The four horsemen of power at the bargaining table

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to identify and discuss four major sources of power in negotiations. Findings The four sources of power are alternatives, information, status and social capital. Each of these sources of power can enhance a negotiator’s likelihood of obtaining their ideal outcome because power allows negotiators to be more confident and proactive, and it shields them from the bargaining tactics of their opponents. Practical implications The paper discusses how negotiators can utilize each source of power to improve their negotiation outcomes. Originality/value The paper provides a parsimonious definition of power in negotiations, identifies the four major sources of negotiator powers and highlights two pathways by which power affects negotiation outcomes.

Buyer and Seller Differences in Business‐to‐Business Negotiations

“…The use of rejection tactics may reflect greater power -a seller or buyer who perceives that she has better alternatives may be more inclined to reject knowing that she can more easily walk away. We also did not consider or control for other relevant sources of negotiation power, such as information, time, status, or outside threatening potential (Eichstädt, Hotait, and Dahlen 2017;Galinsky, Schaerer, and Magee 2017).…”

Alternatives vs. Time – Measuring the Force of Distinct Sources of Bargaining Power

“…While many articles deal with some effects of power, only limited attention is paid to the actual source of this negotiation power. On the whole, most authors agree that negotiation power is the driving force, both with regard to negotiation processes and outcome [27]. Still beside the most prominent source of negotiation power, alternatives, limited attention has been paid to other power sources and their interaction.…”

“…[2, p. 11]. However, recently several authors have looked into the variety of sources of negotiation power and their respective interdependency [6,18,27,37]. At the same time, we are observing a period where negotiation experts are increasingly concerned with the abuse of power negotiations by international politicians.…”

“…Building upon this, Eichstädt et al [18] very recently provided a first approach to compare drivers of negotiation power. In parallel, Galinsky et al [27] added status and social capital to the list of potential negotiation power drivers.…”

“…Following the thoughts of Galinsky et al [27], this paper focuses on comparing two distinct sources of power: alternatives and time. Time plays an especially vital role in most buyer-supplier contracts.…”