Academic Leadership: Fundamental Building Blocks
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Strategic negotiation
Figure 10 below illustrates a strategic process of negotiation.
FIGURE 10: Strategic Process of Negotiation
Review is the first part and is critical prior to commencing negotiations. Preparation
is imperative during the review stage. Review helps you to clarify your position, where to
retreat if the situation gets complicated and whether you should continue to negotiate.
Once you have conducted your review of information the next step is to establish
your objectives. What are your goals (consider your BATNA, desired outcomes,
etc...)? If you need to, conduct research prior to your negotiation. Analyse the
information to ensure you can optimise your outcomes.
You then need to determine your strategy. Start by considering the process. Who
will negotiate? What pressure are they under? What is the relationship among and
between the parties? What do they want and why? Who has final decision making
authority? What issues are likely to prevent agreement? With this information you can
then plan a formal strategy prior to the negotiation. For example, will it be principled,
hard or soft?
The negotiation process should be used to negotiate a remedy, not to air complaints.
It is good to ask 'what if' until every possibility is covered. This is particularly critical in
principled negotiations where you want to preserve the relationship. Ask questions until
you are certain everything has been covered as you may find new solutions that you had
not considered before.
During the negotiation process it is important not to give anything away for nothing in
return. Generosity is not contagious in a negotiation. Being nice and giving a few things
at the beginning does not mean the other side will give in. This may be viewed as
weakness. Ask for something of value or of use to you. Use the 'IF'..."THEN" rule a lot.
For example, 'if you do 'X', then I'll do Y'. This rule lets them know if they want
something from you it is going to cost them.
Make your opening offer very tough yet credible. Most people come to a negotiation,
with an idea or outcome in their head. These expectations are subjective. However,
making a tough opening offer when outcomes are uncertain can disrupt the expectation
level of the other party because it does not fit into the range they have set internally. It
