MGHC02H3 Lecture 8: The Big Bang & Investigative Negotiation
Negotiation
The Big Bang - Thompson and Leonardelli
• The core elements of Getting to Yes are:
o People: Separate the people from the problem
▪ Every negotiator has 2 kinds of interests:
• In the substance and in the relationship
• Negotiators strive to achieve favorable negotiated outcomes but
also place value on their relationship with the other part
• People are more cooperative when they deal with friends which
doesn’t translate into better quality deals
o Friends are often too willing to compromise and thus fail to
invent options for mutual gain
• Happy negotiators behave more cooperatively and identify greater
mutual gain
• One way in which subjective perceptions undermine conflict
resolution is through reactive devaluation - negotiators perceiving
concessions made by the opponent as benefiting the opponent
o Interests: Focus on interests, not positions
▪ The fixed-pie perception - faulty belief that people's interests are
fundamentally and directly opposed, such that a gain for one party
represents a loss for the other party
• The two people arguing over whether the window should be open
reflected this particular error; they assumed that their interests
were as fundamentally opposed as their positions were (window
open or closed), and this prevented their realization of other
positions available (open a window in another room
o Options: Invent options for mutual gain
▪ To invent options for mutual gain negotiators need to overcome 4
obstacles that prevent such opportunities
• The fixed-pie perception
• Making premature judgments
o Negotiators commit to a specific course of action and then
find it difficult to change course
o One catalyst of premature judgment is time pressure.
Under time constraints, negotiators tend to commit to a
course of action, making them impervious to new
information
• Negotiators tend to search for a single answer
o If negotiators translate their interests into diff.
constellations of offers where each offer has an equivalent
value to the other offers, negotiators are able to conceive
of diff. types of outcomes that would be equally acceptable
o If negotiators consider how potential outcomes can best
serve the other party's interests as well, then negotiators
are better able to invent options for mutual gain
o They can realize where they share interests or where they
might logroll (conduct value-added tradeoffs) to achieve
joint value
o Criteria: Insist on using objective criteria
