Negotiation examples in real life: Does negotiator bias impact perceptions of fairness at the negotiation table?

As we’ve discussed in previous articles about negotiation examples in business, a negotiator’s beliefs concerning negotiation ethics are affected by cognitive biases. You probably can recall times when a negotiating opponent made what appeared to be a blatant misstatement. If you’re like most people, you assumed the person was lying to gain an advantage. But what if she genuinely believed in the false claim? It’s not easy to offer the benefit of the doubt, especially when the stakes are high.

Become a Master Negotiator: 7 Keys

HR managers negotiate every day. In today’s Advisor, powerhouse negotiator Eldonna Lewis Fernandez, author of Think Like a Negotiator, shares expert tips.

To help individuals maximize their bargaining prowess in business and in life, Fernandez has identified 7 critical strategies for emerging victorious in any negotiation.

Types of Power in Negotiation: Your negotiating power depends on both objective and subjective factors

Social psychologists have described different types of power that exist in society, and negotiators can leverage these types of power in negotiation as well.

Two types of power spring from objective features of the bargaining process.

First, power is often defined as a lack of dependence on others. This kind of power in negotiation corresponds to one’s BATNA, or best alternative to a negotiated agreement. When an individual has a strong BATNA going into a negotiation, she is less dependent on the opposing party to reach her needs than she would be if she had a weak alternative or no alternative at all.

Dealing with Difficult People: Lies, Lies, and More Lies: Beware these deceptive tactics in difficult negotiations

Are you facing a negotiator you don’t think you can trust? Here are five common types of deception you may come across when dealing with difficult people in a negotiation situation, according to Richard Shell:

10 Hardball Tactics in Negotiation: The best negotiation tactics of hard bargainers can catch you off guard

Don’t be caught unprepared by hard bargainers, warn Robert Mnookin, Scott Peppet, and Andrew Tulumello in their book Beyond Winning. Here is their Top 10 list of hardball tactics in negotiation to watch out for:

1. Extreme demands followed up by small, slow concessions.

Don’t let a strong demand “anchor” your expectations. Be clear going in about your own demands, alternatives, and the bottom line – and don’t be rattled by an aggressive opponent.

Getting to Yes with Yourself: A Book Talk by William Ury (Our biggest adversaries in negotiations are often ourselves.)

Bill Ury is arguably one of the most influential and brilliant international negotiators of our time.  He is one of the founding professors at Harvard Law School’s Executive Program on Negotiation and a contributor in the Middle East Peace / Camp David Accords with Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter, Anwar El Sadat in 1978. 

I am extremely privileged and eternally blessed to have attended his lectures and programs at Harvard Law School’s Executive Program on Negotiation and credit much of my own personal and business success to and through the adoption of his principles and techniques.  Through the application of basic principles like: “Go to the balcony,”  “Cross the bridge” and determining the difference between “Positions” and “Interests”, I have helped myself and countless others to reach agreements in tough labor negotiations, day to day business operations and in mediating disputes in the workplace.

The following is a 45 minute YouTube video of his most recent lecture on his book, Getting to Yes with Yourself.  Most of my negotiating clients are experienced labor attorneys or full time commercial building contractors; many truly believe that they are excellent negotiators because they know labor law and or have been to the table a few times.  While time at the table is a valuable experience that cannot be taught, nothing can ever replace the core values, beliefs, tools and systems learned through an internationally recognized academic program, such as Harvard Law School’s Executive Program on Negotiation.   

Through my time and experiences attending programs at institutions like Harvard Law School’s Executive Program on Negotiation and Cornell University’s ILR School, I have grown as a negotiator, as a leader, as a mediator and facilitator, as a spouse, partner and friend. Take 45 minutes out of your day today and expose yourself to some of the core techniques utilized by many successful negotiators.  Whether your organization is approaching an upcoming tough round of labor negotiations, you are dealing with interpersonal disputes in your office or you and your spouse are merely considering your next decision, I promise you that this will be the best 45 minutes that you can spend learning about yourself and how you can help yourself to be a better contributor to a successful outcome for all.

