NEGOTIATIONS 4: DIFFICULTIES BUSINESS VOCABULARY IN USE

 

BUSINESS VOCABULARY IN USE 65. NEGOTIATIONS 4: DIFFICULTIES

 

A Confrontation Sometimes one side is in a stronger position than the other: they have more bargaining power. For example, during a recent strike at Lamda Inc., the company was in financial difficulty and the public was on the worker’s side, so Lamda was negotiating from weakness. The strikers’ union knew this: they were negotiating from strength. The union made demands: objectives that were so important that they were unwilling to change them. They wanted a 15 per cent pay increase. Later they moderated these demands, and said they would accept ten per cent. However, their demand for a week’s extra holiday was non-negotiable: they would not accept less. B Confrontational negotiating tactics Although using tricks isn’t recommended, there are negotiators who: • issue threats, final offers or ultimatums: they say that the other side must accept something, with very bad consequences for them if they refuse. • lie and bluff: they threaten to do something that they do not intend to do, or are not able to do. Of course, you can always call someone’s bluff: pretend to believe them, when you know they are bluffing. C Dealing with problems When negotiations get stuck, and don’t progress, there are a number of things you can do. a. Underline common ground: the areas where agreement has been reached. b. Reassure the other side on key points that have been decided: confirm that you have not changed your mind. EXERCISES 65.1 Look at A opposite. Which expression best describes each of these statements about a miner’s strike? Sometimes there is more than one possible answer. 1. Of course, the company had enormous stocks of coal that had already been produced but not sold and it suited them if there was no more production for six months. 2. The union wasn’t in a good position. Apart from the enormous coal stocks, there are thousands of people already out of work. 65.2 Match the sentence beginnings (1-5) with the correct endings (a-e). the sentences all contain expressions from B opposite. 1 Boeing offered the idea of a 600-plus seat jet to airlines last autumn. a for example, allowing only whole chickens to be imported, not chicken parts. 2 The country’s trade negotiators are trying all sorts of tricks to protect their farmers, b But European plane industry executives are convinced that Boeing is bluffing. 65.3 Jose Oliveira is trying to deal with some problems in the Xania-Zebra negotiations. Match the expressions (1-5) to the points (a-e) in C opposite. 1. With currency values changing so quickly, you want to think further about the currency you want to be paid in. 2. If you can increase the performance of the type of engine we’re interested in, we may be willing to pay a little more.

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