Negotiation: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #711

by Carrie Menkel-Meadow

Very Short Introductions : Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring

Everyone negotiates. Whenever any person, company, or country needs someone else to accomplish something, they must negotiate. Negotiation is essential for peace and international relations, but also for economically efficient trades and bargains in business, and for problem solving skills in workplaces, families, and interpersonal interactions.

This Very Short Introduction provides a comprehensive and accessible review of both conceptual and behavioural approaches to the human process of negotiation. Carrie Menkel-Meadow draws on research in constituent fields of human psychology, diplomacy, law, business, anthropology, game theory, decision making, international relations, sociology, public policy, and economics, suggesting models for creative problem solving to often intractable problems. Considering that most people are tense and frightened of what they perceive to be scarce resource confrontations with opponents and competitors, Menkel-Meadow offers different ways to plan for and approach others to solve human problems and seek solutions that satisfy both parties. Alongside this, Menkel-Meadow summarises recent research on the variations of human behaviour, providing vivid examples from history and current affairs to solve some of the most difficult problems.

ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

Published December 22, 2022

Reviews

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

You need to take your girl out but have to come to an agreement about where you'll be eating.
You think your salary is insufficient and so need to prepare to discuss why you believe you're worth more.
You find yourself in the midst of a tense hostage situation that you have no idea how you came to find yourself in, and you start wondering what if anything you could do to help alleviate the tension in the air.

The answer to all these situations is Negotiation: The act of multiple parties seeking consensus on handling a topic of import.

For a short introduction to the topic, this book feels far more than that. It covers everything from the various modes of Negotiation, to all the components one would not think to play a role in Negotiation.

Context like most things is everything, especially in Negotiation. For one, I never thought of the wildly different constraints one may face when having to negotiate in public vs negotiating in private. Or the fact that shooting for the stars is more likely to be beneficial than taking a "reasonable" approach in distributive/winner-takes-all all scenarios. Carrie covers all of these intricacies providing sufficient context to illustrate the significance of these circumstances.

I found that the field of Negotiation is what Game Theory has to face when confronted with the messy reality that is human irrationality. It made me want to focus on learning more Game Theory to not make myself susceptible to the biases that are common to human thinking in matters of transactions. But it also made me think more empathetically; to take into consideration (far more so) the other player in a game.

As the author says, "Never say never, and never say always". Flexibility is key and understanding what sort of resources and goals are at play by the various parties is crucial. I'm also pretty much a sucker for a good appendix and the checklist at the end of the book is great.

For what it's supposed to be - a very brief introduction on the topic of Negotiation- it serves as exactly that.

[Gregor Kobe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might not be the best read if it is your first time approaching the topic of negotiation, as it could seem dry as you start with first few chapters. But as I have read practically everything there is to read about negotiation, I think this book provides a great wholistic, non-biased, pragmatic overview on this grand topic of negotiation.
It touches the topic from every possible angle, and regardless of the readers background or field, there will be something to relate to for everybody.
Personally, I like this book because it wraps up in the least amount of pages, everything about negotiation, and it somehow provides structure to all the knowledge that was lingering around in my head.

[Jeffrey Ning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Negotiation Plan strengthened by List of Tables makes your negotiation brilliant if you are systematic in your approach. Just because the book gives a very short introduction to negotiation, it packs loads of information despite the need to further research the know-how.

[Naing Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insights and examples of consequential negotiations over the history (Chamberlain, Brexit, etc). Nice summary in the appendix too.