You purchased your car for $25,000. After a full day simulation on Tuesday it was nice to have a day of academics today. What are BATNA and ZOPA? What is Conflict Resolution, and How Does It Work? For example, a negotiator can enter an agreement with a reservation price for selling their product is $15,000. Your younger sister has recently gotten her driver’s license and your parents are looking for a cheap used car to give her for her birthday. All rights reserved. Similarly, if someone offers you several small payments, think about whether the proposal would be as attractive if you had received it one lump sum instead. When entering a business negotiation, the reservation price of the opposite party is not always explicitly stated or shared beforehand. ZOPA is a different concept entirely. To learn more about this practice, contact Shapiro Negotiations today to enroll in our negotiations training program. PON Staff — on June 9th, 2020 / BATNA. In this way, the BATNA is the strongest influence when establishing a “reservation point”. First, it pays to determine all your available alternatives. We learnt some nifty acronyms, such as the BATNA (Best Alternative To the Negotiated Agreement), WATNA (Worst Alternative To the Negotiated Agreement), and ZOPA (Zone of Possible Agreement), to help with negotiation strategy. The reservation point can be the low or high end of the ZOPA range and can be used when determining if a BATNA is the best option to pursue. He also discussed his theories of a ‘hurting stalemate’ and ‘ripeness’ for intervention, which, as staples of conflict management theory, were amazing to hear about straight from the mouth of the man who created them. As such, an effective negotiator must recognize her own BATNA, as well as seek to identify the BATNA of the other party. These negotiations are critical to the practice of negotiation, because they express the financial range in which the terms of an agreement can be reached. BATNA, or best alternative to a negotiated agreement, is what you would do if you failed to reach an agreement in a particular negotiation.Estimating BATNA is useful in negotiations because it lets you know how hard to push. For example, imagine you are selling your used car. A negotiator should always enter a deal knowing their own reservation price and the BATNA. A buyer contacts you and explains that they have a budget of $17,000 to purchase a new car. In the same example, if you are selling your car for $18,000 and you are willing to sell it for as low as $15,000, your reservation price would be $15,000. A BATNA is the result of a two-step planning and preparation process. ZOPA can work in tandem with these concepts, however. A Zone Of Possible Agreement (ZOPA) is a bargaining range in an area where two or more negotiating parties may find common ground. At times you may need to be on the defense. When this happens, it is. For example, explore alternatives to the negotiations at hand. Your BATNA is your Best Alternative To Negotiated Agreement. Then you choose your most attractive and actionable alternative. Create a new password of your choice. When someone makes an argument or request that seems compelling, ask yourself questions such as these: Suppose that someone says, “I’d like you to agree to this proposal because I think it’s fair.” Consider how this statement sounds minus the justification: “I’d like you to agree to this proposal.” Suddenly it’s less persuasive. PON – Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School - https://www.pon.harvard.edu, By Knowing a negotiator’s reservation price – the highest price at which a negotiator would pay in the negotiating scenario – can empower a negotiator to walk away from a bad deal and seek a better bargain with a negotiating counterpart employing a more integrative bargaining approach. ZOPA negotiations are not always as simple as the used car example. ZOPA can be easily confused with two other terms that describe the possible outcomes of a negotiation: BATNA and reservation price. Harvard Negotiation Master Class – Online, The Teaching Negotiation Resource Center Policies, Working Conference on AI, Technology, and Negotiation, best alternative to a negotiated agreement, Negotiation and Leadership December 2020 Brochure, PON Global — Online November 2020 Brochure, Negotiation Master Class Fall 2020 Program Guide, Negotiation and Leadership October 2020 Brochure, Negotiation and Leadership Summer 2020 Brochure, Harvard Negotiation Institute 2020 Summer Programs Guide, Negotiation and Leadership Spring 2020 Brochure, New Conflict Management Skills: Understand How to Resolve “Hot Conflicts”, Panda Diplomacy and Business Negotiations: Applying Soft Power, Business Negotiation Skills: Fairness at the Negotiation Table, Conflict Resolution and Opportunities for Mutual Gains in Negotiation, International Negotiation Role Playing: Understanding the Theory and Practice of Systemic Peacebuilding, Women Negotiators and Barriers to the Bargaining Table. To claim value (and create value) in your next negotiation, use the following six negotiation tips from the Negotiation newsletter. BATNA and ZOPA. Again very practical, Dr Zartman’s presentation was peppered with real life examples of successful and unsuccessful negotiations around the world.