Page 87 - DMGT519_Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Unit 4: Negotiation

Restate the Commitment Notes

A third route is to restate the commitment in more general terms. The party that wants to
abandon a commitment will make a new proposal, changing some of the details to be more in
line with his or her current needs, while ostensibly still living with the general principles of the
earlier working. For example, the purchasing agent who demanded a 10 per cent volume discount
may rephrase this statement later to say simply that a significant volume discount is needed.
The other party can then explore what level this “significant” discount could be.

Minimise the Damage

Finally, if the other party backs off from a committed position, it is important to help him or her
“save face,” which means helping to minimise any possible damage to the other party’s self-
esteem or to constituent relationships. One strategy to use in this instance is to make a public
attribution about the other party’s move to some noble or higher outside cause. Diplomats can
withdraw from a committed position because of their deep concern for peace and humankind. A
buyer or seller can back off from a point during a real estate transaction to support the economic
well-being of the community. Managers can leave a committed position for the good of the
company.
A committed position is a powerful tool in negotiation: it is also a rigid tool and must therefore
be used with care. As with any other tool, we must be as alert to ways of denying it to the other
party as we are to ways we can use it for ourselves. Unfortunately, many commitments are made
impulsively out of anger or a desire to stop making concessions rather than as a result of clearly
thought-out tactical planning. In either case, the essential effect of a committed position is to
remove an issue from further discussion – to make it no longer negotiable except at serious risk
to one or both parties. The committed position has to be believable, and it must appear
inevitable – if X happens, Y is inevitable. Convincing the other party that fate is sealed on the
matter at hand is a demanding task and requires preparation, time and skill. Consequently,
getting out of a committed position is not easy, but the process is made simpler by planning a
means of escape at the time the commitment is being established. Many of the steps a negotiator
can use to get out of a commitment can also be used to help the other party get out of a
committed position or even better, to keep him or her from establishing one in the first place.

4.16 Closing the Deal

After negotiating for a period of time, and learning about the other party’s needs, positions, and
perhaps resistance point, the next challenge for a negotiator is to close the agreement. Several
tactics are available to negotiators for closing a deal; choosing the best tactic for a given
negotiation is as much a matter of choice between art and science.

Provide Alternatives

Rather than making a single final offer, negotiators can provide two or three alternative packages
for the other party that are more or less equivalent in value. People like to have choices, and
providing a counterpart with alternative packages can be a very effective technique for closing
a negotiation. This technique can also be used when a task force cannot decide on which
recommendation to make to upper management. If in face there are two distinct, defensible
possible solutions, then the task force can forward both with a description of the costs and
benefits of each.

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