INTEGRATIVE NEGOTIATION

Chapter 4
Integrative Negotiation

it’s often referred to as interest based bargain as the focus is on the

interest of each party
It involves creating synergy
It’s a win-win approach, where everyone concentrate on finding
ways to make the pie bigger so everyone could get a share
It’s a non-zero sum game
Integrative negotiations

There are four basic components: (Fisher and Ury)

• Separate the people from the problem
• Focus on interests not positions
• Generate a variety of alternatives that provide mutual gain
• Evaluate the alternatives based on objective criteria
Separate the people from the
problem

It’s about depersonalizing the problem so the focus is on

the actual problem
Some people become emotionally attached to their
positions to win the negotiation
Knowing the other party or having a history with them
may also complicate the situation of negotiation
Focus on interest

Focusing on the other party’s desires, interests and

needs.

It’s very important to give the interests of the other

party all the attention.
Focus on interest
Types of interests are:
◦ Substantive interests: needs that relate to the material outcomes.
◦ Relationship interests: deal with ongoing relationship between the
parties
◦ Process interests: interests concerned with the negotiation
process itself as people want to be heard and recognized
◦ Interests in the principles: concerns about what is ethical and just.
Generate alternatives for mutual
gain
Involves looking for possible solutions to the problem
The goal is to develop alternatives that create additional value by
working together
Creative option generation is one of the most useful skills for a
negotiator
Brainstorming is a technique where the parties identify as many
ideas as possible
Obstacles to creating value

making early judgments, searching for a single

answer, believing that the pie is fixed, and
assuming that the other party wants to meet his
goal
evaluate the options and
claim value
To evaluate the options:
◦ Always insist on using objective criteria to evaluate
alternatives.
◦ depersonalize the issue, to get a decision based on objective,
and agreed standards
◦ Evaluating alternatives objectively well helps to avoid
“reactive devaluation” which happens when negotiators
perceive that concessions are made by the other party for
their benefits.
Dilemmas

While the process of integrative approach is straight forward,

there are 2 dilemmas :
• Dilemma of trust: it’s how much you can rely on the other party to
be truthful, it depends on direct and indirect experience with them
• Dilemma of honesty: it’s how much to share with the other party
depends on the personality, the situation and the other party