Negotiation

This article discusses the process of negotiation, its importance, and different strategies that can be used to mitigate conflicts. It also includes a reflection on a negotiation experience and an application of negotiation theories.

Running head: NEGOTIATION
Negotiation
Student’s name
Institution Affiliation(s)

NEGOTIATION
Part I: Reflection
Negotiation is a process through which arguing parties settle differences. This is a
method through which disputing parties come to an amicable settlement to mitigate the disputes.
Negotiation generally takes place in government branches, businesses, legal cases and in non-
profit organizations. When different interests of more than one person converge to a common
point, then it is inevitable that conflict and disagreement will be there. Conflicts or disagreements
cannot be fruitful for any of the conflicting parties1. Therefore, under conflicting circumstances,
negotiation is the only silver lining that can deal with the situation. Without the proper
negotiation, conflicts of interest can be detrimental for the arguing parties. Negotiation is a
complex but effective process can be designed with the help of different steps. Those steps are
preparation, discussion, and goals clarification, negotiation towards an outcome, agreement and
implementation of the action. In this study, different factors related to the negotiation will be
discussed in details2.
I have been involved in negotiations where I was in a class group where we were
presented with a case and needed to negotiate for a win-win outcome. The class was divided into
two groups which would represent either side of the company and the Town Council respectively
The cases of Twin Lakes Mining Company and Haborco are special cases that involve the
government and private companies. I realized these entities are often in a conflict where public
welfare is concerned. A great deal of the conflict comes from environmental issues because it
concerns everybody. The Twin Lakes Mining Company was placed in a situation where their
business, which places great risks to the air and water quality of the town of Tamarack, is
1 Mara Olekalns;Wendi L. Adair, Handbook of Research on Negotiation, Reprint edition (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
Pub, 2015).
2 Jeanne Brett and Leigh Thompson, “Negotiation,” Celebrating Fifty Years of Organizational Behavior and Decision
Making Research (1966-2016) 136 (September 1, 2016): 68–79, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.06.003.
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NEGOTIATION
obliged to clean up the ongoing mess their company is producing, to the detriment of the
townspeople. The officials of Twin Lakes have no choice but to comply with the mandate of the
government when they are faced with the reality of their civic responsibility but are at a loss as to
how to come up with the money to spend for the clean-up. Thus, they sought negotiations with
the Town Council to help them out. The Town Council is aware of the revenue Twin Lakes
provides for the town as well as its great role in employing their people. The town council is
willing to help out but is constrained by the government’s ruling of “clean sheets” balances for
budgetary allocations. This means that whatever revenue the town gets should be enough for its
expenditures. No deficits are allowed. This puts them in a bind in going all the way in helping
the company out in their financial predicament.
Part II: Application of Theories
Each group congregated to brainstorm on their decisions for the negotiation. It is this
part of our role-playing when much of the theories, concepts, readings and the discussions
learned from the class are applied3. Each negotiating party, becoming aware of the other party’s
proposed stand now tread into the bargaining zone, which is the space between their reservation
prices and the assumed reservation price of the other party. They come up with their own
BATNA or their “best alternative to a negotiated agreement,” explain that this is the fall back
alternative that negotiators have when they fail to reach an agreement with the current
negotiation. In deciding what one’s BATNA is, the reservation price, market information and
aspiration levels must be considered. Market information is the current information regarding
certain values related to the negotiation. This information will provide a safe anchor in the
3 Andrea Caputo et al., “The Relationship between Cultural Values, Cultural Intelligence and Negotiation Styles,”
Journal of Business Research 99 (June 1, 2019): 23–36, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.02.011.
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NEGOTIATION
negotiation4. Aspiration levels are a negotiating party’s most ideal situation; the best deal he can
get. We are allowing time for decision framing results in better thought-out decisions for
negotiation. This involves much thinking and introspection on the part of the decision-makers
and reflects their views and insights. When our group discussed the points for negotiation, I felt
that we had to analyze how we saw the negotiation process5. Given a challenging case like Twin
Lakes, we wanted to end up with a win-win situation. Thus, we have chosen to implement
integrative strategies in our negotiation process. Following the steps in the Integrative
Negotiation Process we learned from class, our group identified the problems presented and
generated alternative solutions. We discussed all possible reasons for the alternatives we come
up with, its consequences and ramifications on various populations concerned in the issues.
We tried to place ourselves in the position of the company as well as in our position as a
town council. We realize that the company is heavily burdened by finances not only in
complying with the government’s mandate to clean up their mess but also to keep their business
afloat. We were concerned about the possible shut down of the company if they go bankrupt and
the result could be devastating to our town –loss of revenues for the whole town and loss of jobs
