2 Negotiations: Author Hal Stack for Chelst and Canbolat
15.1 Purpose and Overview
The primary goal of this chapter is to develop the knowledge and analytic skills for making individual and joint decisions that will culminate in value-added
agreements. More specifically, this chapter will first increase your ability to recognize and avoid the biases and psychological traps that limit the
effectiveness of negotiator decision making. It will then enhance your ability to apply the principles and practices of highly effective negotiators. Ultimately, the
chapter will increase your capacity to apply a systematic framework for improving negotiation outcomes.
The primary focus of the book until this point has been on decisions for which an individual or team has total responsibility. Although the decisions
might involve multiple interests groups within a corporation, the assumption has been that each group has a general concern for the overall success of the entire
organization. Their personal corporate responsibilities and life experiences will color their views and priorities, but they should all be considered motivated to
work toward the organizational good. In a decision that involves the markets or the public, the decision makers must factor in those interests, but in the end it is
their decision to make and implement. The same applies to public sector managers. They, too, have primary responsibility for the decisions while needing
to be sensitive to the needs of the people they serve. Bad decisions may lose them the support of their constituencies and cost them their jobs, but the same is true
of business decisions.
This chapter, in contrast, addresses decision contexts where one side or the other cannot make a unilateral decision other than to walk away. When
buying a car, the decision maker can specify a price he is willing to pay, but he cannot conclude a purchase without the other side agreeing. In a conflict over
fulfillment of a contract, one side can demand and threaten, but that still does not produce a decision as to how to resolve the dispute and implement a solution.
Similarly, a country negotiating a treaty cannot simply define the articles in the treaty. In each case, multiple perspectives are at the core of the decision. Thus, it
is critical that an effective decision maker fully understand and appreciate the other side’s decision-making perspective.
Another critical difference is that negotiated decisions are more dynamic than those discussed in previous chapters. Negotiations involve a process of give
and take that must be constantly updated as the decision makers receive information and insights from the other side in the negotiations. Thus, it is
critical that the decision-making process involve a degree of flexibility that is not necessary in unilateral decisions. It is for these reasons that the chapter is titled
“Value-Added Negotiations” because it is possible in many contexts to improve upon the outcomes for all sides by better understanding their respective
positions.
3 Negotiations: Author Hal Stack for Chelst and Canbolat
Following a discussion of the nature and structure of negotiations, the chapter examines the psychological traps and obstacles that limit our
effectiveness as negotiators. This is followed by a discussion of a comprehensive framework for managing the negotiation process, which enables negotiators to
avoid these obstacles and produce lasting agreements with superior outcomes. The chapter also discusses the difference in approaches to negotiating a deal and
negotiating the resolution of a dispute. Also discussed is the complexity of negotiating through agents and managing multiparty negotiations. The chapter
concludes with an examination of the challenges of negotiating across borders and negotiating ethically.
15.2 Understanding Negotiations
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