Page 84 - DMGT519_Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Notes can use a variety of ways to garner information that may reveal something about the opponent’s
alternatives.
Be careful when the other party discloses, however.

Strategy 4: Set High Aspirations (Be Realistic, But Optimistic)
Your aspiration or target point defines the upper limit on what you can ever expect to get in a
negotiation. Because you will never get more than your first offer, your first offer represents the
most important anchor point in the negotiation.
Strategy 5: Make the First Offer (If You Are Prepared)
Folklore dictates that negotiators should let the opponent make the first offer. “The experts say
it’s better to let your adversary make the opening offer”.

However, scientific investigation of real bargaining situations does not support this intuition.
Whichever party – buyer or seller – makes the first offer, that person obtains a better final
outcome.
Strategy 6: Immediately Re-anchor if the Other Party Opens First
If your opponent makes an offer, then the ball is in your court. It is wise to make a counter-offer
in a timely fashion. This move does two things. First, it diminishes the prominence of the
opponent’s initial offer as an anchor point in the negotiation. Second, it signals a willingness to
negotiate.

Strategy 7: Plan your Concessions
Concessions are the reductions that a negotiator makes during the course of a negotiation.
Negotiators need to consider three things when formulating counteroffers and concessions:
1. The pattern of concessions

2. The magnitude of concessions
3. The timing of concessions

Pattern of Concessions

Unilateral concessions are concessions made by one party; in contrast, bilateral concessions are
concessions made by both sides. Negotiators who make fewer and smaller concessions are more
effective in terms of maximising their slice of the pie, compared to those who make larger and
more frequent concessions.

Magnitude of Concessions

Even though negotiators may make concessions in a back-and-forth method, this exchange does
not say anything about the degree of concessions made by each party. Thus, a second
consideration when making concessions is to determine how much to concede. The usual measure
of a concession is the amount reduced or added (depending upon whether one is a seller or
buyer) from one’s previous concession. It is unwise to make consistently greater concessions
than one’s opponent.
The graduated reduction in tension (GRIT) model (Osgood, 1962) is a method in which parties
avoid escalating conflict so as to reach mutual settlement within the bargaining zone. The GRIT
model, based on the reciprocity principle, calls for one party to make a concession and invites
the other party to reciprocate by making a concession. The concession offered by the first party
is significant, but not so much that the offering party is tremendously disadvantaged if the
opponent fails to reciprocate.

78 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY