DISPUTES AND POWER

1. DISPUTES AND POWER A DISPUTE IS AN ARGUMENT, DISAGREEMENT, DEBATE, QUARREL, CONFLICT OR CONTROVERSY

2. CHARACTERSTICS OF DISPUTES • IT IS OFTEN TRIGGERED BY A CRISIS SITUATION • PARTICIPANTS OFTEN VIEW THEMSELVES AS ADVERSARIES. • LEADS TO ZERO -SUM –SITUATION. • INTERACTIONS ARE EMOTIONALLY LADEN. • INTENTION IS TO TRY TO HURT THE OTHER. • NO EFFORT MADE TO IMPROVE RELATION. • LITTLE TRUST BETWEEN PARTIES. • CONTRACTS ARE NOT SECURE DUE TO NO TRUST.

3. CHARACTERSTICS OF DISPUTES • THREATS ARE MADE, SOMETIMES EXECUTED. • EVERY ACT IS VIEWED WITH SUSPICION. • NEGOTIATIONS TAKE PLACE IN NEGATIVE DOMAIN.

4. NEGOTIATION TIPS IN DISPUTATIOUS BEHAVIOUR • DECIDE DO WE REALLY WANT TO PLAY THE GAME • IF YES, FOCUS ON PROCESS. • ANTICIPATE DISPUTATIOUS BEHAVIOUR. • IGNORE THREAT. • DONOT BREAK OFF NEGOTIATIONS. • IRREVERSIBLE COMMITMENT. • NEGOTIATE THROUGH AGENT. • TAKE HELP OF A THIRD PARTY, (FACILITATOR,MEDIATOR OR ARBITRATOR.

5. POWER PERVADE ALL FACETS OF NEGOTIATIONS

6. POWER BASED APPROACH TO NEGOTIATION • IN 1945, AXIS FORCES WERE BROUGHT TO NEGOTIATION TABLE BY US, USING POWER. • IN 1961, KHRUSHCHEV USED POWER-BASED APPROACH AGAINST KENNEDY, IN VIENA. • IN 1971, SAM MANEKSHAW USED POWER TACTICS TO SECURE SURRENDER OF PAK ARMY. • NEGOTIATIONS, NOT ADJUDICATIONS RESOLVE MOST OF THE CONFLICTS.

7. POWER • “IT IS THE ABILITY TO INFLUENCE THE BEHAVIOUR OR ACTIONS OF OTHERS”

8. STRATEGIC APPROACHES TO NEGOTIATION • FOCUS ON INTERESTS.NEGOTIATORS FOCUS ON INTEREST CREATE VALUE AND REACH SETTLEMENT. • FOCUS ON RIGHTS. DISPUTES ARE RESOLVED ON THE BASIS OF LAWS, PRINCIPLES, RULES. • FOCUS ON POWER. NEGOTIATORS USE THREAT, COERCION; WHILE SEEKNG CONCESSION, eg-” YES,WE CAN SUE YOU AS WELL; SO WHY DON’T WE…..

9. USE OF POWER TACTICS • IF YOUR THREAT IS CREDIBLE, QUICK SETTLEMENT IS POSSIBLE. • HOWEVER, IF OTHER PARTY CALLS YOUR BLUFF, CARRYING OUT THREAT OR LOOSING FACE, BOTH OUTCOMES ARE UNDESIRABLE. • IN SUCH EVENTS, SHIFT QUICKLY TO INTEREST BASED NEGOTIATION, WITHOUT OSCILLATING. • POWER TACTICS IS USEFUL WHEN OTHER PARTY REFUSES TO NEGOTIATE OR BREAKS AWAY. • THREAT MUST BE SPECIFIC , EFFECTIVE AND AIMED AT OPPONENT’S HIGH PRIORITY INTEREST. • FACE SAVING AVENUE MUST BE LEFT FOR RIVALS.

10. EXAMPLES OF USE OF POWER • WAGE NEGOTIATION BETWEEN LABOR UNION AND MGT DURING ECONOMIC DOWNTURN-THREAT OF LAY OFF, SURPLUS LABOR. • STRONG RELATIONSHIPS AND PERSONAL POWER SKILLS ARE CRITICAL TO GET JOB DONE. • IN THE HANDS OF UNSKILLED, POWER CAN BE DRAMATICALLY DESTRUCTIVE. • POWER CAN BE INTOXICATING.

11. EXAMPLES OF USE OF POWER • EXAMPLES OF POWER ASYMMETRY - COMPANY’S FINANCE, MARKET POWER, MILITARY CLOUT. • PHILOSOPHY: POWER TENDS TO CORRUPT; ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY-LORD ACTON. • PHILOSOPHY: POWER IS IN THE EYE OF BEHOLDER. IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE IT, YOU HAVE IT; IF YOU DON’T THINK YOU HAVE IT, YOU DON’T HAVE IT. • EFFECTIVENESS OF POWER IS ULTIMATELY DEFINED BY BEHAVIOR OF THE TARGET PERSON.

