1.

UNDERSTANDING
NEGOTIATIONS
– KEY CONCEPTS
Bucharest, February - March 2022
 FINAL GRADE

• 80 % exam
• 20 %
• participating at class activities
• individual activities & presentations
• group presentations
 WHAT IS NEGOTIATION?

Encyclopaedia Universalis, 2004

• the process by which two or more parties interact in order to reach an acceptable
position compared to their initial divergent positions.

Zartman, 2008
• the process of harmonizing (combining) different points of view to achieve a
common understanding. More precisely than the term of diplomacy, and broader
than bargaining
 WHAT IS NEGOTIATION?

Aquilar; Galluccio, 2007

• a decision process by which the negotiating parties harmonize their conflicting
interests with a mutually acceptable solution.
• Negotiating does not mean agreeing fully; it means promoting one's own
interests and trying to understand the interests of the other party.
• The negotiation process is thus an attempt to reach agreement on how to
manage interdependencies between the parties.

MIT
• the art and science of finding an agreement between two or more
independent actors trying to maximize their results
CONDITIONS FOR HAVING NEGOTIATION
• Existence of a conflict of interest / differences between parties;

• The aim to have an agreement between parties;

• Communication between the parties

• THE NEGOTIATOR'S DILEMA

 NEGOTIATION VS. BARGANING
• In English business literature, two different terms are commonly used to
designate the negotiation process: negotiation and bargaining.

• In many cases these two terms are considered synonymous, so

interchangeable. In other opinions, however, the two terms refer to different
contents:

• negotiation is the concept that describes the whole process, while

• bargaining refers only to the exchange of concessions during implementing

negotiation (e.g. making concessions on price in the case of business negotiations).
It's also called haggling
 THE DIMENSIONS OF THE NEGOTIATION
• ENVIRONMENT: political, • PLAYERS / PARTIES: • STRATEGIC OPTIONS:
economic, institutional, legal,
cultural, etc. • number of • cooperation or
negotiators conflict
• NEGOTIATIONS ISSUES, which • who they represent • offensive or
refer to: defensive
• personality type
• the objectives and the • firmness or flexibility
motivations of the partners; • interpersonal
relationships • long or short
• common interests; duration of
• conflicting interests; • ability to express negotiations, etc.
themselves;
• the nature and complexity of
the issues being negotiated;
• the ratio of forces etc. • EXPECTED RESULTS: agreement, blockade, rupture
 ENVIRONMENT
• Political / Economic: • Institutional / Legal: influences the progress and
• nature of political / results of the negotiations in three ways:
economic relations • it offers the legislation;
between countries; • influences the attitude towards compliance with
• political stability; the contractual obligations;
• type of political • reflects the diversity of institutional and legislative
regime; models in the countries of the world.
• national priorities in
foreign policies;
• Cultural: generally determines how people
• economic indicators belonging to different cultures:
• business environment • process and interpret information
• level of investments • make decisions
• economic measures • develop and follow existential and behavioural
etc. models.
 PLAYERS / PARTIES
• The negotiators act to fulfil the objectives that ensure the satisfaction of the
parties' interests.

• They are characterized by several aspects:

• the position they hold in negotiation: decision-making power, professional
competence, role in the negotiating team;

• personality traits;

• needs and mobiles in activity;

• cultural endowment: values, beliefs, options, etc


• CONFLICT vs. COOPERATION - a choice
between
• a confrontation-based orientation, when
each partner is trying to win causing the
other to lose
and
• a cooperation-based orientation, when
parties are trying to reach an agreement in
which each of the parties win ( win-win);
STRATEGIC OPTIONS
• OFFENSIVE vs. DEFENSIVE, that is, an
action plan by which
• one negotiator seeks to take the
initiative, to attack and "occupy
the ground”
respectively
• the other negotiator intends to
defend, resist and counterattack;

• "SHORT" negotiation vs. „LONG" negotiation - is an approach that refers to time, as a

rare resource of negotiation, the choice being made according to economic criteria, the
ratio of forces, but also considering cultural differences.
 EXPECTED RESULTS
• WIN-WIN • LOSE–LOSE
• each party win • both parties lose
• this situation allows good • an undesirable situation that may arise
relations between the parties; when both parties agree at a level
below their initial expectations for the
• to achieve such a result each simple reason they consider that
party need to adopt a solution to be the best they might get.
cooperative attitude, be
encouraged by the aim to reach • NO agreement / NO deal
a mutually satisfactory solution. • a solution which is required when a
satisfactory agreement cannot be
• WIN-LOSE obtained.
• one party wins against the other • basically, one of the parties renounces
the negotiation rather than accepting
• it is a result that indicates an an unsatisfactory or non-transposable
unequal force / power between agreement, yet retaining the option to
parties and a conflicting return to the negotiations afterwards, if
approach to negotiation new elements arise
PRISONER’S
DILEMMA
 EXPECTED RESULTS
• WIN-WIN • LOSE–LOSE
• each party win • both parties lose
• this situation allows good • an undesirable situation that may arise
relations between the parties; when both parties agree at a level
below their initial expectations for the
• to achieve such a result each simple reason they consider that
party need to adopt a solution to be the best they might get.
cooperative attitude, be
encouraged by the aim to reach
a mutually satisfactory solution. • NO agreement / NO deal
• a solution which is required when a
satisfactory agreement cannot be
• WIN-LOSE obtained.
• one party wins against the other • basically, one of the parties renounces
• it is a result that indicates an the negotiation rather than accepting
unequal force / power between an unsatisfactory or non-transposable
agreement, yet retaining the option to
parties and a conflicting return to the negotiations afterwards, if
approach to negotiation new elements arise
 THE CONTEXT
OF
INTERNATIONAL
NEGOTIATIONS
 MAIN STRATEGIES
(APPROACHES)
IN NEGOTIATIONS
THANK YOU!