For many, negation means something very managerial and labor involved. However, negotiation simply means to settle by discussion or mutual agreement. According to Wilmot and Hocker in their 8th Edition of Interpersonal Conflict, negotiation provides a process of problem solving when the topic, content, or substantive issues rise in importance.
Negotiations occur many times every day in both public and private sectors and people of all ages negotiate. I have had a few distinct experiences in negotiating and would like to analyze them briefly. For starters, this summer I lived with my two best friends in an apartment in Oakland. There were three of us and two rooms. We had to negotiate to decide who was going to get their own room. However, whoever got their own room, had to pay more rent. After listing the stances that each one of us took, we negotiate that Kait would get her own room and Maddy and I would share a room. We negotiated this agreement because Maddy and I did not mind sharing a room and it was a benefit that we would be paying less rent. We engaged in this conflict rather than avoiding it. If we were to avoid it, someone would have just taken their own room and more conflict would have risen. None of the parties involved dominated the situation. Kait used persuasion to assure us that she was okay with paying more. She stated that her mom was paying her share of the rent. Maddy and I were persuaded to allow her the bigger room because she was not paying for it herself. And by using the collaboration approach, we were all happy with the results. Another negotiate situation that I was involved in happened in New York City. On Canal Street, the shopping district of New York, the street vendors will always try to make a deal with you. On this particular occasion, I was buying perfume from a street vendor. (Totally legal, right?) Because I frequently buy perfume, I know when I am getting a good deal or not. For the purchase of three designer perfumes, the vendor offered me one price. I did not accept this price and offered a lower one. He said a price higher than mine, but lower than his first offer. I was still getting a deal on the perfume; however, I wanted to see how low he would go. After about fifteen minutes of negotiating with him, walking away once, another five minutes of negotiating, I was able to purchase the three fragrances for the price of one. Again, neither one of us dominated the situation nor avoided it. We both used persuasion to seal the deal on the purchase. We both maintained our identities-mine as the buyer and his as the seller, and the relationship of buyer and seller was also maintained. And although we approached the situation in a win/lose way, I strongly feel that I negotiated well. The vendor felt that he won by selling three perfumes, and felt that I lost by paying above my asking price. However, I felt that I won because I purchased three perfumes for the price of one, and that he lost because he had no idea how good of a deal he was giving me. Understanding the styles and tactics of negotiation allow one to better negotiate in many situations.
In addition to this situational example of negotiation, please watch the short videos below to see more examples of negotiation:
DR. BALMERT WATCH THIS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qsa66AqXTo
No comments:
Post a Comment