NEGOTITATOR

AVOIDANCE-AVOIDANCE MODEL:

Application of an insight from psychology to negotiation:
Briefly, people faced with two relatively unattractive choices try to avoid both. The closer they are to an unattractive choice, the more they try to avoid making it.
For example a company’s choices are to:

Settle on the union’s term:

Stick to its current position and thus risk the costs of a STRIKE.
A company wishing to avoid both choices seeks a COMPRAMISE: a wage rise smaller than the union’s demands, but bigger than its own opening OFFER.

The union’s debate STRATEGY aims to:

Increase the company’s tendency to avoid a strike.
Reduce the company’s tendency to avoid meeting the union’s current demand.