for our people. On the other hand, if we give in too much to their proposal of sharing the
expenses for the water plant and the paving of roads as well as waiving their taxes for the next
two years, it will also drain our resources. We wanted to keep to the government’s rule of no
deficits at the end of the year. We know that it is a good practice to stick to. It was time to make
concessions to resolve the presenting problems6.
4 Peter J Carnevale, “Strategic Time in Negotiation,” Time 26 (April 1, 2019): 106–12,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.12.017.
5 Jennifer M. George and Erik Dane, “Affect, Emotion, and Decision Making,” Celebrating Fifty Years of
Organizational Behavior and Decision Making Research (1966-2016) 136 (September 1, 2016): 47–55,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.06.004.
6 Ruth Kanfer and Gilad Chen, “Motivation in Organizational Behavior: History, Advances and Prospects,”
Celebrating Fifty Years of Organizational Behavior and Decision Making Research (1966-2016) 136 (September 1,
2016): 6–19, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.06.002.
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NEGOTIATION
Part III: Negotiation Plan
I believe that negotiations should achieve mutual gains for both parties. This is especially
true with integrative strategies. There are four obstacles to achieving mutual gains. One is the
fixed-pie perception. In negotiation, one must subscribe to the abundance theory that there is
enough to go around for everyone. If one’s view is that there are very limited resources, the
tendency is to be greedy and work for a bigger slice of the pie. Such tendency does not work for
mutual gains but only for one’s benefit in the deal. The second obstacle is holding premature
judgments7. Once a negotiator closes his mind to a decision that was prematurely made, he
might find it too late to change his position and might miss out on a greater opportunity that
comes after he has made his decision. Usually, such decision was made under time pressure
when he is forced to come up with a decision even if he is not entirely sold on it. It is ideal that
negotiations be given enough time so negotiating parties are not pressed into coming up with a
half-hearted decision which they could regret later. The third obstacle is searching for a single
answer. Being one-track minded is not healthy for negotiations because it closes oneself to a
wealth of possibilities if only one is patient enough to search for them. That is why my group
mates and I struggled to keep our options open and entertained various combinations of possible
solutions to the problem, so we have a wide spectrum of choices to evaluate to come up with our
final BATNA. Finally, the obstacle of one negotiator assuming that the other party is
responsible for meeting and satisfying his interests prevents both negotiators from considering
the other’s perspective and therefore the opportunity to overcome conflicting interests is lost.
However, its potential outcomes can serve everyone’s interests; then everyone is motivated to
7 Greg R. Oldham and Yitzhak Fried, “Job Design Research and Theory: Past, Present and Future,” Celebrating Fifty
Years of Organizational Behavior and Decision Making Research (1966-2016) 136 (September 1, 2016): 20–35,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.05.002.
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NEGOTIATION
search for options that achieve mutual gains. This is the goal of integrated strategies of
negotiation8.
In conclusion, negotiation is a systematic process that can dowse down the fire of
conflict. Conflicts are inevitable as different human being and organizations have different
requirements and priorities. The essay has reinforced that there is no other way to mitigate the
conflict apart from the proper negotiation. The essay also has indicated that different conflicts
should be negotiated with the help of different negotiating strategies. No single strategy can be
effective for all negotiation process.
8 Arnold-Peter C. Weiss, “Negotiation: How to Be Effective,” The Journal of Hand Surgery 42, no. 1 (January 1,
2017): 53–56, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhsa.2016.10.009.
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NEGOTIATION
References
Adair, Mara Olekalns;Wendi L. Handbook of Research on Negotiation. Reprint edition. Cheltenham:
Edward Elgar Pub, 2015.
Brett, Jeanne, and Leigh Thompson. “Negotiation.” Celebrating Fifty Years of Organizational
Behavior and Decision Making Research (1966-2016) 136 (September 1, 2016): 68–79.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.06.003.
Caputo, Andrea, Oluremi B. Ayoko, Nii Amoo, and Charlott Menke. “The Relationship between
Cultural Values, Cultural Intelligence and Negotiation Styles.” Journal of Business Research 99
(June 1, 2019): 23–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.02.011.
Carnevale, Peter J. “Strategic Time in Negotiation.” Time 26 (April 1, 2019): 106–12.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.12.017.
George, Jennifer M., and Erik Dane. “Affect, Emotion, and Decision Making.” Celebrating Fifty
Years of Organizational Behavior and Decision Making Research (1966-2016) 136 (September
1, 2016): 47–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.06.004.
Kanfer, Ruth, and Gilad Chen. “Motivation in Organizational Behavior: History, Advances and
Prospects.” Celebrating Fifty Years of Organizational Behavior and Decision Making Research
(1966-2016) 136 (September 1, 2016): 6–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.06.002.
Oldham, Greg R., and Yitzhak Fried. “Job Design Research and Theory: Past, Present and Future.”
Celebrating Fifty Years of Organizational Behavior and Decision Making Research (1966-2016)
136 (September 1, 2016): 20–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.05.002.
Weiss, Arnold-Peter C. “Negotiation: How to Be Effective.” The Journal of Hand Surgery 42, no. 1
(January 1, 2017): 53–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhsa.2016.10.009.
6