According to Lewicki et al (2011), “Negotiation is not a process reserved only for the skilled diplomat, top salesperson, or ardent advocate for an organized lobby; it is something that everyone does, almost daily’. Negotiation is the method by which people come to consensus with one another. Negotiation skills may or may not be the same wherever they are practiced. The key to successful negotiation is being fair with one another; seeking mutual benefit and mainlining inter personal relationship (Cooke 2005). This report aims at analyzing and evaluating negotiation as an multi-disciplinary practice, the range of skills a negotiator shall need to conduct effective negotiation, the effect of varied cultures on negotiation in globalized scenario, and to develop the art of negotiation while understanding others in the same and opposite parties.
Negotiation as Multi- Disciplinary Practice
Negotiations are conducted in various issues such as international affairs, legal affairs, and government, industrial and organizational disputes as well as in household affairs. However, these are a few examples of formal negotiations. General negotiations form a part of people’s regular life. Negotiation skills are something that can be attained over a period of time and practice. Effective negotiation is essential for both the parties to reach a win-win situation with wasting a lot of time and efforts of either of the parties.
According to Brett, Negotiation involves certain stages in which it is conducted. The first stage is Preparation wherein the decisions relating to place of negotiation, people attending it and the time for the meeting is decided so that it can be carried out effectively. Further, the discussion is carried out wherein both the parties put forward their respective points. Through discussion the goals, interest and view point of each party is clarified. After clarification, the decisions and possible outcomes are evaluated so that none of the party is at loss. Both shall be gaining from the common decision reached through discussion. After the common interests are achieved through a common decision, the agreement is reached and negotiation is closed. In the final stage, the course of action decided upon is implemented (Brett 2017).
Negotiation is practiced everyday by everyone, certain times negotiator without realizing himself doing so. It is a means of getting what one wants and how one wants it to be. It is a communication taking place between people sharing common interest while having certain conflicts of opinion regarding the same. Negotiation takes place in every place whether it is domestic platform or professional one. It occurs in businesses, conference rooms, between employees working in a team, between a leader and an employee, between job seeker and job giver, and also between client and the organization.
People negotiate within organization on various issues such as what shall be their plan of action to achieve a goal, negotiation regarding appraisals and company policies, and also regarding various alternatives available in front of managers to choose from. Negotiation is important to make a sound business decision. Salary negotiations are carried out with the new joiners in the company to reach a stage where the company and the candidate both are at win-win situation; an organization also negotiates with its various stakeholders as each one may have a conflicting interest in the company and its company’s responsibility to keep them all in loop with itself (Brewster et al. 2016).
Negotiation takes place between and within the governments as well. Several government departments negotiates on issues such as resource allocation, outcomes achieved, the reports of the job done by a particular department and the course of action to be undertaken by a particular member which would affect the entire government party. Governments also negotiate with one another in occasions of party amalgamations, when one government’s interest conflicts with the area of another government, and when special deals and contracts have to be undertaken for benefit of both governments and the states (Edwards and Rees 2011).
Negotiation takes place in sales and legal proceedings in a major way. Sales persons negotiate day in and out with their customers. A good negotiation skill is one of the pre-requisites of a good sales person. The job of a sales person is to negotiate their terms with the opposite party to reach a ground where both the parties are satisfied with the sale being conducted. Similarly, it is essential for a person handling legal proceedings of a company or of an individual. An advocate negotiates the case of his client with another advocate aiming to reach consensus of both the parties.
Negotiation is practiced in personal affairs such as marriage, divorce, property, parenting etc. People negotiate on the terms of marriage, bringing up of off springs, property settlement in case of disputes etc. Professional negotiators specialize in negotiating skills such as union leaders, real estate negotiators, counselors, advocates, diplomats, broker, and legislators (Thomas, Peterson and Thomas 2017).
