Maximize your power in negotiations

CREATION OF A POWER BASE

The study of power and its effect is important in understanding and negotiating relationships (or common ground) from any negotiation. Every interaction and every social relationship, in side and outside organizations, involves an exercise of power.

Gibson et al. (1991:329) see power as simply the ability to do things the way you want them done. For example, the power of the manager who wants more financial resources is its ability to obtain the desired resources.

Power involves a relationship between two or more people. Robert Dahl, a political scientist, captures this important goal when defining the relational power: 'A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something B would not otherwise. A person or group may not have the power to the insulation power must be exercised or distributed, or have the potential to be deployed in relation to some other person or group. The power is similar to a change does not make sense unless linked or compared, as a bargaining chip. Power is not tied to the price, but always valuable.

EQUALITY 'IN POWER:

The concept of equal power in any relationship is important, since in equal bargaining power is the perception by some that the other party possesses the capacity to resist any form of power with a shape similar to or different power that would make the escalation of power useless. As mentioned, the equal power refers to balance in the distribution of power. Equal power is a key factor in the behavior of a successful negotiator.

In literature, a distinction is made between the power and authority. The authority is considered as the formal power that a person has because of the position he or she holds in an organization (Gibson et al. 1989:330). The directives are orders from a manager in a prominent position and are followed because they must be followed. So, people in higher positions have legal authority over employees in lower positions. Power is supplied to a person's position is accepted by subordinates and is used in vertical organizations.

On the other hand, the influence is simply the potential distribution of power and therefore the minimum amount of energy that a person can distribute. To run a karate punch someone shows relative power, but to warn the other side that the person has a black belt in karate would simply display the resource, the potential to be distributed. However, when used as a threat, it is important that the negotiator recalled that a threat maintains its strength provided that is not executed. Upon delivery, a threat loses all its value.

INTERPERSONAL POWER:

French and Raven suggested five interpersonal bases of power that are important for the negotiators.


- Power legitimate
- Award of power
- Coercive power
- Expert Power
- Referent power


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We examine only legitimate power in the winner's circle this year and will cover the remaining interpersonal power bases in subsequent editions.

Legitimate power:

Legitimate power comes from its ability to influence because of the position. A person at a higher level has the power over the people below. However, any person with legitimate power uses it with a personal touch.

Subordinated play an important role in the exercise of legitimate power. If subordinates see the power as legitimate, they comply. However, the systems of culture, customs and value of an organization determine the limits of legitimate power. In other words, there are times when people respond to information from another, even the signs he does not like, because they feel it is right and legitimate for others to tell them and correct (mandatory) for them to obey. This is the legitimate power.

Legitimate power is used in many ways during the negotiation. People with a lot of legitimate power could use their positions of authority to 'instruct' other parties to follow certain procedures. Under the authority of the individual, the other players in the negotiation could follow whatever is decided, relying totally on the person's ability to authorities.

Sometimes one party will use the legitimate power as a tactic against another party by:

1. bringing in someone who has the influence to make important decisions, and who has credibility with the other party or

2. assigning a lot of legitimate power to one or more individuals within contradictory to use the need for power and status that exists in all individuals to obtain more concessions from them. This is sometimes referred to as 'ingratiation' or stroking.

It 'important to recognize that legitimate power can have an influence if it is recognized by other individuals, because it only occurs in a social structure. Some negotiators may groped to deny the other part of their legitimate power:

1. denying them the opportunity to speak;

2. preferring to bid each other, while insisting the other party continue to make concessions;

3. ignoring previous agreements on how to proceed, or

4. deny that one of the 'other side can have any legitimate position of meaning

In these situations a negotiator may need to establish some minimal legitimate authority before proceeding, and in some cases it may be advisable to refuse to proceed until the other party shows by his behavior, that the authority is in place. Once a small safe basis of legitimate authority is established, a skilled negotiator can be extended.

For more information:

- Reward power and personal power

Go to my article on ezine.com entitled "The use of power in the negotiations - Intermediate"

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