Negotiation

According to Wikipedia.com, broadly speaking, negotiation is an interaction of influences. Such interactions, for example, include the process of resolving disputes, agreeing upon courses of action, bargaining for individual or collective advantage, or crafting outcomes to satisfy various interests. Negotiation is thus a form of alternative dispute resolution.
Last class we did negotiation in class. Professor gave us 1 group assignment which divided by 2 steps. First of all, each individual had their own values sheet. Everyone knew which solution the best for his/her is. After discussion, because we wanted to make us to be “win-win” status, our group decided to share our value sheets and use Microsoft Excel to calculate one best solution which makes everyone to get maximum value. However, we had a problem. There was one student’s score having a very low score. Excel gave us two best solutions for solving our question. First one the score average was great. It was 4.7. Two of us got around 9 points, but one of us just got 2 points. Second one, the average was 4.3, but the two guys’ 9 points changing to be 6-7 points. The one who got only 2 points in the first method got 4 points. Because this problem, we did grouped negotiation. Finally, the lower score student decided chose the first one. She wanted to keep other student with a high score.
Later, professor gave each group another values sheet. Students tried to use the same strategies as the first step. We shared the value sheets importations; however, this time the rule had changed a little bit. The score was based on the difference of the each group’s choice. Based on this rule, we used a lower score. Fortunately, we got a nice score at the end of this class.
Through this class, we learned that negotiation involves three basic elements: process, behavior and substance.
The process refers to how the parties negotiate: the context of the negotiations, the parties to the negotiations, the tactics used by the parties, and the sequence and stages in which all of these play out.
Behaviors to the relationships among these parties, the communication between them and the styles they adopt.
The substance refers to what the parties negotiate over: the agenda, the issues (positions and - more helpfully - interests), the options, and the agreement(s) reached at the end.Skilled negotiators may use a variety of tactics ranging from a straight forward presentation of demands or setting of preconditions to more deceptive approaches such as cherry picking. Intimidation and salami tactics may also play a part in swaying the outcome of negotiations.