Negotiations and Decision-making Essay -- Negotiating

A multitude of data can be found online when searching for material on decision-making. Likewise, the same can be stated regarding the search for information pertaining to negotiations and decision-making. For example, a Google search of the key words â€Å"negotiations/decision-making† garnered over ten million results! Reviewing a tenth of that information would take a great deal of time and energy, so this paper will narrow the scope and focus on four negotiation/decision-making types: zero-sum game, win-win, satisficing solutions and fixed pie. In addition, a brief discussion on how each of the types has been applied will ensue. Prior to this class I had never heard of the zero-sum negotiation type. When researching the ideology, I came across a website created by Robert Korn (Korn, 2010) called Truth Pizza, and I found his take on the subject quite interesting. He explained the zero-sum games negotiations type as one party pursuing an action that satisfies their needs while a comparable party equally misses an opportunity. Korn offered several examples to explain the method in a way that was easy to understand and relatable. To convey a couple of scenarios Korn disclosed, he wrote about the zero-sum game as it relates to insurance companies. Each month people pay premiums to provide protection from what may come. People buy flood insurance to protect from rising water, auto insurance to protect from accidents and theft, life insurance to pay out in an untimely demise, and so forth. Society-at-large pays monthly, semi-annual or annual premiums in hopes that they will never need the services they are paying for. â€Å"For the most part, the money we get back from insurance is considerably less than what we pay in† (Korn, 20... ... negotiation feeling as though their issues were addressed and important to the compromise. This fosters better relations and improved camaraderie for those involved. Works Cited Business Dictionary. (2010). Satisficing. Retrieved November 15, 2010, from Business Dictionary: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/satisficing.html Korn, R. (2010, April 25). Zero-sum Games. Retrieved November 15, 2010, from TruthPizza.org: http://www.truthpizza.org/logic/zerosum.htm Menard, R. (2009, November 17). What Does Win-Win Negotiation Mean? Retrieved November 15, 2010, from Ezine Articles: http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Does-Win-Win- Negotiation-Mean?&id=3281520 Spangler, B. (2003, October). Positive-Sum, Zero-Sum, and Negative-Sum Situations. Retrieved November 17, 2010, from Beyond Intractability: http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/sum/