NATURE OF NEGOTIATION
Negotiation defined
De Girolamo – negotiation is about joint decision making involving parties in conflict who strive to
communicate with an opponent within a normative and psychological context about a resource they
want or do not wish to give up.
May involve two or more parties at the table with/without their representatives. Direct communication
between parties.
May have mixed motives, interests, wants and goals both conflicting and common. Mutual movement
from initial position to joint/reciprocal action.
Goal is to reach agreement but there’s no guarantee that one will be reached. More than one set of
terms/outcomes possible.
Why do we negotiate? To get what we want, to get something we cannot get ourselves, to do better
than we can on our won (Fisher & Ury) and possible to preserve a relationship.
Negotiation in the dispute resolution panorama
First formal step along the panorama.
Something parties do together to get an outcome they want. No TP involvement as direct negotiation
occurs between parties.
Process of negotiation: Gulliver’s stages
Negotiation is comprised of an exchange of information which may or may not get to the bargaining
stage. Could be as a result of misunderstandings being clarified and parties understanding each other’s
motivation of their conduct.
Gulliver’s models: (i) cyclical, (ii) developmental model.
The Cyclical Model
Info exchange + learning – occurs throughout negotiation
Info exchange is critical. As info is exchanged, learning is enhanced about the other party’s positions.
Strategies and tactical decision are dependent on the flow of information.
As info is exchanged, issues become clear.
The Developmental Model
8 stages: search for arena, composition of agenda and definition of issues, establishing maximal limits
to issues in dispute, narrowing the difference, preliminaries to final bargaining, final bargaining, ritual
affirmation, execution of the agreement.
Stages reflect moving social interaction between the parties. They provide an insight into what goes
on in a negotiation. The cyclical model informs the 8-stage process.
Roberts & Palmer edited a few phases e.g. putting agenda is more difficult and so is defining the
issues, so these should be separate. Add something between final bargaining and ritual affirmation.
There also needs to be a recognition of what stage the agreement crystallises. Theirs is the ‘processual
model’ which is exactly like the 8-stage process with the two edits.
