Negotiation Harvard Style

NEGOTIATIONHARVARD STYLE

Mahmoud Khater

Car Negotiation exercise

Car negotiation exercise (Analysis)

Final sale price: high, low or appropriate.

Why?

The Program on Negotiation

• University consortium,

• Established in 1983,

• Harvard University, MIT and Tufts University,

• Courses, Trainings, Books, Newsletters, Journals.

Negotiation Vs Bargaining

• A structured interaction or dialogue, between two or more parties, aiming at resolving a difference to reach an agreement.

• The most common way of negotiation, where parties take a position and argue for them while making concessions to reach a compromise (positional bargaining).

Negotiation:

A structured interaction or dialogue, between two or more parties, aiming at resolving a difference to reach an agreement.

Personal Reflections: Positional Bargaining

Party 1: Party 2:

Initial Position of Party 1:Initial Position of Party 2:

Final Position of Party 1:Final Position of Party 2:

Positional Bargaining

DRAWBACKS???

The drawbacks of positional bargaining

1. It misses out an opportunity of better solutions;

Example: Why do you want the orange?

2. Its context encourages lying and deception;

3. Damages relationships;

4. It usually results in a Win-Lose and misses the Win-

Win;

BUT: We still use it!

Why??

1. Requires very little planning;

2. Very Convenient;

3. It works, It delivers results;

4. It is a learned behavior;

5. It can be applied to any situation.

Fundamentals of Strategic Negotiations-PIHPOC-

1. Principles

2. Interests

3. Humane

4. Possibilities

5. Objective Criteria

Zone of Possible Agreement (ZOPA)

BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement)

Your best alternative to a negotiated agreement.

“The negotiating power of a party is partly determined by how attractive is the option of not reaching an

agreement.”

Fundamentals of Strategic Negotiations(1)

1.Based on Principles:

a) We shall not lie;

b) We shall not deceive;

c) We shall not take unfair advantage of someone’s weakness;

Fundamentals of Strategic Negotiations(2)

2. Focus on Interests, not positions;

3. Be mindful of the Human angle;

4. Generate a variety of Possibilities before deciding what to do;

5. Insist on an Objective Criteria: negotiate on the standards before negotiation on the substance.

PIHPOC

Principles

• A fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.

• A rule or belief governing one's personal behavior (regardless of the consequences).

• Principles for Negotiation:a) We shall not lie;

b) We shall not deceive;

c) We shall not take unfair advantage of someone’s weakness;

Interests

• Identify, ask why?

• Multiple interests (prioritize them)

• Multiple stakeholders (example: buying new mobile for your son)

The four basics of the human angle: (Perception, emotions, communication, and authority)

Perceptions

1. Understand that people may have different perceptions of the same reality.

2. For people, their perceptions are their reality and they will act accordingly.

3. The better you understand yours and the other party’s perceptions, the better you can negotiate.

Steps to understand the other party’s perceptions

1. Put yourself in their shoes;

2. Identify possible perceptions and check if they believe in one of them.

3. Listen very carefully.

4. Discuss each other’s perceptions.

5. In the event of negative perception about you, act inconsistently with their perceptions.

The Importance Of First Impressions

7 Seconds

“You never have a second chance to make a good first impression”

Steps to tackle emotions in negotiations

1. Be calm. 2. Recognize emotions; theirs and yours. 3. Make emotions explicit. 4. Let the other side let off steam. 5. Check Emotional Bank Account Balance

Body Language – 55%

Tone of Voice – 38 %

Use of Words – 7 %

Prof. Albert Mahrebian

Body Language- Tone of Voice- Use of Words

Facts

1. Eight positions for our brows and forehead.2. Seventeen positions for our eyes and eyelids.3. Forty five positions for our lower jaw.4. Forty three distinct and separate muscle movements in the

face giving us a combination of 10,000 identifiable facial configurations.

5. Some facial expressions are fleeting, lasting for four hundredth of a second.

Reference: Performance Management,Baguley, Phil; Contemporary Books, 2003

Human Angle: Non-verbal Communication

1. Speech pace and pauses2. Pitch and tone3. Use of space and distance4. Body motion and gestures5. Body posture6. Facial expressions7. Gaze8. Touch and body contact9. Style of written text

The impact of a speaker's feelings and attitudes in a

conversation

7%

55%

38%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Verbal (words) Visual (face) Vocal (voice)

Impa

ct

Verbal (words)

Visual (face)

Vocal (voice)

Source: Making Presentations Happen by Michael Brown 2004

Your words versus how you present them

7%

93%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Your Words How you present

your words?

Impa

ct

Your Words

How you presentyour words?

Source: Making Presentations Happen by Michael Brown 2004

PossibilitiesThe four major obstacles towards a creative mutually beneficial solution

1. Premature judgment.2. Searching for the single answer. 3. Assumption of the fixed pie. 4. Solving their problem is their problem.

Objective Criteria (standards)

1. Market value 2. Precedent 3. Scientific judgment 4. Professional standards 5. Law or Court Ruling6. Moral standards 7. Shariah 8. Tradition

Four steps to PIHPOC

1. List out all the applicable standards. 2. Negotiate on the standards before negotiation on

the substance. 3. Don’t yield to pressure, only to principles.4. Learn to say no.

Negotiation Techniques

• Deliberate deception• Niccolo Machiavelli– “The end justifies the means”– “It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver”

DO YOUR HOMEWORK;DO NOT ALLOW TO GET DECIEVED


• GC-BC (video)– Don’t always be the Good Cop

• Deferring to Higher Authority– I will check with my boss/committee/wife…”– Take a concession from counterparty, without

giving any.– Combined with GC-BC (how)

ASK in the beginning? (how)


Extreme demands


1. Stressful physical

conditions

2. Personal attacks

3. Threats

4. Refusal to negotiate

5. Escalating demands

6. Decoy technique

7. A calculated delay

8. The reluctant buyer

More Resources

Make sure you apply your principles

Thank You

Education

Negotiation Harvard Style