why does he summon us and the doesn't show up himself, the wondered. Finally after one week the traveler arrived on the scene. The qazi demanded an explanation.
'Your honor, pardon me, I had boiled some corn to make porridge, but then I changed my mind. I decided to sow the corn so that I could reap a rich harvest in autumn.
'You are fooling us', the qazi replied, 'how can boiled corn be sown?'
'The same way', replied the merchant calmly, 'roast chickens can not produce eggs, and boiled eggs can not hatch'. The qazi and the inn-owner knew they had met their match. The word spread and the inn owner never overcharged his quests anymore.

Questions

• Why did the inn-owner agree to let the traveler pay upon his return?
• Was he right to charge him interest?
• Why did the traveler ask for third-party mediation?
• Do you believe the merchant will come back to the inn?

Management Link

This is a story about negotiation. At first, the merchant became angry. He probably quickly realized that angry emotions are not helpful when negotiating. Also, he wanted to keep the opportunity open to stay at the inn at a later time. So he decided to ask for third party mediation. Sometimes it is wise to take a break before reacting, as first emotions can be strong which can damage your position.

The way the merchant played it out is called 'principled negotiation'; not bargaining about positions (you wan me to pay, I don't want to pay) but on principles (can processed foods items generate interest?) The strategy he followed was to be 'soft on the person', but 'hard on the issue'. Managers need to be aware of different negotiation strategies and use them rightly to according to the interests of all people involved.

For more info see  Harvard's Programme On Negotiation (PON) at http://www.pon.harvard.edu