The Cooperative Process Of Integrative Bargaining

Value is created in negotiations through the cooperative process of integrative bargaining. This process involves building a foundation of trust by openly communicating the underlying interests of the disputing parties, not necessarily meaning the disclosure of the entire game plan in order to invent solutions (Donohue, 1981). The interests are a negotiator’s fears, concerns, and unmet needs. The interests of the parties involved (the headmaster, board of trustees and faculty members) were consulted before the initial arguments were presented encompassing common ground issues about the school, profitability index and the safety regulations. As such, screening the priorities of each party to the negotiation will more likely reach†¦show more content†¦By sharing the information, the accuracy of a negotiator’s judgments will improve and lead to a mutually beneficial outcome (L. L. Thompson, 1991). An objective criterion can be used to evaluate the options of the negotiation and thereby creating added value. The invaluable framework in Getting to Yes (Fischer, Ury, Patton, 1991) sets out the procedures once alternative solutions have been identified and the application of the criteria. The criterion is independent of the parties to the negotiation and therefore, enables a solution resolved around trust and principle of fairness (Fischer et al., 1991). The parties to the negotiation failed to negotiate the joint search for an objective criterion but rather focused on the interests, resulting in a lengthy process deliberating small aspects and supporting favored arguments. Therefore, it’s important that the objective criteria is negotiated in advance to avoid creating a criteria supporting preferred options in the midst of the negotiation inhibiting the creation of values (Zeleny Cochrane, 1982). The strategy of cost cutting is another mechanism used to create value in negotiations where the costs of the items discussed are valued. This occurs when one party achieves an objective in exchange for the reduction of specified costs affiliated with the opposing party’s concessions (Pruitt, 1983). One of the items in the bargaining mix of the negotiation revolved around the cost profit index held valued by the board of