18/01/2026
LECTURE TWO
Strategy and Tactics of
Distributive Bargaining
Distributive Bargaining
What?
• Bargaining: describes the competitive, win-lose
situation of negotiation
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Distributive Bargaining
Why?
Three Reasons Negotiators Should Be Familiar with
Distributive Bargaining
1. Interdependent situations require knowing how this
works in order to do well
2. Need to know how to counter the effects of the
strategies
3. Every situation has the potential to require skills at
the “claiming-value” stage
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Distributive Bargaining
When? -The Distributive Bargaining Situation
• Goals of one party are in fundamental, direct conflict
to another party
• Resources are fixed and limited
• Maximizing one’s own share of resources is the goal
for both parties
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Distributive Bargaining
How?
• Strategies?
• Tactics ?
“Preparation needed before negotiation and actions
during and after negotiation”
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Distributive Bargaining
Preparation for negotiation?
How? The Distributive Bargaining Situation
Preparation-set important points
• Target point (aspiration point)
• Walk away (resistance) point
• Asking price, initial offer point
• Settlement range/area
Three these points are set by both sides before
negotiating, normally and setting the settlement
range/area…
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Distributive Bargaining
Preparation for negotiation?
The Role of Alternatives to a Negotiated Agreement
• Alternatives give the negotiator power to walk away
from the negotiation
➢If alternatives are attractive, negotiators can:
✓Set their goals higher
✓Make fewer concessions
➢If there are no attractive alternatives:
✓Negotiators have much less bargaining power
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Distributive Bargaining
Preparation for negotiation?
The Distributive Bargaining Situation
Party A - Seller
Walkaway Point Target Point Asking Price
(Resistance point)
Alternative
Alternative
Initial Offer Target Point Walkaway Point
(Resistance point)
Party B - Buyer
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Distributive Bargaining
Preparation for negotiation?
Points for bargaining: three situations
AP WP/RP
TP settlement
TP
WP/RP
IO
Seller Buyer
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Distributive Bargaining
Preparation for negotiation?
Points for bargaining: three situations analysis
AP AP AP
Settlement
WP Settlement
TP TP (Small) TP (negative)
Settlement
(large)
WP TP WP WP
WP ???
???
WP
IO TP
Seller Seller Buyer TP
Seller Buyer Buyer
IO
IO
Situation 1 Situation 2 Situation 3
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Distributive Bargaining
Preparation for negotiation?
Bargaining Mix
• The package of issues for negotiation
• For the bargaining Mix:
❖Defining points in negotiation for each item of the package
❖Identifying priority for each items from each party
❖Defining suitable strategies and tactics to negotiate (could
lead to integrative negotiation?)
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Distributive Bargaining
Strategies of distributive Bargaining
• Which strategies to distributive bargaining successfully ?
That depends on distributive bargaining situations
to implement strategy aim to maximize the
opportunity to success....(SWOT ?)
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Distributive Bargaining
Strategies of distributive Bargaining
1) Push for settlement near opponent’s resistance
point/walk away point (?)
2) Get the other party to change their resistance point to
maximize the settlement
3) If settlement range is negative, either:
✓Get the other side to change their resistance point, OR
✓Modify your own resistance point
4) Convince the other party that the settlement is the
best possible...(the BATNA)...
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Distributive Bargaining
Strategies of distributive Bargaining
Keys to the Strategies
The keys to implementing any of the four
strategies are:
• Discovering the other party’s resistance point
• Influencing the other party’s resistance point
How to do so?
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Distributive Bargaining
Strategies of distributive Bargaining
Four Propositions That Suggest How the Keys Affect the
Process
1. The higher the other party’s estimate of your cost of delay
or impasse,...?
..the stronger the other party’s resistance point will be (?).
2. The higher the other party’s estimate of his or her own
cost of delay or impasse...
..the weaker the other party’s resistance point will be (?).
Implication?
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Distributive Bargaining
Strategies of distributive Bargaining
Four Propositions That Suggest How the Keys Affect
the Process
3. The less the other party values an issue...?
... the lower their resistance point will be.
4. The more the other party believes that you value
an issue...
...the lower their resistance point may be.
Implication?
