Chapter 4 Goals the Focus That Drives Negotiation Strategy Determining goals is the first step in the negotiation process Negotiators should specify goals and objectives clearly The goals set have direct and indirect effects on the negotiator s strategy Goals should be challenging but attainable The lawyer focused on planning needed to figure out info about his opponent that is It talks about planning the single most important thing Goals what needs to be accomplished Goals need to be specific The Direct and Indirect Effects of Goals on Strategy Direct effects Wishes are not goals Goals are often linked to the other party s goals There are limits to what goals can be Effective goals must be concrete specific Indirect effects Forging an ongoing relationship The more specific your goals are the easier it is to 1 Understand what the other party wants 2 Let the other party know what we want 3 Determine whether an offer satisfies our goals That s okay you need to have an understanding of what the other party wants but don t just focus on what the other party wants At some point its better to walk away and make no deal than to make a bad deal Understand what the other party wants make sure the other party understands what Indirect effects are what s going to happen to the relationship we want and then see if there s common ground Strategy vs Tactics Strategy the overall plan to achieve one s goals in a negotiation Tactics Short term adaptive moves designed to enact or pursue broad strategies Tactics are subordinate to strategy Tactics are driven by strategy Planning the action component of the strategy process i e how will I implement the strategy First thing you do is the strategy the planning What do I hope to achieve about this negotiation How am I going to accomplish that That flinch walk away belly up all those are tactics short term adaptive moves that help you achieve your goal First you figure out your goals then you figure out what strategy or tactic you ll use Approaches to Strategy Unilateral One that is made without active involvement of the other party Unilateral Even in a competitive negotiation this is not advised it always helps to know something about your opponent and their strategy Here s what I do here s what I m going to do Bilateral One that considers the impact of the other s strategy on one s own Bilateral you need to know something about your opponent lawyer was figuring out the opponent and seeing what the other opponent wanted to get out of the negotiation Dual Concerns Model How much concern do I have for the outcome how much concern do I have for the relationship Per the Dual Concerns Model choice of strategy is reflected in the answers to two questions 1 How much concern do I have in achieving my desired outcomes at stake in the negotiation 2 How much concern do I have for the current and future quality of the relationship with the other party Sometimes it s not worth the time and the effort If your buying house you have all kinds of choices it s better to walk away cause you have alternatives there s other options It all depends on your alternatives The Nonengagement Strategy Avoidance If one is able to meet one s needs without negotiating at all it may make sense to use an avoidance strategy It simply may not be worth the time and effort to negotiate The decision to negotiate is closely related to the desirability of available alternatives Sometimes its not worth the time and the effort It depends on how many alternatives you have If your buying houses you have all kinds of choices if your buying cars you have all kinds of choices if I gets problematic its better to walk away cause you have options That is considered a lose lose 1 Avoiding lose lose strategy when factors are there that its not important that you negotiate at all A danger in avoiding strategy can be that somebody can get mad Ex Housing market you do not have to just negotiate with that one person there is other alternatives Active Engagement Strategies Competition distributive win lose bargaining Competitive win at all costs win to lose strategy Somebody is going to come out not with that they wanted The relationship may be damage a one time relationship the relationship is not important You are not going to make business gain with that guy If your opponent is a hard negotiator your going to go in with a competitive strategy Ignores the relationship factor Collaboration integrative win win negotiation Collaborative win win you want to maximize your outcome but to also protect the fact to have an ongoing relationship There s got to be a free flow of information you have to be able to trust each other you want this relationship to last in the future have some common ground Accommodation involves an imbalance of outcomes I lose you win Accommodating lose to win strategy high importance relationship low importance of outcome I m going to lose in the short term but I m going to set that relationship so I can win in the future Lose first negotiation so I can win in the future People are happy when they get what they want Ex Coke has a good relationship with firehouse subs its important to them because firehouse is growing Coke made that million dollar machine that firehouse has that submitted that long term relationship Relationship was the most important term Cost lost a million dollars to gain firehouse subs in the long term 5 steps Preparation is the single most important thing you can do before entering a negotiation What do I hope to achieve who s my opponent what do I know about them what are they hoping to achieve Build a relationship with your opponent 2 way street Information is key the lawyer said you need to have as much info on the other party Using that info When I find out how is that relative Biding ill offer this you offer that Then you close the deal Then the implementation Key Steps to an Ideal Negotiation Process Preparation What are the goals How will I work with the other party Relationship building Understanding differences and similarities Building commitment toward a mutually beneficial set of outcomes Relationship building do we have common ground People get so focused on their own goals you have to at least consider on what the other party wants Information gathering Learn what you need to know about the issues the other party s needs and the feasibility of possible settlements The animal was the bulldog that San Francisco lawyer never took the first offer never take