change in his or her position, a concession has been made (Pruitt, 1981).
Concessions restrict the range of options within which a solution or agreement will
be reached; when a party makes a concession, the bargaining range (the
difference between the preferred acceptable settlements) is further constrained.
(p. 11) What does BATNA stand for?
Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement.
(p. 19, 20) Name the four levels of conflict that are commonly
The four levels of conflict are: 1) intrapersonal or intrapsychic conflict, 2)
interpersonal conflict, 3) intragroup conflict, and 4) intergroup conflict.
(p. 10) What are the three ways that characterize most
relationships between parties?
Most relationships between parties may be characterized in one of three ways:
independent, dependent, and interdependent.
(p. 25) Where would you likely to find the concept of
"yielding" on the dual concerns model?
Yielding (also called accommodating or obliging) is the strategy in the upper lefthand corner. Actors pursuing the yielding strategy show little interest or concern in
whether they attain their own outcomes, but they are quite interested in whether
the other party attains his or her outcomes. Yielding involves lowering one's own
aspirations to "let the other win" and gain what he or she wants. Yielding may
seem like a strange strategy to some, but it has its definite advantages in some
(p. 21) How does decreased communication contribute as
one of the destructive images of conflict in a
Productive communication declines with conflict. Parties communicate less with
those who disagree with them, and more with those who agree. The
communication that does occur is often an attempt to defeat, demean, or debunk
the other's view or to strengthen one's own prior arguments.
(p. 7) Why do parties negotiate by choice?
That is, they negotiate because they think they can get a better deal by negotiating
than by simply accepting what the other side will voluntarily give them or let them
have. Negotiation is largely a voluntary process. We negotiate because we think
we can improve our outcome or result, compared to not negotiating or simply
accepting what the other side offers. It is a strategy pursued by choice; seldom are
we required to negotiate.
(p. 3) Is the give-and-take process used to reach an
agreement the "heart of the negotiation" as most
While that give-and-take process is extremely important, negotiation is a very
complex social process; many of the most important factors that shape a
negotiation result do not occur during the negotiation, but occur before the parties
start to negotiate, or shape the context around the negotiation.
(p. 11) Describe a "mutual gains" situation.
When parties' goals are linked so that one person's goal achievement helps others
to achieve their goals, it is a mutual-gains situation, also known as a non-zero-sum
or integrative situation, where there is a positive correlation between the goal
attainments of both parties.
(p. 22) Conflict also has productive aspects and one of those
is that conflict encourages psychological
It helps people become more accurate and realistic in their self-appraisals.
Through conflict, persons take others' perspectives and become less egocentric.
Conflict helps persons to believe that they are powerful and capable of controlling
their own lives. They do not simply need to endure hostility and frustration but can
act to improve their lives.
(p. 17) Why should negotiators be versatile in their comfort
and use of both value claiming and value creating
Not only must negotiators be able to recognize which strategy is most appropriate,
but they must be able to use both approaches with equal versatility. There is no
single "best", "preferred" or "right" way to negotiate; the choice of negotiation
strategy requires adaptation to the situation, as we will explain more fully in the
next section on conflict. Moreover, if most negotiation issues/problems have
claiming and creating values components, then negotiators must be able to use
both approaches in the same deliberation.
(p. 9) What are tangible and intangible factors in negotiation?
Tangible factors include quantifiable items, such as the price, terms of agreement,
etc. By intangible factors, we are referring to the deeper underlying psychological
motivations that may directly or indirectly influence the parties during the
(p. 24) The Dual Concerns Model is a two-dimensional
framework that postulates that people in conflict have
two independent types of concern. What are those two
types of concerns?
Concern about their own outcomes (shown on the horizontal dimension of the
figure) and concern about the other's outcomes (shown on the vertical dimension
(p. 11) Define "zero-sum" situation.
Individuals are so linked together that there is a negative correlation between their
(p. 24, 25) What are the five major strategies for conflict
management (as identified in the Dual Concerns
Contending, Yielding, Inaction, Problem Solving, and Compromising.
(p. 16) Describe the strategies and tactics a negotiator would
employ in a distributive bargaining situation.
In distributive situations negotiators are motivated to win the competition and beat
the other party, or gain the largest piece of the fixed resource that they can. In
order to achieve these objectives, negotiators usually employ "win-lose" strategies
and tactics. This approach to negotiation-called distributive bargaining-accepts the
fact that there can only be one winner given the situation, and pursues a course of
action to be that winner. The purpose of the negotiation is to claim value-that is, to
do whatever is necessary to claim the reward, gain the lion's share, or gain the
largest piece possible.
(p. 19) Explain how conflict is a potential consequence of
Conflict can result from the strongly divergent needs of the two parties, or from
misperceptions and misunderstandings. Conflict can occur when the two parties
are working toward the same goal and generally want the same outcome, or when
both parties want very different outcomes. Regardless of the cause of the conflict,
negotiation can play an important role in resolving it effectively. In this section, we
will define conflict, discuss the different levels of conflict that can occur, review the
functions and dysfunctions of conflict, and discuss strategies for managing conflict
(p. 18) Define synergy?
"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."
(p. 3) What are the three reasons negotiations occur?
Negotiations occur for several reasons: (1) to agree on how to share or divide a
limited resource, such as land, or property, or time; (2) to create something new
that neither party could do on his or her own, or (3) to resolve a problem or dispute