Negotiation Skills
An effective and successful negotiation requires a good communication and personal skills. The negotiator shall have strong self esteem, believing that his views are worthwhile and gives equal thus lose the argument. The negotiator shall also be empathetic towards the opposite party. He shall understand and value other’s point of view and be empathic. This would ensure the win-win situation for both parties. (Giapponi 2013) The negotiator shall put his point across assertively. He shall accept a challenging argument and conduct it effectively and calmly. At no point in the argument shall he get aggressive and lose temperament.
Another skill that is required for effective negotiation is the ability to listen and not just hear. The negotiator shall not only be concentrating on what he has to respond to the point being put forward by other person but shall concentrate on what the other is saying. He has to understand what is being said verbally and also pay attention to the body language and expression of the speaker to understand him better (Rubin and Brown 2013). Further, rather than assuming things, the person shall be open to asking questions to clarify points. The negotiator shall cross question in order to clarify if his thought process is aligned with that of the speaker. In case of confusion, negotiator shall ask questions. Finally, while closing the argument the negotiator shall introspect what went well in the argument and how it can be improved in future. It would help conduct better negotiations (McCarthy and Hay 2015).
Negotiation is a bargain between two or more parties whose aim is to reach a common agreement. For effective bargain, an individual need to understand and practice certain techniques which would help him has an upper hand over others in the argument. The negotiator shall have confidence on him. No matter how desperately one needs the particular outcome of negotiation one shall not reflect the vulnerability of his need. This would give the opposite party greater leverage and put the negotiator in weaker position. The key to having confidence is being fully prepared. All the possible variables of the argument shall be studied and analyzed in advance.
In case something unexpected comes up during the argument, it’s always better to end the argument there and buy some time to educate oneself on the new matter before restarting the negotiation process (Stephen 2013). Another technique is to build buffer and not put forward the final offer in the very beginning.
Aim higher so that towards the end of the argument one is able to settle down for what he really wanted making unwanted compromises. The opposite party would also assume that the person is flexible enough. However, the negotiator shall know his minimum outcome limit and in no case shall settle for anything lower than that. In extreme case, where negotiation turns into a serious argument, it is better to either maintain his calm or just walk away. If the other party is not being reasonable enough, the decision of continuing or ending the negotiation has to be made without affective the relationship between both parties (Snyder and Diesing 2015).
Impact of Culture on Negotiation
The negotiator needs to understand the other party in order to conduct effective negotiation. It is more so important in case the other party comes from different background with different culture, language, traditions, etiquettes and style of communication. The negotiator shall undertake certain strategies to conduct effective negotiation. He shall try to know the other player well. People from different culture can have different reaction to the content or context of argument depending upon their culture’s value and beliefs. One shall also understand the role of decision maker in the group of other party. Across different culture, decision making role can also be different. For instance, some team members may have more influence over the decision than other equivalent members. It is important to address right people so that reaching consensus becomes easier (Brett 2017).
While communicating in cross cultural negotiation, it is important to understand the right balance required between verbal and non verbal communication. In different culture, different weight age is given to each variable. The negotiator shall try to be as specific and clear as possible. Equal importance shall be given to non verbal communication. In different cultures different gestures may have different meaning. The negotiator shall be careful with his body language and gestures. Another strategy that shall be kept in mind is designing and curating meeting space. Sitting very close to one another can be fine in one culture but might offend another. Space also refers to one’s comfort with eye contacts or lack of it. The arrangements shall be made keeping in mind such aspects of various cultures (Shiraev and Levy 2016).
Certain cultures give more importance to individualism while others to collectivism. The negotiator shall understand this varied approach of cultures to prepare accordingly. Negotiator shall understand whether the culture focuses on assertiveness or nurturing and communal support. The negotiation style shall be adjusted accordingly (Steele and Beasor 2016). Certain cultures avoid taking risk and uncertainties. They are uncomfortable with ambiguity. Members belonging to such cultures may not adapt changes and trust only familiar relations and people. Negotiator belonging outside their culture shall work hard to establish understanding with members of such cultures.