Negotiation Skills: Should Put Off What You Could Negotiate Today

Adapted from, “Should you put off what you could negotiate today?” first published in the Negotiation newsletter, June 2012.

Difficult Negotiation Going Nowhere? Consider an Apology

Adapted from “Stuck on the road to nowhere? Consider an apology,” first published in the August 2011 issue of Negotiation.

Fighting For Your Livelihood

From brokering a deal to negotiating a sale, there are many disputes that happen at work. Among the most challenging are those involving employers and employees. That’s the case with Binder Kadeer: Consultation in the Company, a negotiation exercise brought to you by the Program on Negotiation’s Teaching Resource Center (TNRC).

Conflict Resolution: Negotiating Noncompete Agreements

Adapted from “Negotiating Noncompete Agreements,” first published in the May 2011 issue of Negotiation.

Mediation: Sitting Down at the Table

Adapted from “Sitting Down at the Table,” first published in the May 2011 issue of Negotiation.

My team has a big negotiation with a potential supplier coming up, and we’ve decided to meet at our office. What are best practices for arranging the physical space to facilitate a productive negotiation? On one hand, we are the customer; on the other hand, they are the “bigger fish.”

After Job Dealmaking Advice, A Retraction from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella found himself in the hot seat in October after telling women attending the Grace-Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing that the best way to effectively negotiate for a raise is not to ask for one at all.

Dealing with Difficult People: Comcast and Its Critics

In our lives as business negotiators, there inevitably will be times when we feel angry, frustrated, and mistreated.

In Business Negotiation, Beware Overbidding: Lessons from Facebook

Facebook’s $19.6 billion acquisition of text-messaging start-up WhatsApp seemed exorbitant when it was negotiated back in February. But as it turns out, the final price tag on the fifth-largest technology deal ever turned out to be even higher.

Negotiation Skills: At Pimco, a Successful Threat and an Uncertain Payoff

In business negotiations, threats can be fraught with risk. There is the risk that a threat will escalate conflict. There is the risk that a threat will motivate a desire for revenge. And then there is the risk that your threat will work perfectly, but you’ll be unprepared for the aftermath.

Fear of the Domino Effect in International Negotiation

“Give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile.” Unfortunately, that’s the attitude with which many people approach negotiation. Convinced that their counterparts will take advantage of any concessions and compromise they make, they refuse to make any at all.

As a result, negotiations end up stalemated, and inefficient practices continue.

BATNA: Negotiators – How you Can Avoid Striking Out (And Create Mutual Gains) in Your Next Business Negotiation

Recent labor strikes highlight common conflict-resolution pitfalls.

The latter half of 2012 has seen a slew of labor strikes in the United States.

In the NFL, Roger Goodell’s Dealmaking for Mutual Gains

Because an agent’s incentives are rarely, if ever, perfectly aligned with those of her principal (principal-agent theory), many business negotiators have been burned by agents who put their own interests first. Agents in many fields, for example, have a motivation to close deals quickly – rather than for the best price – and earn quick commissions.

Uncovering Bias and Generating Mutual Gains: Google, Women, and Negotiation

The persistence of the so-called “glass ceiling” and salary gap between men and women is often chalked up to the fact that men historically have been more assertive about negotiating for higher salaries, promotions, and other contributors to career success. The fear that they will be viewed as unlikeable and consequently discriminated against for negotiating on their own behalf is one reason women have avoided negotiating for their own advancement.

Some companies are recognizing their role in this state of affairs. In a September New York Times article, Farhad Manjoo describes the initiatives that Google is undertaking to improve the representation and advancement of women within the company. At Google, 70% of employees are male, and 83% of the company’s engineers and 79% of its managers are men. In 2013, Google disclosed that only three of its 36 top managers were women.

Dealing with Difficult People: Tackle Tough Issues Together

Adapted from “Negotiators: How You Can Avoid Striking Out,” first published in the December 2012 issue of Negotiation.

When a difficult negotiation such as a labor contract renegotiation looms, it can be tempting for each side to try to make unilateral decisions on certain issues because of the belief that negotiation with the other side will be a dead end. This strategy may pay off in the short term, but it’s important to factor in the long-term costs.