Examples Of Objective Criteria In Negotiation

Q1.

Using objective criteria, unlike using interests of the basis of will, is efficient and is not costly. Aspects like valuing the relationships, understanding other’ interests and coming up with new ways of settling for agreements, which will satisfy both sides do not really matter, since there is always a conflict of interests. Putting your will against the will of other negotiators will not contribute to finding a solution. We need to use objective criteria if we want to agree on something without the will of either side. It is important to have some standards of efficiency and fairness. Referring to community practices and precedents makes the agreement “less vulnerable to attack”. Principled negotiation protects the negotiation process from a major threat – battle for

Objective criteria can reduce the number of commitments each side makes, and can save much time, since the negotiators are busy discussing some independent standards and finding solutions, instead of defending their position and attacking each other. Independent standards have even more importance when there are many parties, participating in negotiation. The positional bargaining becomes almost impossible, since coalitions are normally created in these cases, and it is hard to resist these coalitions. Thus, objective criteria allow both sides to have a harmonious and rational negotiation process. Examples of objective criteria for buying a car would be: “What that car sells for at other dealerships? What do similar cars sell for? What does the blue book (or red book if applicable) say the price should be? What is the previous year’s model selling for?” (Godin,