Core References

• Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1981. Fisher, Roger, and William Ury

  Says to focus on and talk about the interests of the negotiators, not their positions. Identify interests by examining the parties’ situations and the effects of their choice options. Identify common interests and areas of mutual gain. Identify your BATNA (Best Available Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) and the BATNA of the other parties. Work to improve our BATNA and to decrease the other parties’ BATNAs.

• Bargaining for Advantage New York: Penguin Books, 1999. Shell, G. Richard

  Says an information-based bargaining approach should be used, focusing on planning and preparation, careful listening, and attending to the “signals” the other party sends through conduct. Six foundations of effective negotiation include your personal bargaining style, your goals and expectations, authoritative standards and norms, relationships, the other party’s interests, and the diverse ingredients that go into the most important of all bargaining assets: leverage. The four stages of the negotiating process itself are preparation, information exchange, proposing and concession making, and commitment.

• The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 2001. Thompson, Leigh

  Says the use of power and persuasion comes primarily from the negotiator’s BATNA, which must continually be improved. Other sources of power include information, social networks, physical appearance, and persuasion tactics. Creativity and problem solving can overcome fixed-pie perceptions. The key challenges in multiparty negotiations are the development and management of coalitions, the complexity of information management, voting rules, and communication breakdowns. Also explains importance of and techniques in assessing BATNAs and describes negotiation skills.

Key Words

Negotiation, Coalition, Stakeholders