Today, in the age of networking, strategic alliances
and joint-ventures, the ability of companies and other institutions to negotiate successful deals is becoming evermore important. Every company today exists in a complex network of relationships formed through negotiation. Whether negotiating with suppliers, customers or strategic business partners, taken together, the thousands of negotiations a typical company engages in have an enormous effect on both its strategy and its bottom line. But few companies think systematically about their negotiating activities as a whole. Moreover, negotiation is still largely considered to be an individual rather than corporate skill. The concept of negotiation as a skill manifests itself in training programs directed at sales personnel rather than in a company′s corporate philosophies. Few companies seem to have tried to turn their negotiation skills into a core competency with the objective of building more rewarding customers relationships.
The aim is thus to shift from a situational to an institutional view of negotiation. This requires changes in practice, focus and communication of negotiations. The key is to develop a "negotiation infrastructure" and incorporate it into an organization′s strategy and philosophy. Using the BATNA approach gives salespeople a new source of power in their negotiations. Broadening the measures to judge salespeople′s performance allows them greater freedom to build agreements. However, there is a potential threat to this new approach is that it might turn into another set of rules that are followed without the necessary changes in perspective and behavior. The bottom line is that salespeople have to develop the ability to create strong, lasting, mutually beneficial agreements that meet the needs of all parties in a negotiation and build a negotiation relationship for the future. To this end, the personalities of all the participants and their group objectives and self objectives, which might not be the same, must be recognized. A positive negotiating environment that is based on trust and mutual respect should be developed. This attitude is conducive to reaching mutually acceptable compromises during negotiations.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Negotiation as a Corporate Skill
- Creating a negotiation infrastructure
- Companywide negotiation infrastructure
- Broadening the measures of success
- Distinguishing between the deal and the relationship
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This text aims to analyze how companies can transform negotiation from an individual skill into a core corporate competency, leading to improved business outcomes and stronger customer relationships. It examines the challenges companies face in managing negotiation effectively and proposes a framework for building a more coordinated and successful negotiation infrastructure.
- The limitations of viewing each negotiation as an isolated event.
- The importance of a companywide negotiation infrastructure.
- The need to broaden measures of negotiation success beyond cost and price.
- The critical distinction between the deal itself and the ongoing relationship with the other party.
- Strategies for overcoming the perceived trade-off between securing a favorable deal and maintaining a strong relationship.
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
The initial section introduces the increasing importance of negotiation in today's business environment and highlights the prevalent tendency to view negotiation as an individual, rather than a corporate skill. The subsequent sections delve into the creation of a negotiation infrastructure, outlining four key changes within corporations that foster more effective negotiation. These include establishing a companywide infrastructure, broadening success metrics beyond financial gains, distinguishing between the immediate deal and the long-term relationship, and empowering negotiators to walk away from unfavorable deals.
Further sections explore the challenges of broadening success measures, illustrating how a focus on short-term cost reduction can negatively impact long-term relationships and innovation. The text then discusses the crucial distinction between the deal and the relationship, arguing against the common misconception of an inverse correlation between the two. It concludes this section by emphasizing the importance of viewing these aspects as distinct yet interdependent elements.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
Negotiation, corporate skill, negotiation infrastructure, relationship management, strategic alliances, business partnerships, success metrics, deal vs. relationship, cost vs. value, collaboration, customer relationships, supplier relationships.
- Citation du texte
- Christina Kuttnig (Auteur), 1999, Negotiation as corporate skill, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/106416
