Negotiation is vitally concerned with the concept of power. One type of power is attained by the position you occupy. This, on the surface, is an elementary concept. But in reality its significance lies deeper as we can see by the following discussion.
Obviously, if you are the president of the company, a small factory with 200 workers, you will likely tell all the people what to do. When you negotiate with them you will set forth the terms of employment and they will do as you say. They will, that is, if they value their jobs. You see that is all about the position you occupy. Taken further, that means it is about your title in the company, first, and it is about the role you play in that position, second.
However, what of the factory machinist with no significant title on the company marquee? You say he gets no power from his position. You as the president of the factory rule and always set the agenda. But, wait. I am talking about the machinist who is the only person around who knows how to operate the jigglette saw, a mandatory component of making widgets, the primary product of your company? This lowly humanoid holds some power in the company merely because of his expertise, his knowledge, his experience. How much power he holds, how much he can dictate the terms of his own employment is controlled by other factors as well. Maybe some measure of the amount of power he holds is told by the amount of authority you allow him to seize from you, how much he can take from you, how aggressive he is, how apparent (because it is not real) his position is. In contrast to the amount of power he takes is the amount of power you give. What you give is most often a factor you can control, although not always.
What of the moral position held by a negotiator? That is, the person who does things so ?right? that he is perceived to be in a position of authority? There are many aspects of this position we should discuss.
First, by moral I do not mean that it has anything to do with religion, although it may. I mean the person is perceived by others (who impact the negotiation) in a certain light of moral superiority. It may be that the person is a thug who evidences no compunction in hurting another. That may be a characteristic held in high esteem by the negotiators. If such were held in high esteem by his gang and they are not involved in the negotiations then their opinions do not matter and he is not for this reason a moral leader. Such a person is not moral religiously, certainly, but he, by his steadfast will to harm others, is held up as a moral leader by those who give voice to his leadership in the negotiation.
Second, there is in this country at this particular time a variety of thought that says the strong person who exercises power is a ?bully? and is to be denigrated. This contrary, or rebel, thought is pervasive in this country, if not the world. It dictates that those in offices of power avoid appearing too authoritarian. No more than fifty years ago a company manager closely directed the activities of his employees regularly. He certainly dictated strongly what they were to do and often micromanaged their activities. Over the half century since much has changed in American business. Today the work force has moved in a more democratic direction. Workers today get to have their say as well. What they want counts greatly. They have a power in workplace democracy. That may sound great, and it is. But it does tend to make the workplace less efficient, more chaotic.
Thirdly, there is the perceived power thrust upon the person who negotiators see as ?cool,? beautiful, correctly connected to someone or headed in the correct direction, regardless of their company title. This person may have power. But that power is given to the person and is not a corporate power. Is this a real power or an apparent power? To find the answer you need to look closer at all factors involved.
To learn about the negotiation process download the free guide: ?Power in Negotiations? Ottie C. ?Bud? Akers, attorney, author and lecturer, has negotiated billions of dollars worth of deals and teaches business people how they can get what they want out of life.
Author: Ottie Akers
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Tags: Agenda, Control, Humanoid, Jobs, Machinist, Moral Position, Negotiation Power, Negotiator, People, Role Play, Terms Of Employment, Widgets
Posted in Negotiation
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