Power In Negotiation
Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying that “Necessity never made a good bargain!” In his wonderful book, Practical Negotiating, Tom Gosselin contends that “In negotiating, power is a function of alternatives.” Gosselin is right, of course, and hopefully a discussion of alternatives brings to mind Ury & Fisher’s BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) concept. Gosselin goes further though and breaks down the alternatives concept and outlines how to go about forecasting the other side’s alternatives. Gosselin separates these alternatives into three categories: (1) alternative sources, (2) alternative currencies, and (3) alternative skills and behaviors. The point being that the more alternatives a bargainer has the more power in the negotiation. Gosselin believes that these categories or levels of alternatives are “cascading” and a negotiator should therefore explore each exhaustively before moving to the next. It is imperative to evaluate your alternatives before each negotiation and at least
