Do the Standards Dance

In many sophisticated negotiations, each party will find independent standards like market value, precedent, expert opinions, etc., that favor their side and will use their most favorable standards to independently justify the “fairness” of their positions. The result? We get the “standards dance” - when the parties negotiate over which standard represents [...]

Top Ten Independent Standards

Why should you use objective criteria to support your moves or offers and concessions in a negotiation? Because we derive power and legitimacy from the perception that our standards and criteria are based on objective, independent factors. If our positions are based on truly objective, independent standards, our counterparts will more likely conclude [...]

Bracketing and the Center Mover

The Financial Times reported this week that AIG has reopened talks with MetLife for the sale of AIG’s American Life Insurance Company (Alico) subsidiary. Reportedly, AIG hopes to raise “more than $15 billion” to help repay the $80 billion in bailout funds it has received from U.S. taxpayers.
The article also mentioned MetLife had previously offered [...]

Formula One and Improving Your Plan B

The future of the Formula One racing series is uncertain after negotiations between the FIA, the sport’s governing body, and FOTA, the racing teams’ association, broke down over the FIA’s plan to impose a budget cap for next season.
Last Friday, eight of the twelve teams announced plans to leave Formula One and start a competing [...]

Top Ten Impasse-Breaking Strategies

Keeping with the “Top Ten” theme from last week, here are my Top Ten Impasse-Breaking Strategies:
1. Get or share more information
2. [...]

Top Ten Information-Gathering Tactics

Effectively and efficiently gathering strategic information is a critical but often underutilized part of the negotiation preparation process. Here are my Top Ten Information-Gathering Tactics:
1. Leave your ego at the door
2. Be sincere
3. [...]

Bidding War is Good News for Seller

Data Domain, a data storage company, is currently the target of an aggressive bidding war between NetApp and EMC. Data Domain is the industry leader in its product niche and both suitors seek to use their larger resources to gain control of this growing new market.
According to The New York Times, NetApp on May [...]

Dealing with (Feigned) Irrationality

After its nuclear test on Monday which generated international condemnation, North Korea reportedly fired several short-range missiles the following day. These actions by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il – who has been accused of acting and being irrational – raises the question of what you should do if you’re faced with someone similar.
First, determine [...]

Does Consumer Anger Pay Off?

In a recent article in the Journal of Consumer Research, Eduardo B. Andrade and Teck-Hua Ho explore “emotional gaming” in consumer behavior - concealing your actual emotional state or displaying one different from your actual emotional state to try to improve the result of a consumer negotiation or social interaction.
They found that parties often achieved [...]

Why High Profile Consumer Advocates Get Great Negotiation Results

The New York Times will soon start a consumer advocate column in which its advocate will solicit consumer complaints and selectively intercede and negotiate on their behalf. Called “The Haggler,” I fully expect them to get great results. Why?
Consumer advocates in the media, typified by local television news investigative reporters, often achieve positive results because [...]