IAFEI Quarterly - 32nd Issue

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Press, Journal Article
up to discussions. However,
these individuals neither
work by themselves nor are
they fully empowered to
negotiate on all issues. Using
the press and media is part
of how they frame, anchor
and publicise their position
and progress to those they
represent, the parties they are
negotiating with and any other
third parties.
How empowered
are they?
Rushing into negotiations
without qualifying whether
the other party is empowered
to negotiate is a mistake many
eager and ultimately frustrated
account managers have made.
The need to question, qualify
and explore requires patience.
It is during this phase of initial
discussions that the issue
of empowerment should be
qualiied by simply asking:
“Are you in a position to sign
of the agreement�� or ��ho
else would you need to consult
with as part of signing of this
agreement��, or even ��hat
limits are there that might
prevent you from signing of
the agreement�� �ll of these
questions will help you to
decide whether you are dealing
with the right person or people.
Being disempowered
We are socially conditioned to
conform, and most of us lead
our lives respecting the laws
of where we live and others
around us. Laws provide,
in some instances, freedom
of movement, for example,
efectively empowering us
to travel and choose how and
where we travel. Laws can also
disempower us, in that we may
not travel faster than a given
speed or, when driving, having
drunk alcohol, and so on.
line, further diluting the
transparency of who is actually
controlling events. And when
the deal is done, the need for
conidentiality, as well as the
need to protect the operations
of those companies involved,
means that the true facts
and igures agreed are rarely
publicised to the degree to
which you can measure the
relative performance of the
negotiators involved.
One of my personal
experiences as a negotiator
involved facilitating a highly
charged negotiation between a
Japanese electronics company
and a trade union in the UK.
The level of trust between the
parties involved, together with
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The written word carries
an assumed authority in that
it has been published. It is
designed to be legitimate.
In your negotiation, the
other party may present you
with, say, a price list. Rather
than accepting this as it is,
you should regard it as their
opening position. Diferent
situations require diferent
considerations, yet many
will wrongly assume that, not
only is the printed price ixed,
but the person issuing it is
disempowered to negotiate.
The more empowered
you are, however, the more
exposed you become. You
may carry more risk to your
business and therefore be
accountable for the total
impact of your actions.
Organisations have a tough
challenge in providing a
level of empowerment to
their employees, which helps
the business conduct ‘good
business’, but not with such
risks that the ‘good business’
could be concluded with
unintended consequences
or unforeseen costs.
Many organisations actively
promote business values, such
as creativity, entrepreneurship
and even empowerment.
Yet when negotiating with
suppliers and customers, they
recognise that there have
to be limits within which
individuals are empowered
to operate, otherwise the
business will lose total
control of its operation.
They operate a disempowered
structure to protect their
own business operation.
This is an edited extract from:
The Negotiation Book: Your
Deinitive Guide to Successful
Negotiating, 2nd Edition, by
Steve Gates (Capstone)
Steve Gates is founder and director of
The Gap Partnership negotiation consultancy
the climate of the meeting
and the relationship, was
poor, hence the need to bring
in a neutral party to facilitate
events. On my advice to my
client, I was provided with no
scope with which to negotiate,
which allowed me to focus on
the process and not be drawn
on speciic proposals. My role
included helping the parties
with establishing solutions,
starting with why they
thought they could not agree
to the terms that had already
been tabled.
Most high-proile
negotiators tend to be political
igures or union leaders,
because they use PR as part
of posturing during or leading
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