Negotiation and Mediation
Hoorcollege 1 - Introduction
Characteristics of a Negotiation
- Negotiation is a basic means of getting what you want from others
- There is a conflict of needs and desires between two or more parties
- Parties negotiate because they think they can get a better deal than by simply accepting what
the other side offers them
- Back and forth communication designed to reach agreement
- Parties prefer searching for an agreement rather than:
- Fight openly
- Capitulate
- Break off contact permanently
- Take their dispute to a third party
- Negotiation involves tangibles and intangibles
Interdependence
→ In negotiation, parties need each other to achieve their preferred outcomes or objectives
- Interdependent goals
- win-lose: I win, you lose (conflicting goals)
- win-win: opportunities for both parties to gain (convergent goals)
- Type of interdependence shapes processes and outcomes
- Zero-sum or distributive – one winner
- Non-zero-sum or integrative – mutual gains
Mutual Adjustment
→ Throughout the negotiation, both parties act to influence the other. An effective negotiator
understands how people will adjust and readjust and how the negotiation might twist and turn.
- Negotiators face two dilemmas in mutual adjustment
- Dilemma of honesty
- Dilemma of trust
- Part of mutual adjustment is concession making
- When one party agrees to make a change in his/her position
- Fairness and reciprocity in concessions is important
Conflict
- Conflict can be defined as a:
- sharp disagreement
- perceived divergence of interest
- belief that the parties’ current aspirations cannot be achieved simultaneously
- Dysfunctions of conflict
- Competitive, win-lose mindset
- Misperception and bias
- Emotionally charged
- Decreased communication
- Blurred issues
, - Locked into positions
- Magnified differences
- Escalation
- Functions and Benefits of Conflict
- Content-related discussion
- Creative problem-solving
- Change and innovation
- Awareness of self and others
- Strengthened relationships
- Stimulating and fun
→ Negotiation is a strategy for productively managing conflict
Distributive Negotiations
→ In distributive negotiations, the goals of one party are in fundamental and direct conflict with
the goals of the other party.
- Purpose of the negotiation is to claim value
- A competition over who is going to get the most of a limited resource
- Three reasons every negotiator should understand distributive bargaining:
1. In order to do well in interdependent situations that are distributive
2. To know how to counter the effects of such widely used strategies
3. Every negotiation requires skills at the “claiming-value” stage
Basic Elements of Distributive Bargaining Situations
- Positions
- Opening offers
- Create room for making concessions
- Target points
- Stretch goals that parties aspire to
- People who aim high get better deals but don’t become too greedy with a large stretch
goal
- Resistance points
- Negotiators will not go beyond this point (i.e., their bottom line)
- Should be kept secret from the other party
Basic Elements of Distributive Bargaining Situations
- ZOPA (zone of possible agreement)
- When resistance points overlap, there is a positive bargaining range
- With a negative bargaining range, there is no room for settlement
- Concessions
- Patterns of concession making contain valuable information
- Final offers: “This is all I can do”, “I asked my boss and he allowed me to give you a special
deal…”
- Settlement point B
Alternatives to a Negotiated Agreement
- Every interdependency has an alternative; negotiators can always walk away
- But how attractive are the alternatives?
, - BATNA (acronym for Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement)
- People with strong BATNAs:
- Set their goals higher
- Make fewer concessions
- If no attractive alternatives, negotiators have little bargaining power
Developing Negotiation Power
→ To develop your power, answer the following questions:
- What is my BATNA?
- Should I disclose my BATNA to the other side during negotiations?
- If I have a weak BATNA, should I lie about my alternatives?
- Do I know what the other side’s BATNA is? How can I find their BATNA?
- How can I weaken the other side’s BATNA?
- How can I strengthen my BATNA?
→ BATNA is an acronym for Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement.
Goals and Strategies
- Goal in distributive bargaining:
- Settlement as close to the other party’s resistance point as possible
- Strategies in distributive bargaining: Learn as much as possible about the other party’s
position:
- BATNA
- Resistance point
- Influence the other party’s belief about what is possible
- Convince the opponent of your position
- Make the opponent change their mind about their own position
- Put the opponent under pressure
Hardball Tactics
- Good cop/bad cop
- Lowball/highball
- This tactic involves making an extremely low (lowball) or high (highball) initial offer
to anchor the negotiation. The initial offer sets the reference point for the
negotiations.
- Bogey
- The bogey tactic involves pretending that an issue of little or no importance is very
important to the negotiator. By doing so, the negotiator can later trade this
"important" issue for concessions on issues that truly matter to them.
- Intimidation
- The use of deceptive tactics can be active or passive:
- Deception by omission: not disclosing information that would benefit the other
- Deception by commission: actually lying
Taking Positions
- Opening stance
- What attitude will you adopt during the negotiation?