Certain cultures place high importance to traditions and etiquettes. For instance, Islamic culture place high value to its traditions and etiquettes while American does not. Negotiators working with such culture shall verse themselves with the respective traditions. In certain cultures, that value tradition and etiquettes, there usually are certain behaviors that communicate respect for individuals. Certain cultures may also emphasis on giving more respect to one class of people than another. Knowing such system and acting accordingly will help the negotiator to build trust and conduct negotiation successfully (Lee, Adair and Seo 2013).
Negotiation in Globalized Scenario
In the global economy, where companies work in multiple countries, several negotiations are done to commence and run the business. The major question in front of such global enterprises is whether to negotiate to conclude a business deal or run on their own conditions (Thomas, Peterson and Thomas 2017). Negotiation may not always be the right approach for doing business. Sometimes it is take it or leave it situation while other times it may be okay to bargain and sometimes solving problem through negotiation is the right solution.
Negotiation is more time consuming as compared to other two alternatives. Negotiation is most recommended when the value of exchange being made and the relationship with other party is of high importance. For instance, when two countries are making a business deal that would ensure better relationship between the two. Negotiation generally ensures win-win situation for both the parties. Businesses shall consider negotiating when they are at position which has lesser power than the counterpart’s, the level of trust between parties is high, there is sufficient time to carry out negotiation and both parties are committed to each other (Morley and Stephenson 2015).
Negotiation Techniques and Strategies
There are two approaches to negotiation, distributive negotiation and integrative negotiation. Distributive negotiation involves distribution of fixed amount of resources into agreed upon proportions. It usually is a win-lose situation for negotiators. In such negotiation, the party focuses on getting the other part to agree to his terms as close as possible. In this approach, the negotiator only focuses on his case and does everything in his power to get the decision in his favor (Brewster et al. 2016). Integrative negotiation focuses on building long term relationship and facilitate long term working platform. In Integrative negotiation, both parties try to find one settlement which would give them a win-win situation. This style is adopted by cultures that follow collective approach rather than individualistic. It is recommended for globalised negotiations (Lewicki, Saunders and Barry 2014).
The study of negotiation revolves around certain theories which enable the analyst to understand the possible reason of the outcome of a negotiation. These theories are namely, Structural, Strategic, Process, Integrative and Bad Faith Analysis (Pruitt and Warr 2013).
Structural analysis is the study of distribution of power between two parties. Various factors such as position, resource in hand, etc gives one party more power over the other. The power distribution amongst two parties can be same or varying. The elements that give power to the part is considered as structure. Such powers or elements give a party an upper hand in the final outcome of negotiation. This analysis predicts that the stronger would win. However, this might not be true always (Korobkin 2014).
Strategic analysis is based on assumption that both parties have the veto to either take or leave the deal. Thus negotiating parties can either cooperate (C) or defect (D). Structural analysis then evaluates possible outcomes (C, C; C, D; D, D; D, C), by giving value to each possible outcome. Co-operation from both parties would get best outcome. The issue is that no party can be sure if the opposite party would co-operate. This can be due to not getting consensus in return and also a lot of decisions are made during negotiation only, thus making it difficult to predict co-operation beforehand (Brett and Thompson 2016).
Process analysis is the theory which revolves around bargaining. Parties start bargain from two different points and reach a settlement through a series of consensus. As in strategic analysis, both parties have the right to take or leave the deal. Process analysis also takes into consideration structural assumptions, as one party may be stronger than another. For instance, the party can be not willing to pay the price or unwillingness to sell at the given price.
Process Analysis thus focuses on the dynamics of the entire process of the negotiation. It takes into consideration both previous approaches. The process of negotiation is considered to be carried out between two fixed points which are the starting point of negotiation and end point of agreement. The security point, where one of the might withdraw is also taken into consideration (Walton and MacKersie 1995).
In Integrative analysis, the process of negotiation is dived into successive stages, rather than taking only fixed points of the process. The analysis is extended to pre-negotiations stages wherein the parties make first contacts. The outcome is studied on the basis of performance of parties at different stages of negotiation. Stages include pre-negotiations, conducting the negotiation, arguments, reaching consensus and final settlement (Bajwa, Koeszegi and Vetschera 2017).