12. BATNA – “STRONG ALTERNATIVE CONSIDERABLE POWER : POOR ALTERNATIVE SIGNIFICANT COST” EXAMPLE • IT’S BEEN A LONG NIGHT. • BILL GATES SITTING AROUND WITH A GROUP OF FRIENDS. • SOMEONE GETS THE IDEA OF GETTING DOMINO’S PIZZA. • THE OWNER-MANAGER ANSWERS-”CLOSED”.

13. continued • SOMEONE IN THE GROUP SAYS, “ TELL THEM YOU ARE BILL GATES” AND PAY THEM A LOT OF MONEY. • BILL GATES HESITATES. “BILL, SOMEONE PRODS, WHAT’S IT WORTH TO YOU TO HAVE A PIZZA?” “$240”, GATES RESPONDS. • HE GETS ON THE PHONE AND SAYS, “OK, I’M BILL GATES AND I’LL PAY YOU $240 FOR PIZZA” • THEY GOT THE PIZZA.

14. MAJOR SOURCES OF POWER • INFORMATIONAL-DATA, KNOWLEDGE. • PERSONALITY BASED-COGNITIVE, MORAL, MOTIVATIONAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL. • POSN-BASED- KEY POSITIONS IN HIERARCHY, POWER TO REWARD OR PUNISH. • RELATIONAL- GOAL INTERDEPENDENCE, • CONTEXTUAL - AVAILABILITY OF BATNA, CULTURE

15. Informational Sources of Power • It is derived from the negotiator’s ability to assemble and organize facts and data to support his or her position, arguments, or desired outcomes. • The exchange of information is also at the heart of concession-making process. • Through the exchange of information, a common definition of situation emerges and serves as a rationale for both sides to modify their positions and, eventually, arrived at a mutually acceptable price. • The presentation of information is also a key source of power in negotiation.

16. Power Based on Personality & Individual Differences • Personal Orientation. Individuals have three different psychologicalorientations . (a) Cognitive Orientation. Three types of ideological frames: the unitary, the radical, the pluralist. Each ideological perspective operates as a frame, shaping expectations about what one should pay attention to, how events will evolve, and how one should engage situations of power.

17. continued (b) Motivational Orientation. Differences rooted in needs and “energizing elements” of the personality rather than in ideology. (c) Disposition Orientation. Competitive/Coop (d) Moral Orientation. Individuals differ in their moral views about power and its use. There is a significant positive relationship between people’s implicit ideals regarding egalitarianism.

18. Power Based on Position in an Organization • Legitimate Power It is derived from occupying a particular job, office, or position in an organizational And it is at the foundation of our social structure. People can acquire legitimate power in several ways. Legitimate Power cannot function without obedience or the consent of the governed. Because legitimate power can be undermined if followers choose to no longer recognize the power holder’s authority, it is not uncommon for power holders to accumulate other power sources to fortify their power base.

19. continued • Resource Control Resources could be: Money, Supplies, Human Capital, Time, Equipment, and so on. Power also comes from creating a resource stockpile in an environment where resources appear to be scarce. Resources are generally deployed in one of two principle ways: as rewards and as punishment. Negotiators must develop or maintain control over some desirable reward that the other party wants or control over some punishment the other seeks to avoid.

20. Power Based on Relationships • Goal Interdependence Goal structure has consistently demonstrated a strong effect on negotiator’s attitudes and behaviors by influencing the disposition parties take towards power. • Referent Power Referent power is often based on an appeal to common experiences, common past, common fate, or membership in the same group. • Networks. Power comes from loc in org structure but not necessarily hierarchical, eg auto chauffeur.

21. Contextual • BATNAs. Any viable BATNA gives the negotiator the choice to walk away from current deal or to use the BATNA as leverage to strike a better agreement in the current discussion. • Culture. Culture determines the “meaning system ” of a social environment. National Cultures also differ in the degree to which these “power over” or “power with” orientations are supported or encouraged. Culture often translates into deeply embedded structural inequalities in a society. • Agents, Constituencies, and External Audiences (multiple parties are involved in)

22. DEALING WITH OTHERS WHO HAVE MORE POWERS • NEVER DO AN ALL-OR-NOTHING DEAL. • MAKE THE OTHER PARTY SMALLER- MULTIPLE GROUPS/RELATIONS/NEGOTIATIONS. • MAKE YOURSELF BIGGER- COALITION/UNION. • BUILD MOMENTUM THROUGH DOING DEALS IN SEQUENCE. • USE THE POWER OF COMPETITION TO LEVERAGE POWER.

23. continued • CONSTRAIN YOURSELF. • GOOD INFORMATION IS ALWAYS A SOURCE OF POWER. • DO WHAT YOU CAN TO MANAGE THE PROCESS.