Win-Win or Lose-Lose a Review of Negotiating Strategies

Win-Win or Lose-Lose

A Review of Negotiating Strategies

Negotiation is defined as a discussion of specific proposals for the purpose of finding a mutually acceptable agreement or settlement. (Adler & Elmhorst, 2010) People are involved in negotiations on a daily basis, such as trying to get a better and lower price on a car or home, to negotiating a major contract for enormous companies.

There are four negotiating strategies used to help resolve any conflicts or situations, regardless of the nature surrounding it. Conflicts can arise in personal nature, such as a marriage or relationship or conflicts can be professional, such as business-oriented. The outcome of the conflicts differs and depends on the strategies used to achieve desired outcome.

The first negotiating strategy is known as the lose-lose approach. According to the Negotiating Experts, a lose-lose negotiation is defined where all parties to a negotiation leave resources at the conclusion of a negotiation and fail to recognize or exploit more creative options that would lead to a 'win-win' negotiated outcome. The avoiding approach is accompanied by the lose-lose strategy. In avoiding the conflict, the issue is left unresolved and has the potential to become a larger issue.

The next negotiating strategy is the win-lose or lose-win approach. This term refers to a distributive negotiation whereby one party's gain is another party's loss (Glossary of Negotiation Definitions, 1996-2010). Both parties are competing to get the most value from the negotiation. It's called the 'fixed-pie' scenario in that there is only a limited amount to be handed out. This is the most common negotiating strategy and used in competing approach to conflicts.

After win-lose strategy follows the win-win negotiating strategy. In this type of strategy it states the negotiating parties have reached an agreement after fully taking into account each others' interests, such that the agreement cannot be improved upon further by any other agreement (Glossary of Negotiation Definitions, 1996-2010). Collaborating in conflicts, win-win strategy is best used to resolve issues together. It is the idea of meeting the needs and concerns of all the parties involved.

The final negotiating strategy is known as compromising. Simply stated, each party sacrifices something to reach an agreement. This approach is cooperative, recognizing that both parties must agree to resolve a conflict. Compromise is useful when the cost of conflict is higher than the cost of losing, when equal strength opponents are at a standstill and when there is a deadline intimidating.

There are many examples of the negotiating strategies. An perfect example of a win-win strategy that quickly turned into a win-lose conflict happened between management and workers at Bayou Steel in January 1993 (Spangler, 2003).

"The management and labor of Bayou Steel in Laplace, Louisiana, sat down to negotiate a new contract. Each side believed that they had built a solid relationship. Management went into the negotiations thinking and believing that if they used a win-win negotiation concept, they would increase and