Preparation

situation will come as no surprise to the seller negotiators and the preparation activities are, consequently, expected to occur in the beginning of the negotiation as all of the distributive activities primarily. Many hard-bargaining tactics are conducted as a team effort (e.g. good cop - bad cop), which suggests that preparation activities are conducted as team activities. More formally, the proposition for this category may be stated as follows:

Proposition A.5.4: Hard-Bargaining Tactics NPP activities will commonly be conducted by the negotiators.

Proposition T.5.4: Hard-Bargaining Tactics NPP team activities will primarily be conducted in the initial phase of the negotiation.

Proposition L.5.4: Hard-Bargaining Tactics NPP activities will usually be conducted as team activities.

Having concluded the literature review on Distributive Strategy and Tactics the following, and final section of this part of the review, will focus upon preparation activities as suggested by Peterson and Lucas (2001).

the underlying interests and needs, Reservation points and goals, and Develop arguments and counterarguments. These activities will, hence, not be covered under this theme. The preparation theme is the theme that receives the least amount of attention, both in the text books and in academic papers, and has three categories: (1) support material, (2) logistical concerns, and (3) role-play (Table 7). With the purpose of obtaining a sequential order within the theme, the order of the categories has been altered, compared to the Peterson and Lucas (2001) framework, as support material needs to be prepared prior to the initial rehearsal and role-play.

Table 7. Preparation Activities - Author Citing Overview

2.4.9.1 Support material.

Of all of the selected sources only Salacuse (2003), Lewicki et al. (2010), and the articles by Peterson and Lucas (2001) and Peterson and Shepherd (2010) make reference to the need for support material as part of the negotiation preparation. The latter articles refer to the preparation of charts, graphs, and the preparation of aids without specifying further what form these aids would take. Salacuse (2003), in a similar manner, although in greater depth, mentions documents, presentations, reports, publications, and books as being support material negotiators need to consider to prepare and possibly share with the other party. None of these recommendations are based on research but are, more likely, based on common sense. The reason for the lack of attention

Authors

Activity Category:

Support from literature

Peterson et al. Thompson

Lewicki

et al. Hames Raiffa Salacuse Watkins Weiss

Preparation 100% √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Support Material 38% √ √ √

Logistical Concerns 88% √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Where to negotiate 75% √ √ √ √ √ √

Physical arrangements 50% √ √ √ √

Timing of the negotiation 50% √ √ √ √

Role-Play and Rehearsal 63% √ √ √ √ √

in the negotiation textbooks to preparation is possibly because the authors consider support material to be a natural product of the NPP and, consequently, as something which goes without saying. In other words, support material is not an activity, but rather the product of various activities.

2.4.9.2 Logistical concerns.

Most authors include logistical concerns, in place of support material, as part of the preparation. Peterson and Shepherd (2010) mention seating arrangements, food, drink, and room availability as examples of logistical concerns. Lewicki et al., (2010) and Salacuse (2003) are the authors who dedicate the most attention to logistical concerns and both sources group the logistical concerns as a subgroup, under protocol and environment respectively, covered under Information Gathering (see page 59). Similarly, Raiffa (1982) uses the term logistics of the situation to cover both allocative concerns (e.g. where to negotiate and when) and more procedural concerns (e.g.

who should negotiate, whether third party representation is needed, and in which language the negotiation will be conducted). Clearly authors use different terms to define logistical concerns but there is still consistency around the following three subgroups: (1) Where to negotiate, (2) Physical arrangements, and (3) Timing of the negotiation.

Where to negotiate is an important consideration that negotiators should make as part of the NPP as the different choices have both benefits and downsides (Hames, 2012; Lempereur &

Colson, 2010). The conventional wisdom to strive for negotiating on the home turf may not always be the right choice as negotiating on the other party’s turf conveys a strong desire to make the deal and gives access to information about the other party. Negotiators typically choose a neutral site even though this may not be the ideal solution as it excludes the benefits of negotiating at one or the other’s premises (Hames, 2012; Salacuse & Rubin, 1990).

Physical arrangements are equally important to negotiators as siting on opposite sides of the table predicts competition contrary to sitting side-by-side (Rubin & Brown, 1975). Other arrangements, such as breakout rooms, food, and drinks should also be considered by negotiators (Lempereur & Colson, 2010; Peterson & Shepherd, 2010).

Timing of the negotiation is mentioned by several authors who include preparation considerations such as: duration of the meeting (Lewicki et al., 2010; Salacuse, 2003), scheduled departure time (Salacuse, 2003), when negotiators can call for breaks and internal caucus coffee (Lewicki et al., 2010).

2.4.9.3 Role-play and Rehearsal.

Books have been written on role-play (e.g. Van Ments, 1999) and research outside the field of negotiation suggests rehearsing encounters which are confrontational enhances control over emotions and overall performance during encounters which followed (Stutman & Newell, 1990).

Moreover, simulated role-playing has already been suggested to be valuable in planning the negotiation strategy in Raiffa’s seminal book The Art and Science of Negotiation (1982). One way that role-playing has been found to generate a better understanding of the other party’s situation, thereby improving communication, is through role reversal (e.g. Johnson, 1971; Shell, 2006), where the negotiator puts him or herself in the shoes of the other party, in a manner of speaking. In addition, Salacuse (2003) encourages negotiation teams to engage in role-play to “anticipate the situations they expect to meet” and Peterson and Lucas (2001) suggest that rehearsing the introduction of demands and concessions are an important preparation activity. In contrast, Fisher and Ertel (1995) caution against rehearsing lines, as this effort may take focus away from preparing

Scholars recognize the importance of opening statements, in most legal communication, and research has demonstrated that it is important because it creates a schema or “framework” through which jurors filter the subsequent presentation of evidence (Moore, 1989). Although the opening statement is not formalized in negotiation, the researchers advise negotiators to plan and rehearse an opening statement in any event (Lewicki et al., 2010; Peterson & Shepherd, 2010).

2.4.9.4 Preparation: A summary.

Preparation receives little attention in the selected literature and in the negotiation literature in general. The theme consists of three categories: Support Material, Logistical Concerns, and Role-Play and Rehearsal. Although role-play and rehearsal prior to negotiation encounters has been suggested to make the negotiation meeting more efficient (Peterson & Lucas, 2001) the literature selected ignores role-play, almost entirely, as a possible preparation activity. Similarly, and to a greater extent, support material is almost completely overlooked in the literature. In this case the possible reason is clearer as one could expect the support material to be developed as a product of the previous themes. The second category, logistical concerns, receives more scholarly attention and is to be found in seven of the eight primary sources (Table 7). Logistical concerns are closely linked with the procedural negotiation activities covered under the heading of the process. The fact that three sources (Raiffa, 1982; Lewicki et al., 2010; Salacuse, 2003) propose logistical concerns as being part of the procedural activities, suggests that they ought to be moved from Preparation to Strategy development in the Peterson and Lucas framework.

Based on the above reasoning, there is little justification to maintain preparation as a theme in its own right. Consequently, as Support Material is not an activity but rather a product of other activities, this category will be excluded from the model. Furthermore, Logistical Concerns will, as

suggested by Raiffa (1982), Lewicki and colleagues (2010), and Salacuse (2003), be moved to the category of How to Negotiate (M3.1.1), as a subcategory, including Communication medium described on page 91. Similarly, Role-play and Rehearsal, which includes preparing an opening statement, can be considered to be part of the processual preparation and will also move to How to Negotiate. The How to Negotiate category will now have 4 subcategories, as shown in Table 8. The propositions brought forward under the category remain unchanged.

Table 8. How to Negotiate - Author Citing Overview