Negotiation as corporate skill

Today, in the age of networking, strategic alliances
and joint-ventures, the ability of companies and other institutions to negotiate successful deals is becoming evermore important. Every company today exists in a complex network of relationships formed through negotiation. Whether negotiating with suppliers, customers or strategic business partners, taken together, the thousands of negotiations a typical company engages in have an enormous effect on both its strategy and its bottom line. But few companies think systematically about their negotiating activities as a whole. Moreover, negotiation is still largely considered to be an individual rather than corporate skill. The concept of negotiation as a skill manifests itself in training programs directed at sales personnel rather than in a company′s corporate philosophies. Few companies seem to have tried to turn their negotiation skills into a core competency with the objective of building more rewarding customers relationships.

The aim is thus to shift from a situational to an institutional view of negotiation. This requires changes in practice, focus and communication of negotiations. The key is to develop a "negotiation infrastructure" and incorporate it into an organization′s strategy and philosophy. Using the BATNA approach gives salespeople a new source of power in their negotiations. Broadening the measures to judge salespeople′s performance allows them greater freedom to build agreements. However, there is a potential threat to this new approach is that it might turn into another set of rules that are followed without the necessary changes in perspective and behavior. The bottom line is that salespeople have to develop the ability to create strong, lasting, mutually beneficial agreements that meet the needs of all parties in a negotiation and build a negotiation relationship for the future. To this end, the personalities of all the participants and their group objectives and self objectives, which might not be the same, must be recognized. A positive negotiating environment that is based on trust and mutual respect should be developed. This attitude is conducive to reaching mutually acceptable compromises during negotiations.