Elements of Negotiation Analysis

Negotiation analysis was originally developed to provide negotiators with advice (Raiffa, 1982). It was “analysis for negotiation, not of negotiation” (Raiffa, 2002, pp. xi, 11). But even advising a negotiator involves “understanding the behavior of real people in real negotiations” and viewing counterparts in descriptive terms. Moreover, the use and forms of negotiation analysis have evolved over the past 20 years (see, e.g., Sebenius, 2002).

Watkins has developed a framework for nonspecialists that may be used to identify and assess the “essential features of [any] negotiation’s context and structure.” Such “diagnosis,” as he labels it, focuses on seven elements of negotiation (see Figure F.1). The next section fleshes out each element for the Renault-Nissan negotiation.