Negotiation Research June 22, 2009

Negotiation News Round-Up

Boston Globe Negotiations

The negotiations are still going on over at The Boston Globe. Recently, we wrote about the highly-charged negotiations between the owner of the Globe, The New York Times, and the various unions at the Globe. Now, the Times and the Boston Newspaper Guild are negotiating on how to cut $10 million in costs. The unions had agreed to a 23% cut in salary to achieve those cuts. Read the AP report via Google here:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jkzBYoal_s1ms77Fzrfv3jMppZggD98SM6RG1 

Purchasing.com: Suppliers do their homework

We know that good business negotiators always do their homework. This article, from Purchasing Magazine, discusses how suppliers prepare for a negotiation with purchasers. However, the article tells us, even though suppliers are well prepared, purchasers generally have the advantage since they have the budget.

Automaker Negotiations

We’ve seen both Chrysler and GM go under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and have seen that the negotiations there involved the United Autoworkers, among others. We have not heard much about Ford, since it is the one American car manufacturer that did not ask for a government bailout. However, Ford does have ongoing negotiations with unions. Ford CEO Alan Mullaly discussed how Ford is working on its profitability with Fox Business News, and said “Ford is committed to continuing to reduce debt and become profitable again in 2011. He said negotiations with the UAW are ongoing and that Ford will continue to work on improving “all elements” of its competitiveness.”

Negotiations with Iran?

Iran’s contested elections may pose a big challenge for U.S. negotiators. It is not clear that the declared winner really obtained a majority of the vote. There have been days of protests, and the United States has been waiting to see what the outcome is. Robert Kagan argued in a Washington Post op-ed that these protests are not good news for President Obama’s desire to negotiate with Iran, “but, rather, an unwelcome complication in his strategy of engaging and seeking rapprochement with the Iranian government on nuclear issues.”

At issue is the legitimacy of the Iranian government. In his book The Negotiating Game, Dr. Chester Karrass says that legitimacy is “a source and symbol of power.” He also says that buyers, sellers and governments build strength on “the basis of higher institutional or cultural authority.” In the case of Iran the legitimacy of the government is being challenged, setting the stage for negotiators questioning the power and authority of Iran’s re-elected president to negotiate with the United States.