Search results

Previous research on negotiation skills has focused mostly on the negotiation itself and tactics used when bargaining, while little research has examined the process by which people become effective negotiators. The purpose of this paper is to develop an initial model from an intra-organizational perspective to outline the factors that contribute to the development of negotiation skills and behaviors by employees.

This conceptual paper relies on prior research and existing theory to focus on the types of developmental and learning experiences and processes that lead to the acquisition of three specific types of key negotiation skills and behaviors.

Distributive, integrative, and adaptable negotiation skills are developed most effectively via different learning and development activities, respectively. Additionally, unique individual difference and situational variables could contribute to particular negotiation behaviors, either directly or via an interaction with developmental experiences.

The paper proposes a model for future testing in which results can provide support for tailored/customized training and development of employee negotiation skills. Providing the correct people with the correct tools in the correct manner is always desirable by practitioners.

This proposed holistic model provides new insights, structure, and suggestions for more research on factors that lead to negotiation skill development and exhibition of effective negotiation behaviors. This paper goes beyond description of negotiation tactics and addresses the various negotiation contexts and the unique skills needed for each. Most importantly, the paper addresses how those skills are uniquely and most effectively developed.

This paper analyzes procurement negotiators' skills and attributes by considering perceptions of procurement professionals in Tanzania.

This study employed a cross-sectional research design in which procurement professionals' opinions were collected through questionnaires. The study proposed that the skills and attributes of procurement negotiators are necessary for negotiation proceedings, and they were tested through confirmatory factor analysis.

Findings suggest that listening skills, persuasion skills, communication skills and planning skills are all important skills that contribute to overall procurement negotiation skills. Furthermore, trust, flexibility, honesty and emotion are statistically determined to be necessary attributes for procurement negotiators. All of the observed variables were statistically significant (p < 0.001) and contributed positively to explaining the skills and attributes of procurement negotiators.

The sample included only respondents from a single country. This may affect the generalization of results as there is a variation in institutional regulatory compliance governing public procurement undertakings in different countries. Also, the study did not include the outcome of negotiation proceedings and relied only on opinions collected from the procurement professionals in Tanzania.

This study's findings provide suggestions for practitioners on the necessary skills and attributes of procurement negotiators that might be well considered when appointing members of negotiation teams for procurement deals.

This paper adds value to the existing literature on the necessary skills and attributes of members of negotiation teams for procurement undertakings in the public sector.

We are negotiating all the time: with customers, suppliers, trade unions, our family ‐ indeed, all with whom we come into contact. In business, in particular, negotiation needs management. There are said to be eight stages in negotiation: prepare, argue, signal, propose, present the package, bargain, close and agree. At the proposal stage one must be clear about what one must achieve, what one intends to achieve, and what one would like to achieve. The approach to constructive and competitive negotiation, the role of consultation, how to cope with deadlock and conflict, cross‐cultural negotiation, and the art of compromise are reviewed. The development and use of teams in negotiation is also an important factor, needing careful assessment. Negotiation will nearly always involve conflict, but steps must be taken to ensure that the participants remain on friendly terms.

This paper aims to investigate the effects of political skill in a specific workplace setting – the job negotiation. The authors expected negotiator political skill to be positively related to distributive negotiation outcome, problem-solving as a negotiation strategy to mediate this relationship and political skill to also moderate – that is amplify – the link between problem-solving and negotiation outcome.

In Study 1, a laboratory-based negotiation simulation was conducted with 88 participants; the authors obtained self-reports of political skill prior to the negotiation and – to account for non-independence of negotiating partners’ outcome – used the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model for data analysis. Study 2 was carried out as a real-life negotiation study with 100 managers of a multinational corporation who were given the opportunity to re-negotiate their salary package prior to a longer-term foreign assignment. Here, the authors drew on two objective measures of negotiation success, increase of annual gross salary and additional annual net benefits.

In Study 1, the initial hypothesis – political skill will be positively related to negotiator success – was fully supported. In Study 2, all three hypotheses (see above) were fully supported for additional annual net benefits and partly supported for increase of annual gross salary.

To the authors' best knowledge, this paper presents the first study to examine political skill as a focal predictor variable in the negotiation context. Furthermore, the studies also broaden the emotion-centered approach to social effectiveness that is prevalent in current negotiation research.

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the skills needed for successful negotiations. It seeks to identify the benefits of training key staff in negotiations skills, including the difference it can make to a company's bottom line. It also aims to look at the risks to business of not developing these skills.

The paper uses a mixture of case studies, examples, quotes and opinion.

The paper finds that only 5 per cent of the UK's training budget is spent on negotiations skills development. However, developing negotiation skills makes a significant difference to the performance of all staff, both in internal and external negotiations. Many big companies now appreciate the value of negotiation skills development and are leading the way in developing all staff in this way.

All businesses should think about investing in negotiation skills development. Otherwise they are at risk of costing their company a significant margin.

This paper looks for the first time at the skills gap in UK businesses in terms of negotiation skills development. It will be of value to anyone involved in internal and external negotiations, including sales and buying teams, Human Resources staff and senior managers and directors. It will be of value in helping them decide how to make the best use of training.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of negotiation training delivered to senior clinicians, managers and executives, by exploring whether staff members implemented negotiation skills in their workplace following the training, and if so, how and when.

