union by sheer force of argument that it meant what it said. The
union accepted the offer after balloting its members.
NEGOTIATING TACTICS
(a) Preparation
- Define your bargaining objectives as follows:
■ Ideal– the best you can hope to achieve.
■ Minimum– the least you would be prepared to settle for.
■ Ta r g e t – what you are going to try for and believe, realis-
tically, you have a good chance of achieving.- Consider how you might build up a package which would
allow concessions to be exchanged. For example, could you
accept a higher price for a concession on payment terms, or
increase a pay offer if the union agrees to remove a restrictive
practice? - Assess what the other party wants or is prepared to offer. For
example, if you are a manufacturer negotiating terms with a
store it pays to know, say, that the buyer is constrained by
company policy which insists on a three times mark-up.
Knowing the retail price that the store will want to charge,
you will have a good idea of the maximum the buyer will
pay. You can then judge whether you should press for a
larger order to justify a lower selling price than you would
normally accept.
In a typical wage negotiation the union or representative
body making the claim will come to the table with a pre-
determined target, minimum and opening claims. Similarly,
you, as the employer, will have your own target, maximum
and opening offer.
The difference between their claim and your offer is the
negotiating range. If your maximum exceeds their minimum
this will indicate the settlement zone. This is demonstrated in
Figure 38.1. In this example the chance of settlement without
too much trouble is fairly high. It is when your maximum
is less than their minimum, as in Figure 38.2, that the trouble
starts.
236 How to be an Even Better Manager