Styles & Approaches to Negotiation

“Whether you like it or not, you are a negotiator. Negotiation is a fact of life.” — Roger Fisher & William Ury, Getting to YES (Harvard Negotiation Project, 1981).

Meaning of Negotiation

Negotiation is a direct, voluntary discussion between two or more parties to resolve a dispute or reach an agreement, without the help of any third party.

• No judge, no arbitrator, no conciliator, no mediator.
• Parties themselves reach a mutually acceptable solution.
• The cheapest, fastest, and most flexible ADR method.

Styles of Negotiation

(a) Competitive / Hard / Distributive Style

• Focus: win at the other’s expense (win-lose).
• Tactic: extreme opening demand, slow and reluctant concessions.
• Used when: one-time deals, no ongoing relationship.
• Risk: damages trust; may lead to deadlock.

(b) Collaborative / Soft / Integrative / Principled Style

• Focus: win-win outcome for both sides.
• Tactic: explore interests, expand the possibilities (“enlarge the pie”).
• Used when: long-term relationship matters.
• Promoted by the Harvard Negotiation Project.

(c) Compromising Style

• Focus: split the difference — 50-50.
• Quick, but neither party is fully satisfied.

(d) Avoiding Style

• Withdraw or delay the negotiation.
• Used when: stakes are low, or the timing is wrong.

(e) Accommodating Style

• One party yields to preserve the relationship.
• Used when: the issue matters far more to the other side.

Approaches to Negotiation

(a) Positional Bargaining

• Each side takes a fixed position and bargains around it.
• Hard positional: extreme demand, minimal concessions.
• Soft positional: ready concessions to preserve the relationship.
• Both produce sub-optimal outcomes — the parties argue over positions, not real interests.

(b) Principled Negotiation — The Harvard Method

(Roger Fisher & William Ury — “Getting to YES”)

Four Principles:

1. Separate the people from the problem — deal with emotions separately.
2. Focus on interests, not positions — why do you want it, not just what you want.
3. Invent options for mutual gain — brainstorm creative solutions before deciding.
4. Use objective criteria — fair standards (market value, expert opinion, law).

Position vs Interest: A position is what you demand; an interest is why you demand it. Principled negotiation focuses on interests to find solutions both sides can accept.

(c) BATNA — Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement

• Your best fallback option if no deal is reached.
• A strong BATNA gives you real negotiating power.
• Never accept a deal worse than your BATNA.

(d) ZOPA — Zone of Possible Agreement

• The range between Party A’s lowest acceptable price and Party B’s highest acceptable price.
• If a ZOPA exists, a deal is achievable.

(e) Integrative vs Distributive Approaches