The Nature of the Negotiation - Coursework Example

The Nature of the Negotiation Name Institution The Nature of the Negotiation Introduction Negotiation is a process not only reserved for the skilled diplomats, ardent advocates for the organized labour, and top businesspersons but also is something that people do almost on daily basis. The structure and processes of negotiation are critically similar at personal level since they are at the diplomatic and corporate levels. Negotiations often occur in two major reasons: creation of something new that neither the involved parties could do on their own and resolving a problem or dispute between different parties. There are several perspectives used in understanding different negotiation aspects including research and theories from economics, political science, labour relations, communication, and psychology. Similarly, the outcomes of the negotiation process could as well be explained simultaneously from different perspectives. In some cases, people fail to negotiate since they do not recognize that they are in bargaining situation. Hence, it is important that people prepare adequately to have the ability of recognizing the negotiation conditions; understand the processes involved in both bargaining and negotiations; know the methods of analyzing, planning, and implementing the successful negotiations. The Nature of the Negotiations Negotiations involve a win-win situation in which the involved parties try to find mutually acceptable solution to conflict that they consider complex. Several factors often compel the occurrence of negotiations: problem resolution, creation of something that both the involved parties require, and division of the limited resources. In every negotiation, there are often three distinct themes. The themes include definition of the negotiation and basic features of the negotiation condition; understanding of the interdependence which relates to the relationship between the people and groups that contributes to the negotiations, and definition and exploration of conflict dynamics and management processes which often serves as the backdrop for various manner in which people approach and manage their negotiations. An effective negotiation process needs to involve two or more parties, occurrences of the desire between the concerned parties; negotiations occur by choice irrespective of the person getting the better deal, expectation of both give and take, and preference of negotiation and searching for agreement rather than fighting openly. Moreover, successful negotiations need to involve the management of the tangibles and resolution of the things considered intangible. Interdependence is vital concept in negotiation. Within the process, the parties often require one another. The major factor that characterizes the interdependence relationship is the inter-looking goals, which means that the parties require one another to accomplish their goals. Interdependent goals are critical in every negotiation aspect. The interdependence structure between various negotiating parties often play important role in determining the range of possible outcomes of the negotiation and suggest the appropriate strategies and tactics that the negotiation process should utilize. The interdependence of people’s goals forms the basis of much social interactions. Through examination of the manner in which the goals are interdependent, it would be possible to estimate the type of behaviours most likely to emerge. Therefore, the nature of the interdependence would have the major impact of the relationship nature, the manner of conducting the negotiations, and the negotiation outcomes. Mutual Adjustment In the negotiation process, all the parties have the ability of influencing the outcomes of each other. Therefore, it is important to recognize that a negotiation is a process that transforms with time. The key cause of the changes occurring during negotiations is the mutual adjustment. An effective negotiator needs to understand the manner in which people adjust and readjust to the things they would say during the negotiations based on what every party does and is expected to do. Behaviour in the interdependent relationship is often calculated based o the promise that the more information the parties have, the better. Nonetheless, there is a possibility that too much knowledge could only confuse or it might accentuate the variations in the level of perceived fairness. Problem solving is essentially the process involving specification of the elements of the desired outcome, examination of the components available for the production of the outcome, and searching for the methods of fitting them together. Therefore, in the negotiation process, the necessary step involves clarification and sharing of information on what both the parties require as the outcomes. The Negotiation Process The negotiation process often involves a series of steps that ensure the achievement of the desired results. At the beginning of the process, there is preparation and setting of the negotiation goals. Preparation is the first step and it ensures that the involved parties are ready for the actual negotiation process. Before commencing the negotiation processes, it is important to think of different situations likely to occur and develop the mechanisms of handling the arising issues during the process. Preparation involves undertaking some research on various reviews on the issue at hand. Such practices involve checking out some price points of the models that are available to ensure low negotiation of the prices. Therefore, there parties need to identify what they need from the process, understand the need of involving others, their positions, and interests; know the priorities and be in the position of identifying the boundaries. The preparation stage also involves establishing the mechanism of reaching the desired outcome; the resources required that negotiators should tap, development of strategy of working with, and having a walkway position. More importantly, the preparation involves setting time and place of the negotiation. It might be difficult to hit the target without the goal, which is the highest legitimate expectation of what the negotiators intend to achieve. Initial interaction is the second step. The step is important for the creation of trust and rapport between the involved parties considering the fact that people feel those they negotiate with. At such stage, the parties need to practice reciprocity and ability of exchanging the information. Moreover, the parties would have to identify their needs with one another, be confident, and demonstrate to each party that they know what they are doing. The negotiators could state their cases through painting their negotiations, verifying their needs, the desired results, and position oneself to frame the outcome appropriately. Exchanging the views is also important. In such cases, the collaborative negotiations are applicable, the arguments could be gentle, and polite which all depend on the situation from which the negotiations take place. The factor that determines and effective negotiator is the ability of exchanging and refining the information. As a result, there is need to listen, ask questions, and gather appropriate information critical for the negotiation process. Active listening is critical and achievable through reflection on the earlier stands, clarification, acknowledgment of the efforts, recognition of the feelings, and establishing the summaries from the interactions. Upon the establishment of the rapport and trust between the negotiators, there is need to open the demands and offers which could occur during the interaction stage or after exchanging and refining the information. However, the criterion used depends on the negotiation approach employed. Reaching the agreements depends on the mechanisms in place for discovering the innovative options that reflect the underlying interests of the parties and achieving the maximum benefit to both the parties. Making the first offer has its impacts since it acts as the primary anchor of the negotiation process and plays a vital role in determining the appropriate outcome. While negotiating and the other party make the first offer, there is a possibility of the other negotiator becoming the vulnerable to anchor. There are several methods of avoiding being an anchor including ignoring the anchor through making suggestions that conflict the initial proposal; separation of the information from the influence; avoiding dwelling on the anchor to prevent their justification; making an anchor counteroffer, and offering time of moderating on the offer without losing the face. The middle stage of negotiation involves bargaining that take different forms and unconfined to a specific stage within the process. Bargaining involves a competitive approach while seeking for solutions through cooperation. Therefore, the negotiators need to close such gaps through managing the concessions and value creation trades and brainstorming. Concessions are compromises made after making an opening an offer to move the negotiation forward. The negotiation process needs to move towards the closure. To achieve such, the negotiators would to consider various factors: the deadlines, final offers, and the role of power and commitment. The negotiation process often ends with reaching the impasse and agreement between the parties. To end successfully the negotiation process, it is critical to deal with the impasse. The negotiations could appear to moving towards the closure, gaps and differences could still exist. Conclusion Power is critical tool in the negotiation process used in disadvantaging many negotiations. Therefore, it is important to follow the appropriate process while entering into the negotiation process. It is important to note that the weaker party could generally get stronger than the assumed stronger partner could through ensuring that adequate measures are in place for the achievement of the desired outcome. Therefore, it is vital to develop strategies and tactics to the negotiation arguments. In some cases, the stronger negotiators often threaten the BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) of the weaker negotiators. The negotiation process required proper communication and listening skills to ensure the achievement of the set objective. Reference Lewicki, R. J. (2011). Essentials of negotiation. Whitby, Ont.: McGraw-Hill Ryerson. Read More