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Distributive Bargaining
Tactical Tasks of Negotiators
1) Assess outcome values and the costs of termination
for the other party
2) Manage the other party’s impressions
3) Modify the other party’s perceptions
4) Manipulate the actual costs of delay or termination
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Distributive Bargaining
Tactical Tasks of Negotiators
1) Assess the Other Party’s Target, Resistance Point,
and Costs of Terminating Negotiations
• Indirectly
➢Determine information opponent used to set:
✓Target
✓Resistance points
• Directly
➢Opponent reveals the information
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Distributive Bargaining
Tactical Tasks of Negotiators
2) Manage the Other Party’s Impressions
• Screen your behavior:
➢Say and do as little as possible (?, asking more?)
• Direct action to alter impressions
➢Present facts that enhance one’s position
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Distributive Bargaining
Tactical Tasks of Negotiators
3) Modify the Other Party’s Perceptions
• Make outcomes appear less attractive ? (for other
sides?)
• Make the cost of obtaining goals appear higher ?
• Make demands and positions appear more or less
attractive to the other party – which ever suits your
needs ?
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Distributive Bargaining
Tactical Tasks of Negotiators
4) Manipulate the Actual Costs of Delay or
Termination
• Plan disruptive action
➢Raise the costs of delay to the other party
• Form an alliance with outsiders
➢Involve (or threaten to involve) other parties who can
influence the outcome in your favor
• Schedule manipulations
➢One party is usually more vulnerable to delaying than
the other
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Distributive Bargaining
Positions Taken During Negotiations
• Opening offer
✓Where will you start?
• Opening stance
✓What is your attitude?
❖ Competitive? Moderate?
• Initial concessions
✓Should any be made? If so, how large?
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Distributive Bargaining
Positions Taken During Negotiations
• The role of concessions
✓Without them, there is either capitulation or
deadlock
• Patterns of concession making
✓The pattern contains valuable information
• Final offers (making a commitment)
✓“This is all I can do”
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Distributive Bargaining
Commitments: Tactical Considerations
• Establishing a commitment
✓Three properties:
❖Finality
❖Specificity
❖Consequences
• Preventing the other party from committing
prematurely
✓Their commitment reduces your flexibility
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Distributive Bargaining
Commitments
Ways to Create a Commitment
• Public pronouncement
• Linking with an outside base
• Increase the prominence of demands
• Reinforce the threat or promise
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Distributive Bargaining
Commitments: Tactical Considerations
•Ways to abandon a committed position
✓Plan a way out
✓Let it die silently
✓Restate the commitment in more general
terms
✓Minimize the damage to the relationship if
the other backs off
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Group exercise 2.2
Based on the negotiation case study/situation that you
selected, group discussion to
• Identify items/issues that need to be negotiated (package)
• Identify negotiation points (TP, WP/RP, IO/AP) to key each
item/s or issue/s of each party/side
• Define the settlement range (positive or negative) and
priority for each item in the package of items/issues for
negotiation
• Deciding strategies and tactics to move the settlement that
benefit one party and/or to expand settlement range for
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each issues related
• Think about alternatives and BATNA to offer (from one side)
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Distributive Bargaining
Closing the Deal
• Provide alternatives (2 or 3 packages)
• Assume the close
• Split the difference
• Exploding offers
• Deal sweeteners
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Distributive Bargaining
Closing the Deal
Dealing with Typical Hardball Tactics
• Four main options:
✓Ignore them
✓Discuss them
✓Respond in kind
✓Co-opt the other party (befriend them)
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Distributive Bargaining
Closing the Deal
Typical Hardball Tactics
• Good Cop/Bad Cop
• Lowball/Highball
• Bogey (playing up an issue of little importance)
• The Nibble (asking for a number of small
concessions to)
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Distributive Bargaining
Closing the Deal
Typical Hardball Tactics
• Chicken
• Intimidation
• Aggressive Behavior
• Snow Job (overwhelm the other party
with information)
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Distributive Bargaining
Summary- Negotiators need to:
• Set a clear target and resistance points
• Understand and work to improve their BATNA
• Start with good opening offer
• Make appropriate concessions
• Manage the commitment process
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