Bad faith is a concept wherein the parties pretend to negotiate to reach an agreement, but actually have no intension of doing so. Such theories are majorly applied on political negotiation wherein the parties have no intentions of settling to each other’s terms but pretend anyway because of the demand of situation (Agndal, Åge and Eklinder-Frick 2017).
In negotiation theory, another such theory is that of BATNA. It is an acronym for Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. In case of the failure of negotiation and inability to reach an agreement, it is an advantageous choice that can be made by the party. It is not the bottom line or worst possible outcome but gives negotiator more flexibility and room for innovation. Negotiator gets more power as he has an alternative other than the agreement reached through negotiation (Korobkin 2014).
Conclusion
Conclusively, negotiation skills are certain characteristics that make people avoid argument and dispute. Negotiations are conducted in various issues such as international affairs, legal affairs, and government, industrial and organizational disputes as well as in household affairs. It is argued that people negotiate every day without realizing they are negotiating. It is a means of getting what one wants and how they want it to be.
It is a communication taking place between people sharing common interest while having certain conflicts of opinion regarding the same. Negotiation is most recommended when the value of exchange being made and the relationship with other party is of high importance. An effective and successful negotiation requires good communication and personal skills. He shall be open to ask questions to clarify points and while closing the argument it is advisable to introspect what went well in the argument and how can it be improved in future (Pfetsch and Landau 2000).
For effective bargain, an individual need to understand and practice certain techniques which would help him have an upper hand over others in the argument. The negotiator shall have confidence on him and be fully prepared. In case of cross culture negotiation, negotiator shall understand some team members may have more influence, understand the right balance required between verbal and non verbal communication, design and curate meeting space, shall understand some cultures give importance to individualism while some give importance to collectivism and verse themselves with their traditions to establish trust with the members.
While communicating in cross cultural negotiation, it is important to understand the right balance required between verbal and non verbal communication. In case of the failure of negotiation and inability to reach an agreement, BATNA is the most advantageous alternative that a party can choose.
References
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Bajwa, D., Koeszegi, S. and Vetschera, R., 2017. Group Decision and Negotiation. Theory, Empirical Evidence, and Application. 1st ed. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Brett, J. and Thompson, L., 2016. Negotiation, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 1st ed. United States: Elsevier Inc.
Brett, J., 2017. Culture and negotiation strategy. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 32(4), pp.587-590.
Brewster, C., Houldsworth, E., Sparrow, P. and Vernon, G., 2016. International human resource management.. 4th ed. London: Kogan Page Publishers.
Cooke, W., 2005. Exercising power in a prisoner’s dilemma: transnational collective bargaining in an era of corporate globalisation?. Industrial Relations Journal, 36(4), pp.283-302.
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Korobkin, R., 2014. Negotiation theory and strategy. 1st ed. New York: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
Lee, S., Adair, W. and Seo, S., 2013. Cultural Perspective Taking in Cross-Cultural Negotiation. Group Decision and Negotiation, 22(3), pp.389-405.
Lewicki, R., Saunders, D. and Barry, B., 2014. Negotiation. 1st ed.
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Pfetsch and Landau, 2000. Symmetry and Asymmetry in International Negotiations. International Negotiation, 5(1), pp.21-42.
Pruitt, D. and Warr, P., 2013. Negotiation Behavior. 1st ed. Burlington: Elsevier Science.
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Shiraev, E. and Levy, D., 2016. Cross-cultural psychology. 6th ed. New York: Taylor & Francis.
Snyder, G. and Diesing, P., 2015. Conflict among nations: Bargaining, decision making, and system structure in international crises. 1st ed. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.
Steele, P. and Beasor, T., 2016. Business negotiation. 1st ed. London: Routledge.
Stephen, B., 2013. Cultures in contact: Studies in cross-cultural interaction. 1st ed. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
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