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CHAPTER SEVEN
Finding and Using
Negotiation Power
INB 350 Lecture
By: Ms. Adina Malik (ALK)
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Learning Objectives
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What is power?
Why is it important to negotiators?
‘Power over’ vs. ‘power with’
Types of power
Sources of power
Dealing with others who have more power
Relation between ‘power and influence’
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Introduction
Power:
•The capabilities negotiators can
assemble to give themselves an
advantage or to increase the
probability of achieving their
objectives.
•The potential to alter the attitudes
and behaviors of others that an
individual brings to a given situation.
•All negotiators want power.
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Why Is Power Important to
Negotiators?
Seeking power in negotiation arises from one of two perceptions:
1. The negotiator believes he or she currently has less power
than the other party.
2.
The negotiator believes he or she needs more power than
the other party.
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A Definition of Power
• “an actor…has power in a given situation (situational power)
to the degree that he can satisfy the purposes (goals, desires,
or wants) that he is attempting to fulfill in that situation”
• Two perspectives on power:
▫ Power used to dominate and control the other– “power
over” (more likely in a distributive context)
▫ Power used to work together with the other–“power
with” – to level the playing field (more likely in an
integrative context)
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A Definition of Power
Not only actors but context and situation in which actor operates
can also be the source of power:
Environmental power
Relationship power
Personal power
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Types of Power
• Raven(1959) identified five major source of power:
Formal or Positional Power:
 Legitimate power: power invested in a role
 Reward power: money
 Coercive power: power to force someone to do something
against their will
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Types of Power
Personal Power:
Referent power: power from another person liking you or wanting
to be like you. It is the power of charisma and fame and is wielded
by all celebrities (by definition) as well as more local social leaders.
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Types of Power
Personal Power:
 Expert power: power of the specialist R&D Engineer when they
threaten to leave unless they get an exorbitant pay rise
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Sources of Power –
How People Acquire Power
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Informational sources of power
Personal sources of power
Power based on position in an organization
Relationship-based sources of power
Contextual sources of power
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Informational Sources of Power
• Information is the most common source of power
▫ Derived from the negotiator’s ability to assemble and organize
data to support his or her position, arguments, or desired
outcomes
▫ A tool to challenge the other party’s position or desired
outcomes, or to undermine the effectiveness of the other’s
negotiating arguments
▫ E.g. The power of information, now available through the
internet, has changed the ways people buy cars.
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Informational Sources of Power
• The exchange of information in negotiation is also at the heart of
concession making process.
• As each side presents information (amount and kind of information
shared), a common definition (hopefully, realistic picture) of the
situation emerges.
• The information may not be 100% accurate to be effective: bluffs,
exaggeration, omission and outright lies may work just as well.
• Therefore, information exchange in negotiation serve as primary
medium for creating a common view of situation by justifying one’s own and other’s perspective
 by making concessions
 and eventually explaining one’s feeling about the agreement
achieved.
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Power Based on Personality
and Individual Differences
• Personal orientation
• Cognitive orientation
▫ Ideologies about power
• Motivational orientation
▫ Specific motives to use power
• Disposition and skills
▫ Orientation to cooperation/competition
• Moral orientation
▫ Philosophical orientation to power use
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Power Based on
Position in an Organization
Two major sources of
power in an organization:
• Legitimate power which is
grounded in the title, duties,
and responsibilities of a job
description and “level”
within
an
organization
hierarchy
• Power based on the control
of
resources
(budget,
financing, etc.) associated
with that position
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Power Based on
Position in an Organization
Power Based on Resource Control
• People who control resources have the capacity to give them to
someone who will do what they want, and withhold them (or
take them away) from someone who doesn’t do what they want.
• Some of the most important resources:
Money, Supplies, Human capital, Time, Equipment, Critical
services and Interpersonal support
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Power Based on
Position in an Organization
• Legitimate power:
Legitimate power is the
foundation of social structure
The
effectiveness
of
legitimate power depends on
the willingness of the
followers to acknowledge the
legitimacy of the system.
• People can acquire power
• By birth
• By election
• By appointment
• Derived from social values
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Power Based on Relationships
• Goal interdependence
▫ How parties view their goals-how much achievement of their goal
depends on the behavior of the other party-has a strong impact on
how likely parties will be to constructively use power.
 Cooperative goals: ‘power with’ orientation (more assistance,
greater support, more persuasion, greater support, less coercive,
more trusting and friendly attitude).
 Competitive goals: ‘power over’ orientation (reinforce or
enhance existing power differences, use power to maximize one’s
goals)
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Power Based on Relationships
• Networks (personal or professional level)
▫ Power is derived from whatever flows through that particular
location in the structure (usually information and resources)
▫ It comes from location in an organizational structure, but not
necessarily a hierarchical structure.
▫ For e.g. automobile chauffeurs in China before 1980s
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Power Based on Relationships
• Key aspects of networks that shape power:
▫ Tie strength
 An indication of the strength or quality of relationships with
others
 Stronger tie with another usually indicate greater power to
have the other agree to requests.
▫ Tie content
 The resource that passes along the tie with the other person.
E.g. money, information, support, emotion, etc.
▫ Network structure
 The overall set of relationships within a social system
(workplace, department, school or other social environment)
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Contextual Sources of Power
Power is based in the context, situation or environment in which
negotiations take place.
• BATNAs
▫ An alternative deal that a negotiator might pursue if she or he
does not come to agreement with the current other party
• Culture
▫ Often contains implicit “rules” about use of power
▫ Culture often shapes what kinds of power are legitimate or
illegitimate, or how people use influence and react to it.
• Agents, constituencies and external audiences
▫ They formally or informally pressure others as part of the
negotiation process.
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Dealing with Others
Who Have More Power
When negotiators are on the receiving end of power:
• Never do an all-or-nothing deal
• Make the other party smaller
• Make yourself bigger
• Build momentum through doing deals in sequence
• Use the power of competition to leverage power
• Constrain yourself
• Good information is always a source of power
• Do what you can to manage the process
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Power vs. Influence
• Power is the potential to alter the attitudes and behaviors of others
that an individual brings to a given situation
• Influence, can be thought of, as ‘power in action’
• Influence is the actual messages and tactics an individual
undertakes in order to change the attitudes and behaviors of others
• Power is potential influence
• Influence is kinetic power (power in use)