Negotiation Key Terms

Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement

Occurs when one person’s opinions, ideas, or beliefs are incompatible with those of another, and the two seek to reach an agreement of opinion

Refers to the risk associated with the willingness of the other party to honor its terms

mentally changing some aspect of the past as a way of imagining what might have been

A negotiation that takes place because a claim that has been made by one party has been rejected by another party.

Belief that the other party’s interests are directly and completely opposed to one’s own interests

Salient number, figure, or value in a negotiation that appears to be valid but is actually arbitrary and/or has no basis in fact.

The negotiations that take place behind the scene between a principal and his or her constituents.

A phenomenon that refers to the fact that some negotiations will affect other negotiations; i.e., resolutions in one situation will have implications for a future situation.

A member of a group that acts as a single unit; i.e., there is no divergence within the group.

A participant in negotiation. Parties can be individuals, groups, organizations, communities, or nations.

Inconsistencies in choice that are produced when subtle wording differences lead people to make different judgments.

Approval of a contract by a body or group not necessarily present at the negotiation table.

The tendency for people to devalue an option previously considered to be more attractive, merely as a consequence of it being offered by the other side.

The point at which a negotiator is indifferent between reaching a settlement and walking away from the bargaining table.

Preference for a sure thing rather than a gamble that has an equal or greater expected value.

Conflict or competition that exists when people perceive one
another as desiring the same limited resources.

The relative risk levels of the tactics that negotiators use at the bargaining table.

A principle that states that if alternative x is preferred to y, in the condition that some event, a, occurs, and if x is also preferred to y in the condition that some event, a, does not occur, then x should be preferred to y, even when it is not known whether a will occur.

The ideal or upper limit of what a negotiator expects to get out of a negotiation. Also called the aspiration or aspiration point.

The amount of time between the negotiation and the consequences or realization of negotiated agreements.

A situation in which a negotiator makes an offer that is immediately accepted by the opponent, thus signaling the fact that the negotiator offered too much.

Number, figure, or value that becomes a salient point of reference in a negotiation.

The amount of overlap between parties’ reservation points.

The region between parties’
reservation points in which a final settlement should be obtained.

A bargaining style named for Lemuel Boulware, former CEO of General Electric, in which one’s first offer is one’s final offer.

A principle that prescribes equal shares for all.

A principle that prescribes that distribution of resources should be proportional to a person’s contribution.

Likelihood that a negotiator will have a negative reaction to a
threat to his or her public image, reputation, or status vis-à-vis other people in the negotiation
(“face”)

Unilateral conciliatory actions designed to deescalate a conflict.

A person who prefers to split resources equally, except in antagonistic relationships.

Extent to which one party has conceded from an initial stated
position.

A negotiation in which parties want to cooperate with their opponent
to reach mutual agreement, but must compete to maximize their share of the joint gains.

A rule that states that the benefits people receive should be proportional to their needs; also called welfare-based allocation.

A negotiation situation in which there is no positive overlap between parties’ reservation points.

The process of making offers and counteroffers in a negotiation.

The positive difference between the settlement outcome and the negotiator’s reservation point.

In negotiation, the sequence of consecutive concessions made by parties.

A person who prefers to have more resources than the other party, regardless of relationship.

In negotiations, a person who prefers to split resources equally no matter whether the relationship with another party is positive, negative, or neutral.

In negotiation, an outcome in which negotiators leave money on the table, reach an impasse, or are generally worse off not reaching agreement than reaching agreement.

In negotiation, determination of whether concessions are immediate, gradual or delayed.

Agreements wherein negotiators make bets based on their differences in beliefs, forecasts, risk profiles, and interests.

A situation in which conflict does not exist between people, yet they erroneously perceive the presence of conflict.

The tendency of negotiators to believe that they are revealing more information than they actually are; i.e., they believe that others have access to information about them when they in fact do not.

The process by which a negotiator unilaterally deduces what the other party’s true interests are and where the joint gains are by listening to their responses in negotiation.

A process by which negotiators seek to expand the amount of available resources.

The union of both parties’ issue sets.

The strategy of trading off in a negotiation so as to capitalize on different strengths of preference.

The tendency for negotiators to settle for outcomes that both prefer less than some other readily available outcome.

A strategy that involves a negotiator simultaneously presenting the other party with two or more proposals of equal value to him-or herself.

A situation in which no other feasible agreement exists that would improve one party’s outcome while simultaneously not hurting the other party’s outcome.

Strategies in which negotiators reach a binding settlement, but agree to explore other options with the goal of finding another that both prefer more than the current one; if one is not found, the current settlement is imposed.

Making concessions on issues before they are even requested.

Formal, partial settlements that occur in advance of the parties’ undertaking full-scale negotiations, designed to be replaced by a long-term, formal agreement.

The identification of the bargaining issues and alternatives in a negotiation.

Arguments for one’s own position or against the other’s position in a negotiation.

Division of large, all-encompassing issues into smaller, more manageable ones.

Negotiations in which the parties craft outcomes that are better for both sides than an even split (dividing resources in half).

reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case (The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise on Tuesday morning.)