Negotiating Outcomes: Expert Solutions to Everyday Challenges

Types of Negotiations

Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.

—John F. Kennedy

NEGOTIATION IS THE PROCESS by which people deal with their differences. Whether those differences involve the purchase of a new automobile, a labor contract dispute, the terms of a sale, or a complex alliance between companies, resolutions are typically sought through negotiations. To negotiate is to seek mutual agreement through dialogue.

There are two kinds of negotiation: distributive negotiation and integrative negotiation. Most negotiations combine elements of both types, but for the purposes of understanding, it’s important to ...