Conflict, power and negotiation

Abstract

Negotiations presuppose a conflict of interest, together with an attempt to alter the other side’s behavior through the use of power reserves: thus, conflict, negotiations and power are directly bound to each other. First, we discuss three basic negotiating strategies:

• Direct negotiations.

• Virtual negotiations.

• Isolated acts.

We then go on to introduce a new way of thinking and handling conflicts, based on the principles that each party:

• Possesses limited power reserves, and thus considers how to use them in an effective way.

• Experiences parallel conflicts in multiple contexts, and thus their behavior in a given conflict field can be explained by their activities and their committed power reserves in the remaining fields.

• Plans before acting, so that their negotiating methods follow a strategic rationale.