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Leveraging Power from BATNA
Review the Learning Exercise: Unhappy Co-Owners:
he purpose of this exercise is to apply the five negotiation skills presented in this chapter to an actual negotiation situation. You have inherited from your parents half of an undivided interest in a summer home with some prime acreage on a nearby lake. Your co-owner was your father’s friend and partner in a number of enterprises. For years your two families have shared this summer house on alternating weekends and holidays without any problems. Your co-owner, however, is ready to sell the property and believes someone will buy it to redevelop it from a summer cottage to four upscale vacation homes. You are not interested in selling, but are willing to buy out your co-owner at the current fair market value. That value is considerably less than your co-owner believes the property is worth. When you can’t reach agreement, your co-owner simply sells his interest to a third party, who may or may not be the potential developer.
This new co-owner tries to buy you out, and when you refuse he begins to make changes to the property without consulting you. When you complain, he threatens to petition a court to force the sale of the land—which would mean both of you would lose control, which he thinks you are not willing to allow. You decide to try to negotiate a deal so you can continue to use the property as you did when you were growing up. In order to do so, your co-owner will have to shelve any improvement plans he has for the property. (Heavrin 137)
Address the following:
Assuming your Best Alternative to a Negotiating Agreement (BATNA) is letting a court sell the property, discuss how it may help you reach an agreement. Recommend other strategies that you could use to accomplish a successful negotiation.
Discuss your power sources and your co-owner’s power sources in this negotiation, and analyze how you can strengthen your power position.
Propose a logical and an emotional argument to persuade your co-owner to agree to a deal.
Describe a nonverbal communication technique that you will use to persuade your co-owner that your proposal is a win-win proposition.
Describe a threat you can make that would force your co-owner to make concessions.
Expert Answer
Assuming your Best Alternative to a Negotiating Agreement (BATNA) is letting a court sell the property, discuss how it may help you reach an agreement. Recommend other strategies that you could use to accomplish a successful negotiation. b.Discuss your power sources and your co-owner’s power sources in this negotiation, and analyze how you can strengthen your power position. c.Propose a logical and an emotional argument to persuade your co-owner to agree to a deal. d.Describe a nonverbal communication technique that you will use to persuade your co-owner that your proposal is a win-win proposition. e.Describe a threat you can make that would force your co-owner to make concessions.
why people negotiate is to procure a result that is better than one that will be obtained if they do not negotiate. Therefore , BATNA – the best alternative to a negotiated agreement , is the standard against which the negotiation outcome should be compared. BATNA is a powerful tool to make sure that you do not end up with a very unfavourable outcome ( worse than your BATNA ) or end up rejecting an outcome that is better than your BATNA( Fisher et al, 1991).
Since in this case the BATNA is letting the court sell the property, which is the best alternative without negotiation. A deal that will prevent matters from going this far, where both lose control, will be better than BATNA.Now the objective is to negotiate and come to an agreement that is better than this.
It is also necessary to consider the opponent’s BATNA, or the alternatives open to the other side.
Under the circumstances reaching an agreement would be best for both sides as the alternative is losing control altogether and handing over the property to the court.
You are not interested in selling, but are willing to buy out your co-owner at the current fair market value. That value is considerably less than your co-owner believes the property is worth. The new co-owner tries to buy you out, and when you refuse he begins to make changes to the property without consulting you.
Considering what you stand to lose, it is best to reach an agreement, as walking away would only mean losing control altogether and ultimate sale of the land at prices fixed by the court.
