Page 311 - DMGT402_MANAGEMENT_PRACTICES_AND_ORGANIZATIONAL_BEHAVIOUR

Management Practices and Organisational Behaviour

Notes 1. Begin with a positive overture: Studies on negotiation show that concessions tend to
be reciprocated and lead to agreements. As a result, begin bargaining with a positive
overture – perhaps a small concession – and then reciprocate your opponent’s
concessions.
2. Address problems, not personalities: Concentrate on the negotiation issues, not on
the personal characteristics of your opponent. When negotiations get tough, avoid
the tendency to attack your opponent. It’s your opponent’s ideas or position that
you disagree with, not him or her personally. Separate the people from the problem,
and don’t personalize differences.

3. Pay little attention to initial offers: Treat an initial offer as merely an initial offer,
as merely a point of departure. These initial offers tend to be extreme and idealistic.
Treat them as such.
4. Emphasize win-win solutions: Inexperienced negotiators often assume their gain
must come at the expense of the other party. As noted with integrative bargaining,
that needn’t be the case. There are often win-win solutions. But assuming a zero-sum
game means missed opportunities for trade-offs that could benefit both sides. So if
conditions are supportive, look for an integrative solution. Frame options in terms
of your opponent’s interests and look for solutions that can allow your opponent, as
well as yourself, to declare a victory.
5. Create an open and trusting climate: Skilled negotiators are better listeners, ask
more questions, focus their arguments more directly, are less defensive, and have
learned to avoid words and phrases that can irritate an opponent (i.e., “generous
offer,” “fair price,” “reasonable arrangement”). In other words, they are better at
creating the open and trusting climate necessary for reaching an integrative
settlement.
Source: J. A Wall Jr. and M. W Blum, “Negotiations”, page 278-282.
Cultural Differences in Negotiations

While there appears to be no significant direct relationship between an individual's personality
and negotiation style, cultural background does seem to be relevant. Negotiating styles clearly
vary between national cultures as we can see from the Table 14.6.
Table 14.6: Negotiation Styles of Three Cultures

Contd...

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