Negotiation Case Studies, Negotiating in Life December 15, 2009

World Peace is a Nice Goal, Not a Good Demand

On December 10, several San Francisco State University (SFSU) students were arrested for protesting budget cuts and tuition increases at their school by barricading themselves inside a university building. The New York Times reports that they had listed their demands and grievances on a blog:

“Along with indignation over budget cuts, a blog listing the protesters’ demands included forgiveness of all student loans and ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. With demands far beyond the purview of school administrators, negotiations with the students (were nearly impossible)...”

The New York Times article can be read here.

Perhaps it is a lack of maturity on the SFSU students’ part, but when you are negotiating you should not make extraneous and unrealistic demands. It won’t help your cause. Furthermore, every negotiator needs to differentiate between needs and wants. In this case, the SFSU students want to make a point but they are doing it at the expense of negotiating their real need: lessening the impact of the university’s budget decisions.

As Dr. Chester L. Karrass writes in his book In Business as in Life You Don’t Get What You Deserve, You Get What You Negotiate:

“...in negotiation...our job is to discover what the other side says they want and what they really need.

If we can give the other party what they need, the will forget many of the wants or demands they asked for at the beginning of negotiation. That’s when both sides move toward agreement.”

What should SFSU students do to be able to negotiate better with the university administration?