Page 118 - DMGT519_Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Notes other directors, employees in general, unions, government, suppliers, customers, media
and even competitors. A good example is the way through which Russi Modi (ultimately
unsuccessfully) tried to activate stakeholders in support of him against those in TISCO
who wanted him to retire.
4. A sensible use of power is to choose to fight on your own ground, and not to fight at the
same time on many fronts. Of course, the ideal situation would be to not get into a fight at
all but to neutralize the opponent through other tactics. But if there has to be a fight, it is
better to make friends even with those you dislike so that you take on one person at a
time.

5. Many people when they reach high positions, rapidly change their persona. This creates
difficulties with those on whom they depend. As status and perceptions of your power
increase, you must be careful that changes in personality and lifestyle are gradual and not
something that pops up all of a sudden.
6. Buying support from those on whom you depend is not done only with money. There are
many means available for the purpose, like giving more authority or exciting new
responsibilities, demonstrating perceptions of closeness, increasing organizational
visibility, etc.

The negotiator uses the negotiations to affect the perceptions of his opponents by:
1. Controlling information: not making complete disclosure (for example, of adverse
situations in the country to a prospective foreign collaborator). The danger, of course, is
that the opponent also has his own sources of information. This is a tactic that must be used
with caution.
2. Internal ‘collusion’: you could leak information selectively to the media. The entry of
Pepsi into India was marked with many such selective leaks by all the parties involved –
government, competitors, prospective licensees, Pepsi, etc.
The use of power in this cold and calculating way raises ethical questions which must be faced.
No behaviour that could jeopardize proper implementation of the agreement are fundamental
to our definition of successful negotiations. The final word: using power in this way must
necessarily have conscious limits so that trust and relationships are not damaged.

Concession Behaviour

These are tactical modes of action that manipulate behaviour or the understanding of the opponent.
A concession indicates to the other party certain intentions and aspirations and can alter the
opponent’s intentions or aspirations or actions. From the point of view of signals of power,
concessions should always be reciprocated.



Case Study Win-win Negotiation Badly Executed

This case study discusses some of the critical errors that can be made in a Management and Union
Labour negotiation, where Management were trying to achieve a win-win negotiation.

In trying to create win-win negotiation agreements, one of the biggest mistakes made by
negotiators is to deal with the issues on an issue by issue basis. This often results in a

Contd....

112 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY