Negotiation in Today's Business World
Negotiation: To confer with another person as to arrive at a settlement of some matter; also to arrange for or bring about such conference” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
The above connotation is a clear and concise definition of the negotiation process. This will give us the opportunity to take a moment to look back and retrospect on many activities we participate or perform certain realities will begin to come into fruition. This visualization really suggests that most of us engage negotiations daily in one way or the other. For most people these interactions usually occur in the form of mediation disputes, contractual agreements and conflict resolution without truly recognizing the interface transpiring. Most of us are engaging in some type of negotiation process visualizing the process in phases and what each phase entails might be the defining factor in what most negotiators consider a successful or unsuccessful negotiation. In this paper the subject to examine is four phase process that individuals including myself should take consideration before entering into any form of dialogue between parties or groups with conflicting views. The phases includes: 1) pre-negotiation or preparing, 2) conceptualization/presentation, 3) setting the details, 4) follow-up
Phase 1; Pre-negotiation or Preparing
Understanding the essentials of preparation was the first concept I adopted while aspiring to begin a catering and event planning business. I understand the catering industry and did not want to make a hasty business decision without proper preparation because “In a business, you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.”- Chester L. Karrass. This is without a doubt a powerful quote and holds a bunch of credence in most business negotiations, whether its employees asking employers for salary increases or whether it is