The Five Golden Rules of Negotiation

The Resources and Constraints of Each Player

Each player, whether visible or invisible, is pursuing his own specific objective, but each has only limited room to maneuver.

The logistics manager, whose objective is to avoid devoting too much time to packaging, certainly has the ability to produce the specifications and, to a certain extent, to ensure that the equipment selected complies with those specifications: These are his not inconsiderable resources.

However, he cannot allow himself to be accused by the production department of obstructing potential progress in packaging, since the plant has to improve its productivity. That is his constraint.

The packaging workshop supervisor, whose objective is to improve his lines’ performance ratings, ...