The European Business Review - July-August 2019

http://www.europeanbusinessreview.com 79

during their university years. Due to work, the
negotiator had left the country and lost touch with
many of his old friends. However, seeing an old
friend reminded him of the great times they had
had together, and this created a different dynamic
in the negotiation. Quite often, such de facto alli-
ances escape our analysis, and they can turn out to
be counterproductive even when we try our best to
build an alliance.

Fighting Hostile Alliances
Another important duty of a negotiator is to fight
any hostile alliances. It is very important for the
negotiator to attempt to prevent any hostile alliance
from forming during a negotiation and to be ready
to fight any such alliance that does form. Hostile
alliances can be fought in two ways.
If the hostile alliance has been formed already,
then it is important for the negotiator to somehow
make it less relevant for the negotiation or to negate
its impact. One way in which this can be done is
by setting the agenda of the negotiation in such
a manner that the hostile alliance is rendered less
relevant or everyone is given an equal opportu-
nity. An alternative is to see to it that the hostile
alliance is broken up before the negotiation itself.
This can be done by organising personal meetings
with some or all of those in the hostile alliance.
Generally, such one-on-one meetings are helpful
for understanding different alliance partners, and
they give the negotiator more flexibility to fight the
alliance. If the hostile alliance is built during the
negotiation process, then it is important to disrupt
the process. The process of negotiation can be
disrupted by raising issues that are not so important
or by demanding that attention be paid to issues that
can shift the other negotiators’ focus. Another way
of distracting the others is by setting out goals that
stretch beyond what is being discussed. Appealing
to a higher morality or a higher-level goal can also
help break a hostile alliance.
In the end, if we go back to the entire discussion
on building an alliance or fighting a hostile alliance,

one common factor that emerges clearly is that of

control over the negotiation process. In general, in

a multiparty and multi-issue negotiation setting, it is

very important to control the negotiation process.

One of the surest ways of controlling the negoti-

ation process is to prepare and design the process

before the negotiation. After all, negotiation is a

skill and, as with any skill, it is better to prepare for

the execution rather than the result. In any sport, a

professionalathletedoes not prepare for the result

butforthegame.

AbouttheAuthors

Kandarp Mehta is a PhD from IESE

Business School, Barcelona. He has

been with the Entrepreneurship

Department at IESE since October

2009. His research has focussed on
      creativity in organisations and negotiations. He
      frequently works as consultant with startups on
      issuesrelatedtoInnovationandCreativity.
      Guido Stein is Academic Director of
      the Executive MBA of Madrid,
      Professor at IESE Business School in
      the Department of Managing People
      in Organisations and Director of
      Negotiation Unit. He is partner of Inicia Corpo-
      rate (M&A and Corporate Finance).

If the hostile alliance has

already been formed before

the negotiation

If the hostile alliance forms

during the negotiation

Suggest process

interventions

Explore one-on-one

meetings

Process disruptions

Appeal to higher goals

FIGURE 7 - FIGHTING HOSTILE ALLIANCES

In the end, if we go back to the entire discussion on building an

alliance or fighting a hostile alliance, one common factor that

emerges clearly is that of control over the negotiation process.