The negotiator's assembly line

Abstract

This thesis explores how a weaker negotiating party may be able to effectively manage information as a tool to leverage power imbalances in negotiations. Although these imbalances may never be completely resolved, the effective management of information will enable the weaker party to stack their advantages in their favour to increase their chances for a fairer outcome.

The thesis will look at the management of information through the phases of gathering, processing and conveying information. It is proposed that these phases are managed by three specific professionals, the analytical investigator, the innovative inventor and the diplomatic salesperson. These archetypes personify certain attributes that a negotiator can evoke when extracting applicable intelligence from raw information to use in negotiation discussions. The intention is for raw information to be processed as applicable intelligence through these phases in an assembly-line fashion to produce options for mutual gain for the negotiating parties.

In the process of establishing this assembly line, the thesis will also explore the interplay between competitive and collaborative negotiation strategies. With this exploration, a negotiator may be able to be integrate these strategies to negotiate on both bargaining and problem-solving platforms using the Negotiator’s Assembly Line.