- Competitive or moderate?
Hoorcollege 1 - Introduction
Characteristics of a Negotiation
- Negotiation is a basic means of getting what you want from others
- There is a conflict of needs and desires between two or more parties
- Parties negotiate because they think they can get a better deal than by simply accepting what
the other side offers them
- Back and forth communication designed to reach agreement
- Parties prefer searching for an agreement rather than:
- Fight openly
- Capitulate
- Break off contact permanently
- Take their dispute to a third party
- Negotiation involves tangibles and intangibles
Interdependence
→ In negotiation, parties need each other to achieve their preferred outcomes or objectives
- Interdependent goals
- win-lose: I win, you lose (conflicting goals)
- win-win: opportunities for both parties to gain (convergent goals)
- Type of interdependence shapes processes and outcomes
- Zero-sum or distributive – one winner
- Non-zero-sum or integrative – mutual gains
Mutual Adjustment
→ Throughout the negotiation, both parties act to influence the other. An effective negotiator
understands how people will adjust and readjust and how the negotiation might twist and turn.
- Negotiators face two dilemmas in mutual adjustment
- Dilemma of honesty
- Dilemma of trust
- Part of mutual adjustment is concession making
- When one party agrees to make a change in his/her position
- Fairness and reciprocity in concessions is important
Conflict
- Conflict can be defined as a:
- sharp disagreement
- perceived divergence of interest
- belief that the parties’ current aspirations cannot be achieved simultaneously
- Dysfunctions of conflict
- Competitive, win-lose mindset
- Misperception and bias
- Emotionally charged
- Decreased communication
- Blurred issues
, - Locked into positions
- Magnified differences
- Escalation
- Functions and Benefits of Conflict
- Content-related discussion
- Creative problem-solving
- Change and innovation
- Awareness of self and others
- Strengthened relationships
- Stimulating and fun
→ Negotiation is a strategy for productively managing conflict
Distributive Negotiations
→ In distributive negotiations, the goals of one party are in fundamental and direct conflict with
the goals of the other party.
- Purpose of the negotiation is to claim value
- A competition over who is going to get the most of a limited resource
- Three reasons every negotiator should understand distributive bargaining:
1. In order to do well in interdependent situations that are distributive
2. To know how to counter the effects of such widely used strategies
3. Every negotiation requires skills at the “claiming-value” stage
Basic Elements of Distributive Bargaining Situations
- Positions
- Opening offers
- Create room for making concessions
- Target points
- Stretch goals that parties aspire to
- People who aim high get better deals but don’t become too greedy with a large stretch
goal
- Resistance points
- Negotiators will not go beyond this point (i.e., their bottom line)
- Should be kept secret from the other party
Basic Elements of Distributive Bargaining Situations
- ZOPA (zone of possible agreement)
- When resistance points overlap, there is a positive bargaining range
- With a negative bargaining range, there is no room for settlement
- Concessions
- Patterns of concession making contain valuable information
- Final offers: “This is all I can do”, “I asked my boss and he allowed me to give you a special
deal…”
- Settlement point B
Alternatives to a Negotiated Agreement
- Every interdependency has an alternative; negotiators can always walk away
- But how attractive are the alternatives?
, - BATNA (acronym for Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement)
- People with strong BATNAs:
- Set their goals higher
- Make fewer concessions
- If no attractive alternatives, negotiators have little bargaining power
Developing Negotiation Power
→ To develop your power, answer the following questions:
- What is my BATNA?
- Should I disclose my BATNA to the other side during negotiations?
- If I have a weak BATNA, should I lie about my alternatives?
- Do I know what the other side’s BATNA is? How can I find their BATNA?
- How can I weaken the other side’s BATNA?
- How can I strengthen my BATNA?
→ BATNA is an acronym for Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement.
Goals and Strategies
- Goal in distributive bargaining:
- Settlement as close to the other party’s resistance point as possible
- Strategies in distributive bargaining: Learn as much as possible about the other party’s
position:
- BATNA
- Resistance point
- Influence the other party’s belief about what is possible
- Convince the opponent of your position
- Make the opponent change their mind about their own position
- Put the opponent under pressure
Hardball Tactics
- Good cop/bad cop
- Lowball/highball
- This tactic involves making an extremely low (lowball) or high (highball) initial offer
to anchor the negotiation. The initial offer sets the reference point for the
negotiations.
- Bogey
- The bogey tactic involves pretending that an issue of little or no importance is very
important to the negotiator. By doing so, the negotiator can later trade this
"important" issue for concessions on issues that truly matter to them.
- Intimidation
- The use of deceptive tactics can be active or passive:
- Deception by omission: not disclosing information that would benefit the other
- Deception by commission: actually lying
Taking Positions
- Opening stance
- What attitude will you adopt during the negotiation?
- Competitive or moderate?