This is a qualitative study involving face-to-face interviews with 18 senior clinicians, managers and executives who completed a two-day intensive negotiation skills training course. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and inductive interpretive analysis techniques were used to identify common themes. Research setting was a large tertiary care hospital and health service in regional Australia.

Participants generally reported positive affective and utility reactions to the training, and attempted to implement at least some of the skills in the workplace. The main enabler was provision of a Negotiation Toolkit to assist in preparing and conducting negotiations. The main barrier was lack of time to reflect on the principles and prepare for upcoming negotiations. Participants reported that ongoing skill development and retention were not adequately addressed; suggestions for improving sustainability included provision of refresher training and mentoring.

Limitations include self-reported data, and interview questions positively elicited examples of training translation.

The training was well matched to participant needs, with negotiation a common and daily activity for most healthcare professionals. Implementation of the skills showed potential for improving collaboration and problem solving in the workplace. Practical examples of how the skills were used in the workplace are provided.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first international study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of an integrative bargaining negotiation training program targeting executives, senior clinicians and management staff in a large healthcare organization.

The purpose of this study is to predict cooperation in negotiation through the lens of individual differences. Specifically, this paper examines how a social competence variable called “political skill” relates to cooperation and subsequent effects on negotiation process, outcomes and negotiator reputation. The authors demonstrate how political skill fits in the evolving literature focusing on individual differences in negotiation by comparing political skill to a wide range of other individual difference measures.

This study was conducted by assessing individual difference measures at the beginning of graduate-level negotiation courses and tracking negotiation behaviors and outcomes over several months. This approach was chosen to minimize the potential for short, time-limited interactions to mask existing relationships. It also allowed the authors to include multiple negotiation interactions, which takes a broader view of negotiation performance, and assess negotiator reputation by allowing it to emerge over time.

The results of this study show that political skill, self-rated at the beginning of this study, is significantly related to a negotiator’s overall use of cooperative behavior as rated by peers. Political skill also showed a significant relationship with reputation for cooperativeness and aggregate outcomes in negotiations. These results control for other individual difference measures such as personality, implicit negotiation beliefs, social value orientation and negotiation self-efficacy.

Using a method that allows the effects of an individual difference to materialize over time, this study empirically establishes the connection between political skill and negotiation reputation, process and outcomes. The methodological contributions of this study explore the relations between self-rated individual difference variables, peer-rated cooperative behaviors and objective coded negotiation outcomes in evaluating political skill in negotiation.

A self‐help guide to achieving success in business. Directed more towards the self‐employed, it is relevant to other managers in organizations. Divided into clear sections on creativity and dealing with change; importance of clear goal setting; developing winning business and marketing strategies; negotiating skills; leadership; financial skills; and time management.

This paper's objective is to test the main effect of negotiation training‐level on acquiring negotiation skills. Training level refers to the time a trainee spends in a negotiation training course receiving the standard style and methods of training. Negotiation skills are manifested through trainees' performance after receiving training.

Six meta‐analyses were conducted over 57 lab experiments from 36 studies. The six meta‐analyses were divided into two groups each with a sub‐study. The objective of study one is finding effect of training level on negotiators' individual and joint performance. The objective of study two is contrasting the effects of three training levels on negotiators' performance.

Study one results show that training level has an effect on individual performance that is more evident for the long training (r=0.76) than for the short training (r=0.22). Training level has a medium effect on joint performance (r=0.37). Results of study two show an increase in negotiators' performance the higher the training level. That performance rate ranged from point estimate=2.03 after spending a day in training to point estimate=5.2 after spending three weeks or more in training.

The results indicate significant association between the time trainees spend in negotiation training programs and their negotiation performance. Level of training should be controlled for when conducting experiments during negotiation courses. Future research should focus on effects of personality traits of both trainees and trainers on negotiation training effectiveness.

The findings highlight the importance of investing in increasing the level of negotiation training and spending more in making it a routine practice for top executives. After all, skilful negotiators are important assets that should be maintained. They make important deals that add to the firm's financial performance of the firm. Higher levels of negotiation training deliver more values to firms.

Training methods and styles followed in courses and programs of negotiation training are effective and are of value providing they last for enough time. The study highlights the importance of negotiation training, an area worthy of more research. Findings are valuable for training practitioners to pay attention to what is considered enough time of training against what is being practiced. Training can be effective in building soft skills and experience in other managerial fields if designed in the appropriate way.

This paper explores commercial negotiation skills in the context of the buying/selling dynamics using the writer's experience as a Lead Negotiator. Planning, conducting and analysing the outcomes of commercial negotiations are key elements of successful business. Developing the skills of commercial negotiation is a demanding, valuable and often personally challenging task. The outcomes of commercial negotiation are often difficult to assess; such as the impact on the short‐ and long‐term buyer/seller relationship and the negotiator's personal and organizational development, hence the need to identify, understand and develop commercial negotiation skills. Commercial negotiation is explored from three perspectives; process, the respective parties' objectives and bargaining. The need for planning, the foundation of any process, in a commercial negotiation is detailed. A typology of techniques of persuasion is introduced and briefly explained.