Negotiations: How to Achieve Win-Win Outcomes
Article Type: Suggested readings From: Human Resource Management International Digest, Volume 21, Issue 6
Geof CoxPearson2012ISBN: 9780273772217
Geof Cox’s latest book, Negotiations: How to Achieve Win-Win Outcomes,provides practical guidance on the processes and behaviors required to conduct successful negotiations, where all parties feel they have achieved something positive.
The book is a typical example of what you would expect from the Financial Times Essential Guide series. It is straightforward, well-structured and presents a clear process for anyone wanting advice and tips on negotiation.
The premise of the book is that negotiation is a key skill that most people need virtually every day. The book targets anyone working in business, from multinational corporations to charities and small firms.
Geof Cox’s authority for writing on this topic is evident, having worked,as he puts it, at the “sharp end” of industrial relations. He cut his teeth with Esso Petroleum in Birmingham, UK, then contributed to wage negotiations between the UK oil industry and the trade unions. He has helped to negotiate national deals as well as settle local disputes. Working with multinational companies on commercial deals, partnership agreements, off-shoring arrangements and outsourcing has enabled him to provide an international dimension to this book on remote and cross-cultural communication, which might not always feature in other texts on this subject.
Geof Cox believes that win-win solutions are almost always possible. He contends that many businesses still adopt a competitive approach to negotiation, using combative methods such as sealed bids to identify the lowest price with the most advantageous terms. He warns that activities such as this are frequently counterproductive and that choosing the cheapest option will often result in selecting the supplier who can cut the most corners to drive down price, thus compromising on quality.
The author promotes an approach which enables people to get what they want and still maintain (and even build) positive working relationships with the other party. To achieve this, planning, appropriate communication and relationship-building are paramount.
The book is divided into three main parts – on planning, doing and reviewing. Part 1 introduces the thinking behind win-win negotiations and how to plan to be successful. Key phases of the negotiation process are presented, with checklists and guidance on preparation.
Part 2 focuses on the mechanics of conducting the negotiation and includes insight into using different communication styles appropriately throughout the process. There are also hints and tips on tactics and dealing with dirty tricks.
The final part contains a number of checklists and review questions to help the reader to assess negotiation practices.
Geof Cox presents a model for planning and conducting a negotiation, which involves opening, positioning, exploring and closing. He maps appropriate communication styles – shifting focus through ideas, process, people and action – across the different stages. The model provides an accessible approach to negotiation which anyone, in any type of business, could adopt.
The focus on relationship- building and the importance of using the right communication style at the right time is something I would build into the skill-development aspect of a negotiation-skills program.
For those who work with businesses abroad, the book is peppered with advice on dealing with different cultures and nationalities. Although I found the review checklists in Part 3 a little disappointing, as they only had the usual reflective devices of “what did you do well/what could you improve”,the questions the author poses are useful and would provide a good resource for developing a tool to review negotiation skills.
Reviewed by Jenny Wilkinson, director, Goodman Wilkinson Associates Ltd
A longer version of this review was originally published in Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 45 No. 3, 2013.
