Business negotiations seeking to resolve a dispute should foster a cooperative spirit, framing negotiations around gains rather than losses. And when business negotiators are far apart, it may take a professional mediator or other independent party to help bridge the divide.
Claim your FREE copy: Business Negotiation Strategies: How to Negotiate Better Business Deals
Discover step-by-step techniques for avoiding common business negotiation pitfalls when you download a copy of the FREE special report, Business Negotiation Strategies: How to Negotiate Better Business Deals, from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.
Hard Bargaining with New York City’s Teacher’s Union
In 2010, New York State passed a law requiring its school districts to replace their old teacher-evaluation systems with more stringent systems. Local school districts and their unions were charged with specifying certain aspects of their new systems by January 17, 2013.
New York City stood to gain about $250 million in aid and $200 million in grants if it reached agreement on a new system, a 4% overall increase in state aid. But as 2012 drew to a close, talks between New York’s United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg were deadlocked. On the deadline date of January 17, 2013, the two sides separately announced that a final, late-night negotiating session had collapsed. New York governor Andrew Cuomo ultimately imposed an evaluation system on New York City.
Unfortunately, both Bloomberg and the UFT had much to gain from a new teacher-evaluation system, including better teachers and state funding, but the deadlocked negotiations hindered the agreement.
When a negotiation reaches an impasse (or, preferably, sooner), it’s important to consider that you may be at the wrong table.
What other individuals or groups might be able to break the deadlock? Perhaps you should be talking to them instead.
When have you had a deadlock in business negotiations? Leave a comment.
Claim your FREE copy: Business Negotiation Strategies: How to Negotiate Better Business Deals
Discover step-by-step techniques for avoiding common business negotiation pitfalls when you download a copy of the FREE special report, Business Negotiation Strategies: How to Negotiate Better Business Deals, from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.
Related Business Negotiation Articles:
These Examples Illustrate the Importance of Negotiation in Business – Businesses need a plan for negotiation – before and after sitting down at the bargaining table. In this article we examine business negotiation examples and negotiation case studies to offer insights into how businesses and commercial negotiators can formulate and anticipate effective integrative negotiation strategies and deal with difficult people and overcome roadblocks at the bargaining table to negotiation success.
In Business Negotiations, Capitalize on a Right of First Refusal – What is the right of first refusal in business negotiations? This article examines rights of first refusal and how they impact the negotiation process and how negotiators can adapt their negotiating skills and negotiation tactics to leverage the benefits and ameliorate the impact of the downsides to rights of first refusal in business negotiations.
Negotiation Examples in Real Life – Buying a Home and Dealing with Difficult People – Buying a home is one of the most stressful negotiation scenarios many people will face, but there are ways to make the bargaining process easier on both parties – and create (and claim) more value for yourself and your counterpart along the way. This article offers some negotiating skills and negotiation tips for tackling hard bargainers at the negotiation table.
Originally published in 2013.
