Unit 12

International negotiations plan

1. Introduction (definition, etymology, negotiation theory)

2. Types of negotiation

3. Negotiation styles

4. Types of negotiators

5. The essential elements of negotiation (strategies and techniques)

6. Key skills in negotiating

7. Tactics and how to overcome the top ten negotiating tactics 

8. International negotiations (general principles and differences)

9. Challenges of negotiating across cultures

Lecture

Let's first define what negotiation means. The Random House Dictionary (2nd Edition) defines "to negotiate" as “...to deal or bargain with another or others, as in the preparation of a treaty or contract or in preliminaries to a business deal.”

Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary has it as “ ...to confer with another so as to arrive at the settlement of some matter. “

But one of the best definition I've come across was given by Robert D. Rutherford, Ph.D., author of The Twenty Five Most Common Mistakes Made in Negotiating...and What You Can Do About Them. He defines negotiation as: “...an effort to resolve a difference between two or more parties by the give-and-take process.”

Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties intended to reach a mutually beneficial outcome, resolve points of difference, to gain advantage for an individual or collective, or to craft outcomes to satisfy various interests.

Negotiation occurs in business, non-profit organizations, government branches, legal proceedings, among nations and in personal situations such as marriage, divorce, parenting, and everyday life. The study of the subject is called negotiation theory. The foundations of negotiation theory are decision analysis, behavioral decision analysis, game theory, and negotiation analysis. Another classification of theories distinguishes between structural analysis, strategic analysis, process analysis, integrative analysis and behavioral analysis of negotiations. Negotiation is a specialized and formal version of conflict resolution most frequently employed when important issues must be agreed upon. Negotiation is necessary when one party requires the other party's agreement to achieve its aim. The aim of negotiating is to build a shared environment leading to long-term trust and often involves a third, neutral party to extract the issues from the emotions and keep the individuals concerned focused. It is a powerful method for resolving conflict and requires skill and experience. Zartman defines negotiation as "a process of combining conflicting positions into a common position under a decision rule of unanimity, a phenomenon in which the outcome is determined by the process." Professional negotiators are often specialized, such as union negotiators, leverage buyout negotiators, peace negotiators, hostage negotiators, or may work under other titles, such as diplomats, legislators or brokers.

Etymology

The word "negotiation" originated in the early 15th century from the Old French and Latin expressions “negociacion” and “negotiationem.” These terms mean “business, trade and traffic.” By the late 1590s negotiation had the definition, "to communicate in search of mutual agreement." With this new introduction and this meaning, it showed a shift in “doing business” to “bargaining about” business.