Lecture 26, Power Conflict and Batna-Conflict Management-Lecture Notes, Study notes of Conflict Management

Download Lecture 26, Power Conflict and Batna-Conflict Management-Lecture Notes and more Study notes Conflict Management in PDF only on Docsity! 94 Lesson 26 POWER, CONFLICT, AND BATNA III Quotations: Power is where power goes. Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908 - 1973) U.S. president. Headmasters have powers at their disposal with which Prime Ministers have never yet been invested. Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) British prime minister and writer. There is no history of mankind, there are only many histories of all kinds of aspects of human life. And one of these is the history of political power. This is elevated into the history of the world. Karl Popper (1902 - 1994) Austrian-born British philosopher. The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse. Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797) Irish-born British statesman and political philosopher. Speech to the British Parliament The weak have one weapon: the errors of those who think they are strong. George Bidault (1899 - 1983) French statesman. KEY POINTS Power, Conflict, and BATNA Power: the force to modify behavior of individuals, groups, societies, or nations Conflict: Clash of interests among individuals, groups, societies, or nations BATNA: Best Alternative to the Negotiated Agreement BATNA BATNA is a term coined by Roger Fisher and William Ury in1981. It stands for "best alternative to a negotiated agreement." It is always useful to increase one’s BATNA, as it increases negotiating power. Good negotiators use it for the better results of negotiation. If a negotiator is well aware of how desperately the other party wants to come to a settlement, the negotiator may use the opportunity according to his/her terms and conditions. Therefore making your BATNA as strong as possible before negotiating, and then making that BATNA known to your opponent; strengthen your negotiating position. In an interpersonal conflict, does the exercise of power in the other two power domains, personal and environmental, have any relevance? The answer is yes. Sometimes, a disputant finds that using negotiation to meet his or her interests and needs is not as useful as getting those goals attained some other way. The best of all available ATNAs for any given disputant is referred to as the Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement, or BATNA. Knowing, the BATNA protects a disputant, and the team, from irrational action. Trying to resolve a conflict without knowing the BATNA put the team in the untenable position of not knowing whether to negotiate or to stop negotiating. Many disputants deal with this pressure to act irrationally by developing a bottom line. If the negotiation leads to deal that’s as good as the bottom line, the negotiators will settle; otherwise they won’t. Knowing the BATNA also helps a disputant and the team to act with efficiency. The team chooses to negotiate only if there appear to be potential benefits to negotiating, stays in negotiation only as long as it appears to be potentially beneficial, and gains a clear idea of what to do in the event that negotiation does not lead to settlement. There is less wasted time, money, effort and trauma. docsity.com 95 Role of Third Party in BATNA Third parties can help disputants accurately assess their BATNAs through reality testing and costing. In reality testing, the third party helps clarify and ground each disputing party’s alternatives to agreement. Assessing the BATNA BATNA assessment follows a six-step process. 1. Conduct an Interest Analysis 2. Brainstorm the Alternatives to a Negotiated Agreement 3. Fine-tunes the Alternatives 4. Assess Each Alternative Realistically 5. Choose the best alternative 6. Regularly Reassess the BATNA Conduct an Interest Analysis BATNA assessment begins with an interest analysis. Why? Because there is no way to determine which alternative to negotiation is best without a clear picture of the disputant’s interest, needs, and goals. Brainstorm the Alternatives to a Negotiated Agreement Can the disputant meets his or her goal by exercising personal power or by spending some money or consider litigation. Fine-tunes the Alternatives Develop a list of alternatives to a negotiated agreement. Personal power and environmental power are highly relevant to this stage of BATNA analysis. Personal power and environmental power are highly relevant to this stage of BATNA analysis. Assess Each Alternative Realistically In assessing both costs and benefits, it is important to avoid the temptation to limit the analysis to the monetary aspects of the alternative. Non monetary factors such as the impact of the alternative on relationships, the potential for conflict escalation, and the grief and wasted time that some alternatives might produce, are equally important to consider. Choose the best alternative The next step is to compare the estimated costs or benefits of each alternative to the disputant’s goals to determine which the ‘best’ alternative is. This is the disputant’s BATNA. When developing a BATNA, a negotiator should: Brainstorm a list of alternatives that could be considered if the negotiation failed to deliver a favorable agreement: Select the most promising alternatives and develop them into practical and attainable alternatives: and Identify the most beneficial alternative to be kept in reserve as a fall-back during the negotiation. Regularly Reassess the BATNA Situations change, new information becomes available, and disputant interests can evolve or change. Some alternative that were formerly available may disappear, and others may develop. Knowing the other Disputant’s BATNA It is useful to know the other disputant’s BATNA as well as your own. The better the other disputant’s BATNA, the lower your team’s chances of an excellent outcome in negotiation (unless the other disputant’s team is unaware of their BATNA). docsity.com