negotiator

The following items are tagged negotiator.

Hurry Up and Wait

Posted by & filed under Dispute Resolution.

Suppose that one bargainer is impatient, gritting her teeth and thinking, “Cut to the chase, for Pete’s sake!” Feeling pressured, the other person wants to say, “Easy on the coffee, pal! Let’s give this the time it deserves.”

According to a recent study by professor Karen J. Jansen of Pennsylvania State University’s Smeal College of Business and Amy L. Kristoff-Brown of the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa, this different sense of pacing will lead both parties to experience psychological strain.

Are You Listening to Me?

Posted by & filed under Dispute Resolution.

For your next negotiation, what would you pay for a gadget that shows you how well you’re engaging the other side?

It would tell you when you’ve been persuasive enough to close a deal.

It would also alert you when the other side has tuned you out, so you’d know how to take a different tack.

A team of researchers at MIT’s Media Laboratory are developing just such a device: specifically, software for cell phones and PDAs that analyzes speech patterns and tone of voice to determine how people are relating in conversation.

Joining the barter economy

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations.

In an economic downturn, negotiation opportunities sometimes dry up because parties think they have nothing left to give. During times like these, bartering flourishes. Whether it’s toxic assets, piano lessons, manicures, or a fleet of new cars, most cash-strapped negotiators have something of value they can trade for what they want.

Bartering doesn’t need to be limited to one time swaps of goods and services between virtual strangers. In more complex, ongoing negotiations, including those between long-term business partners, bartering is a smart way to avoid getting bogged down in price haggling. Just as you might create value in a negotiation by discussing delivery options and payment plans, you can expand the pie by adding new goods and services to the discussion.

Understanding Diplomacy and International Negotiations

Posted by & filed under 1 Day Courses, Executive Training.

Going far beyond war and peace, international negotiation spans issues ranging from global warming to foreign debt to human rights. Offered for first time in conjunction with Negotiation and Leadership, this dynamic full-day program will explore contemporary issues in international negotiations and diplomacy. Utilizing a combination of theoretical analysis, case studies, and simulations, this program will focus on negotiating across and behind the table and provide strategies and tactics for practicing diplomacy and undertaking international negotiations.
This one-day course, which takes place June 23, 2011, is based on Professor Salacuse’s books The Global Negotiator—Making, Managing, and Mending Deals Around the World in the Twenty-First Century and the Seven Secrets for Negotiating with Government. Participants will be provided with both books at the workshop as part of the course.

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Powerful Thoughts

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations.

For many people, thinking about the role of power in negotiation can be paralyzing. In fact, the same people who are anxious about negotiating in general tend to be anxious about exerting their power during negotiation. Why? Perhaps because most of us realize that power, even when not explicitly discussed, is often the precipitating and driving force of negotiation processes and outcomes. Obviously, power can generate competition and conflict. But when channeled effectively in negotiations, it can be a catalyst for win-win outcomes.

Fine-Tuning Your Contract

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations.

When negotiators sign on the dotted line, they sometimes worry about the wrong concerns. “Did I overpay?” wonders the buyer as he inks the sales agreement. Across the table, the seller is thinking, “I bet if I’d pushed a little harder, I would have gotten more.”

Beware Your Lawyer’s Biases

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations.

Parties in litigation are often overly optimistic about their chances of winning in court. This tendency reduces the bargaining range for settlement because one or both parties perceive their walkaway alternative (namely, letting the courts decide) to be more attractive than it actually is. According to conventional wisdom, lawyers can help their clients overcome this overoptimism bias by providing an objective assessment of a case’s merits and encourage acceptance of a deal.

Eyeing the Competition

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations.

Ford vs. GM. Coke vs. Pepsi. Oxford vs. Cambridge. These famous rivalries remind us that the top two achievers in a given realm often compete fiercely with each other. Researchers Stephen M. Garcia and Richard Gonzalez of the University of Michigan and Avishalom Tor of the University of Haifa have produced a useful series of studies on when competition between entities will exist—with findings that are relevant to all negotiators.