Negotiation

Negotiation

Negotiation is the process of two individuals or groups reaching joint agreement about differing needs or ideas. Oliver (1996) described negotiation as "negotiators jointly searching a multidimensional space and then agreeing to a single point in the space." Negotiation is a form of conflict resolution. When we negotiate, the first thing that needs to be established is whether we have two or more parties that have a common objective, but also differ in ideas when it comes to how they achieve the objective. The principle behind negotiating is to finding the middle ground that is suitable for both parties involved. Not all negotiation ends in satisfactory compromise, sometimes negotiations can take a long time to conclude because, there is no common ground, or no one is willing to compromise. When this happens we have what is called a standoff, and this can lead to an argument and in many cases “NO DEAL”.

There are two main ways negotiations can be approached, cooperative or competitive. The cooperative approach to negotiating, calls for expertise in tolerance, each party must be willing to listen. All goals and priorities of both parties must be regarded equally important by all parties involved in order for there to be a “win-win” outcome. The Art of Negotiation, published by Gerard I. Nierenberg, states that the attitude of the negotiators decides the path a negotiation will take. Nierenberg’s belief that “Everybody Wins” guarantees that all parties benefit from the negotiations, as opposed to the competitive approach. For example: a potential car buyer goes to a car lot to look at possible cars to buy, while on site, a relationship is developed with the sales person. During this time of selling the salesperson and the customer begin to explore common interests; the salesperson begins to reveal knowledge and advice based on the customers need. Trust is then built as the salesperson seeks to satisfy the customer, by suggesting a vehicle with better highway miles, more space for transporting, and also a car that requires low maintenance. Both the salesperson and the customer profitably, bring to a close the negotiations with a signed car note.

The competitive approach is based on a win-lose system. This typically occurs when both parties do not share a common interest or goal. This style of negotiation often invites dishonesty, and in most cases only one side tends to benefit from the decision. In competitive negotiation, parties are not always forthcoming with information; the negotiator will give just enough information to make the other party accept the proposal. This type of negotiation can be seen in a divorce hearing, for ex. When it comes to the custody of the children, there can only be one primary parent, the other parent has to settle with scheduled time to visit the children, as a result of the children not being in their primary care, they also have to pay child support to help the primary parent.