NEGOTIATING BY BEING TRUTHFUL ABOUT YOUR INTERESTS (COMMENT).

NEGOTIATING BY BEING TRUTHFUL ABOUT YOUR INTERESTS (COMMENT). I posted here about the negotiating precept that it is disadvantageous to make the first realistic offer. Nick commented that the precept assumed positional bargaining rather than interest-based bargaining. I didn’t have any idea what he meant. Here is a review by Tanya Glaser of GETTING TO YES by Roger Fisher and William Ury, the book which apparently introduced the concept of negotiating in terms of interests rather than in terms of positions. As I now understand it, interest-based bargaining is appropriate for negotiating situations where the are lots of variables—nonzero sum games. If parties are candid about what is important to them (what their interests are), it is more likely that a compromise will be reached which will be preferred by both parties (a “win-win” solution).

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2 Responses to NEGOTIATING BY BEING TRUTHFUL ABOUT YOUR INTERESTS (COMMENT).

  1. Dick Weisfelder says:

    The authors saw interest based bargaining as very broadly appropriate. Almost all negotiations have multiple issues where probing by the protagonists can reveal which are most vital to each side and thereby promote trade-offs leading to resolution. Discussion and negotiation of options can reveal these. They argue that most situations are not quite so zero sum as it appears at first glance.

    The classic example is mother and child arguing fiercely over who will get an orange. Discussion revealed that the mother wanted the rind for an icing and the child wanted to eat the pulp – a perfect win-win solution. In the real world, Kissinger facilitated a deal between Egypt and Syria after the 1967 war where Egypt was most concerned about the humiiating loss of sovereignty over the Sinai and its oil and Israel about a secure border not vulnerable to almost instant attack. The solution was Israeli withdrawal from Sinai and the return of a wholly demilitarized Sinai to Egypt. Again win-win for both.

  2. Nick says:

    And Mr. Weisfelder rightfully pointed out that there is this distorting filter of public perception impacting the current negotiation.

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