Negotiations pervade every aspect of life. Issues ranging from small arguments over the price of a car to international disputes such as the signing of peace treaties all involve negotiation in one form or another. Negotiation is an important aspect of management because it the basic means of getting what one want from others. It is back-and-forth communication designed to reach agreements when parties have conflicting interests. Even though everyone negotiates everyday, few can do it well. The success of any negotiation can be judged by three criteria: it should produce a wise agreement when possible, it should be efficient, and it should improve or at least not damage the relationship between parties. Too often, negotiations fail to meet these criteria, and parties leave dissatisfied, exhausted, alienated, or all three. .
The most basic form of negotiation is positional bargaining. Each side takes a position, argues for it, and makes concessions to reach a compromise. Even though this technique is simple and can often achieve acceptable results, it rarely resolves issues amicable and efficiently. People often end up choosing between getting what they want and getting along with others. By identifying oneself to a position, positional bargaining creates an interest for parties to "save face."" This interest to "save face- often shadows the real interests and makes it less likely that a wise agreement will result. In addition, positional bargaining is inefficient. Parties have incentive to start of extreme positions and only offering small concessions at a time. As a result, positional bargaining takes a lot of precious time. Even worse, positional bargaining becomes exponentially more complicated and less feasible as more people get involved. Last but not least, positional bargaining hurts the relationship between parties. Even trivial disputes often end up in a contest of will that consequently creates bitter feelings (Fisher and Ury 1-7).
