Page 227 - DMGT519_Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Unit 10: Integrative Bargaining

This is important because, ideally, you would like to be able to satisfy both your own interests Notes
and their interests too! Satisfying two, sometimes contradictory, sets of interests is why integrative
bargaining requires a problem-solving orientation.

10.8.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of IBB

What are the possible advantages and disadvantages of IBB compared to traditional negotiation
methods? According to Ira B. Lobel, a 30-year veteran mediator with the FMCS, advantages may
include the following:
 IBB negotiators, by focusing on interests and not stating positions, will have improved
communications and thus are more likely to fully understand the underlying interests of
the other party, and do most of their work in joint open sessions.

 The joint development of options through brainstorming is more likely to uncover
additional ideas and thus superior solutions to problems.
 Traditional methods, which focus on defending stated positions, are more likely to break
down because the parties become too invested in their positions instead of trying to
uncover new options.
 The focus on interests in IBB is more likely to cause the parties to explain the critical “why”
behind an interest or proposal.
Disadvantages include these:
 The IBB method may waste a great deal of time as negotiators discuss interests and possible
options when a mutual solution could be quickly reached.
 IBB negotiators may have difficulty transferring a proposed option into a practical, concrete
solution.
 The standards suggested by IBB negotiators are often not precise, and are subjective, thus
not easily agreed to by both parties.

10.8.3 IBB at Work

Does Lobel consider IBB to be a “new and improved” method of negotiation? No. Instead he
views it as a new “label” on what he considers to be the concepts and practices used by competent
negotiators for many years. For example, good negotiators, have always explored the underlying
interests of the positions of others. In addition, good negotiators avoid becoming entrenched in
positions and are always open to new options that have mutual gains. Good negotiators also
seldom use power indiscriminately and do not let personalities affect negotiations. Thus, whereas
IBB and traditional methods can be thought of as different approaches, they also have a great
deal of overlap in practice. If, however, interest-based bargaining provides negotiators with the
concepts and practices utilized by good negotiators, then it serves a purpose. The ultimate
outcome of a bargaining process, notes Lobel, depends on the skills and flexibility of the
negotiators. One interesting case involving interest-based bargaining occurred in Alameda,
California. In 1995 the city of Alameda and the members of its fire department entered into
“meet and confer” negotiations for a new wage and benefit agreement. After three years of
unsuccessful negotiations, an impasse was declared. The process then went to arbitration, and
the relationship between the parties, according to city manager James Flint, became adversarial
and highly emotional. In 1997 management and labor leaders identified IBB as a possible vehicle
to resolve their differences, and the city agreed to fund joint IBB training for the members of the
negotiating teams.

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