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International Online Training Program On Intractable
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Conflict Research Consortium, University
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Negotiation
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Negotiation is the fundamental form of dispute resolution. In simplest terms, it
involves a discussion between two or more disputants who are trying to work out a solution
to their dispute. It may even be done in advance, to avoid disputes. For example, when we
discuss simple life choices with family members--who does which chores, what family
activities are planned for when--we are negotiating. When we bargain over the price of a
product or service, we are negotiating. In order to live or work effectively with others,
good negotiation skills are critical.
Negotiation can take several forms. Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton's
best-selling book, Getting to Yes (1991), highlights three forms of negotiation
or bargaining: hard, soft, and principled. Hard bargaining is adversarial--you assume that
your opponent is your enemy and the only way you can win is if he or she loses. So you
bargain in a very aggressive, competitive way. Soft bargaining is just the opposite. Your
relationship with your opponent is so important that you concede much more easily than you
should. You get taken advantage of in your effort to please, and while agreement is
reached easily, it is seldom a wise one.
Fisher, Ury, and Patton propose a third alternative, which they call "principled
negotiation." This approach calls for negotiators to use five fundamental principles
to negotiate effectively with each other instead of against each other. These are: 1)
separate the people from the problem, 2) negotiate about interests, not positions, 3)
invent options for mutual gain, 4) insist on objective decision criteria, and 5) know your
BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement). (For more information on principled
negotiation, click here.)
Critics of principled negotiation argue that it only works in situations in which
win-win outcomes are possible. In unavoidable win-lose conflicts, some critics argue, the
techniques of distributive bargaining are superior. Distributive bargaining starts with
the assumption that there is only a limited amount of "stuff" to go around, and
that the more that one side gets, the less the other side will be able to have. This is
inherently a competitive situation, which calls for competitive negotiating tactics. (For
more information about competitive negotiating tactics, click here.)
While negotiation is the "pure" form of bargaining, it can be enhanced in
many ways. Mediation, for example, is assisted negotiation, as is consensus-building. Many
other forms of "alternative dispute resolution" (a term developed in the U.S. to
refer to alternatives to litigation) are also simply varieties of negotiation.
Links to Examples of Negotiating Processes:
- Dean Pruitt--Strategic Choice in Negotiation
- Pruitt discusses four basic negotiation strategies--problem solving, contending,
yielding , and inaction, and the way in which each of these affects the
negotiation's outcome.
- Richard
Solomon--Chinese Political Negotiating Behavior
- This article explores in detail the Chinese negotiating strategy used during the process
of negotiating a normalization of relations with the United States.
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- Nancy J. Manring--Dispute System Design and
the U.S. Forest System
- This article explains how the U.S. Forest Service designed and implemented a dispute
management system of deal constructively with both internal and external conflicts
involving forest management issues.
- Susan L. Carpenter and W.J.D.
Kennedy--Handling the Human Side of the Negotiation Process
- This article outlines some of the problems that can arise during negotiation and and
suggests ways to get beyond them.
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- Timothy D. Sisk--The Violence-Negotiation
Nexus: South Africa in Transition and the Politics of Uncertainty
- Sisk outlines the interplay between negotiation and violence during the South African
Transition.
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- Gail Bingham, Aaron Wolf, and Tom
Wohlgenant--Resolving Water Disputes: Conflict and Cooperation
- This article examines different negotiation strategies that can be used to address
environmental, especially water, disputes.
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- Raymond Cohen--Negotiating Across Cultures:
Communication Obstacles in International Diplomacy
- Cohen examines the effects of cultural differences on international negotiations and
diplomacy.
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Links to Outside Information on Negotiation:
- http://snipe.ukc.ac.uk/international/papers.dir/paco1.html
- Conflict Resolution in
Mediation and International Conferences
- By F. Cardone, Second Secretary of the Ministry of External Relations in Brazil.
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- International
Negotiation Journal
- This is a relatively new, but excellent journal on negotiation processes. While
none of the articles is available in full text online, abstracts of all of the articles
are available at this site.
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- International Negotiation and
Small Powers by Terence O'Brien in the New Zealand Institute for Dispute Resolution
Archives
- US Institute of Peace --
"Negotiation and International Mediation" in Sudan: Ending the War, Moving Talks
Forward
- Rita
J. Kummer - Conflict Resolution Theory and its Application in Legislative Negotiations on
Moral Issues: a Case Study of the Civil Rights Acts of 1990 and 1991
- This paper explores the applicability of integrative conflict resolution theory and
practice to the American legislative process in the case of moral conflicts. The focus is
on the American civil rights debate in the 1990s.
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- Links to Related Processes:
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- Official (Track I) Diplomacy
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- Identifying Ripe Times for Negotiation
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- Identifying and Pursuing Negotiable
Sub-Issues
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- Negotiation Loop Backs
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- Principled Negotiation
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- Mediation
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- Consensus Building
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- Pre-negotiation
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- Peacemaking
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- Getting People to the Table
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- Soft Bargaining
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- Hard Bargaining
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- Negotiation Skill Development
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- Distributive Bargaining
Copyright ©1998 Conflict Research Consortium -- Contact: crc@colorado.edu