Negotiation 1

The nickel game poses some interesting questions. How does someone actually know that their opponent has best intentions, especially when it is unclear what the value of maintaining a good relationship is for unknown future games? It is clear that when everyone looks out for each others interests they can maximize their gain. This means, in seven turns in the in class game, 16 cents for the person who went first and 12 cents for the person who went second. The first group that played the game left some money on the table, but after feeling each other out gained trust, which is key to maximizing profits in this game and mutually they made more money. The second group had one player that approached the negotiation as a win-lose scenario and another who approached as a win-win. Although more money was left on the table the player with the win-lose approach returned a profit of 16 cents, the highest of everyone, while the win-win player only had a gain of about 8 cents, the lowest. Although everyone wins in win-win negotiations, how does one achieve a win-win negotiation when one is uncertain of the other party's motives and goals. The risk is high that if one party attempts to achieve mutual gains while one seeks personal gains the former will get the short end of the stick. A key to mutual acknowledgment of win-win negotiations is trust and this must be established through dialogue prior to entering into the substance of the negotiation. Other times reputations and personal relationships may be enough to establish trust, but not all situations lend themselves to this type of negotiations and parties may disagree about what type of negotiation is truly best for their mutual goals. In a world where there will always be a future negotiation there is little rationale for making the opponent lose or trust will be lost, there will be no future negotiations and the winner will be the ultimate loser.