[Negotiation] Chapter 1: The Nature of Negotiation

Essentials of Negotiation

Chapter 1

The first chapter is about the nature of negotiation which is something everybody does almost everyday. Negotiation is to create something new that neither party could do on his or her own or to resolve a problem between the parties.

There are several characteristics of negotiation situation:

• There are two or more parties with conflict of interest between them.


• The parties negotiate because they think they can use some form of influence to make the solutions best for all parties.


• The parties prefer to search for agreement rather than to fight openly.


• In negotiation, we expect to give and take.


• Successful negotiation involves the management of intangibles as well as the resolving of tangibles.

In negotiation, both parties need each other. Such situation is called "Interdependence".

Two potential consequences of interdependent relationships are value creations and conflict. Negotiation skills are useful in situations where one wants to create value or needs to manage conflict.

There are five major strategies for conflict management have commonly identified: Contending, Yeilding, Inaction, Problem Solving and Compromising.