Top Five Actionable Styles of Distributive Bargaining As Negotiation Technique By: Abraham Zavala

Distributive Bargaining As Negotiation Technique

As part of the series on Negotiation Styles and Strategies I am?sharing a concise summary regarding Distribution Bargain as a Negotiation Strategy.?

Distributive Bargaining Strategies are used in negotiation when both parties try to obtain the majority share of any given resource that is limited in nature. This type of negotiation strategy is used when negotiations entail a single issue and?personal relationships are not important to keep. Distributive bargaining negotiators seek to obtain the maximum possible value, or profit, for their party by forcing the other party to accept a deal that is not advantageous to their position at all; in other words this is a zero sum game as per Game Theory.

Top Five Actionable Styles of Distributive Bargaining As Negotiation Technique Are The Following:

Target Style

Distributive bargaining is focused on specific targets that must be reached to be victorious in the argument or discussions. Part of this strategy involves setting target points that are expected to be reached throughout the negotiating process. Negotiators will focus their arguments on reaching each target before allowing the discussion to move on to the next point.

Reservation Style

Reservation strategies involve setting minimal values that negotiators cannot go beyond. When negotiations approach the reservation point, negotiators will display resistance to continue further bargaining aimed at changing the reservation point. Examples of a reservation point are the minimum price one party is willing to pay or accept for a product or service. Distributive bargainers try to redirect negotiations to another direction when their opponent attempts to move the reservation point up or down.

Goal Style

Every action distributive negotiators take is aimed at gaining an advantage over the opponent. Distributive negotiators only accept settlements that are favorable to their party of an issue. Successful distributive bargaining negotiators are combative and learn how to intimidate, stall and conceal information that would be favorable to the other party argument. Because distributive bargaining strategies are all aimed at winning an argument, negotiators may even attempt to ridicule or intimidate an opponent.

Brinksmanship Style

Being able to walk away from negotiations precisely at the most advantageous point is a fundamental distributive bargaining skill or strategy. When negotiations are seemingly at an impossible deadlock, skilled negotiators will make the other party believe the discussions are on the brink of collapse by getting up and acting as though they are walking away from the table. This alternative strategy has value when one party knows its opponent has no choice but to accept a deal that may not be advantageous to its position.

Confusion Style

Distributive bargaining negotiators may attempt to create confusion by disguising a negotiator's authority, or making statements that are contradictory or do not seem to apply to the discussion. Confusion may be created by one party not appearing to take notes, or by appearing to have a lack of interest in the outcome of the discussion. One valuable strategy in this style is the attempt by one party to portray the issue as not?important at all, or to suggest, the issue is merely an unpleasant distraction.