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Unit 4: Negotiation
Negotiation can be characterized as: Notes
1. an explicit and deliberate event;
2. it takes place between the representatives of parties concerned;
3. the process which intends to settle the disputes/differences between the parties involved;
4. the outcome of the negotiation is dependent (party) on the relative power relationship
between the parties involved.
4.2 The Prevalence of Negotiation
This is an age of negotiation. Almost each and every aspect of our lives is subject to one or the
other form of negotiation. Sometimes we negotiate several times a day also, though we don’t
realize doing so.
Negotiations, governments, employers, employees, unions, management, husbands, wives,
parents and children all negotiate whether it is a national or international problem, negotiation
is the solution e.g. summit of super negotiation between Israel and Arabs or Palestinians etc.
Labor disputes are far more visible and get extensive news coverage than commercial disputes
which are as frequently but public and visible. Go slows, strikes, bans and lock-outs have
become quite familiar dramas. Industrial relations disputes do get more publicity and coverage,
as in this case both the parties try to win public support and sympathy to strengthen their sides.
Whereas commercial emotions are generally held in private kind of environment, party to have
edge over the competitors and to protect the companies images.
There has been substantial in the use of the term “Negotiation” in the commercial context.
Negotiating in this context is not merely selling but its extension where the interested parties
having agreed to do business need to agree on the terms and conditions. Myriads of interest
groups negotiate with their local authorities/government for various social welfare, rights and
amenities. Negotiated settlement for marriage between the parents of prospective couple for
the size of dowry, has been a common practice and far more decisive factor than the compatibility
of the prospective partners. Now negotiation has become quite common and effective in divorce
settlements. Lawyers specialize in representing their clients in such negotiation. Husbands,
wives, and lovers negotiation in go under. One thing which’s common in all such cases and
makes negotiation necessary is that the parties involved may have varying degrees of powers
but not absolute power over each other. We are forced to negotiate because we are not fully in
control of events.
Did u know? The foundations of negotiation theory are decision analysis, behavioral
decision making, game theory, and negotiation analysis. Another classification of theories
distinguishes between Structural Analysis, Strategic Analysis, Process Analysis, Integrative
Analysis and behavioral analysis of negotiations.
Individuals should make separate, interactive decisions; and negotiation analysis considers how
groups of reasonably bright individuals should and could make joint, collaborative decisions.
These theories are interleaved and should be approached from the synthetic perspective.
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