Role and Purpose of a BATNA and How One is Chosen

NCM 512 Module 4 Discussion
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NCM 512 Module 4 Discussion
Most negotiations barely yield acceptable outcomes. As such, parties are encouraged to embrace a strong Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement (BATNA), which guarantees a suitable alternative (Sebenius, 2017). Since it is difficult to reach an agreement in most negotiations, BATNA is introduced. People that embrace BATNA are exposed to the best alternative as the technique facilitates the assessment of an offer’s attractiveness or value. A stronger BATNA is an advantage in a negotiation as one can as for more. It limits compromises since one knows the minimum acceptable outcome and can easily choose to disregard the negotiation if they are not met. In that regard, BATNA is an essential technique of negotiations that can be employed in workplace conflict situations, among other scenarios, where parties can barely reach an agreement.
Negotiators recognized BATNA as a power lever. One is likely to introduce a better alternative, which automatically invites power leverage in the negotiation. BATNA establishes a strong bargaining power, especially when the alternative can be considered the better option (Dahlen & Eichstadt, 2020). Its primary role is to offer an alternative, mostly when the involved parties cannot reach an agreement. When negotiations fail, BATNA is introduced as the most reliable option. As indicated earlier, BATNA is a power lever, which implies that it exposes the worst offer one is willing to embrace. Having an attractive BATNA will influence an agreement and how to reach a mutually acceptable offer or disregard the whole negotiation process, especially when one feels their interests and offer are not matched. The purpose is to aid negotiators in identifying and embracing the best alternatives. The technique dictates that negotiators must be prepared for scenarios that would impede the realization of the most attractive agreement.
When choosing a BATNA, a negotiator ide...