Supply Chain Management Review

Robert A. Rudzki

Negotiations Management – I
March 28, 2008

Last year, I had the opportunity to speak at the ISM annual conference in Las Vegas. The topic was World-Class Negotiations Management: Best Practices, Tools and Future Directions.

Those of you who speak publicly know the drill. You try to arrive at the assigned presentation room well in advance, to check the layout, and make sure all equipment is in place and functioning. The first thing I noticed about my assigned location was the room size: it was a large room and had seating for approximately 500 persons. That was of immediate concern. Presenters tend to prefer a small, filled-up room rather than a large, half-empty room. I was concerned that someone at ISM had goofed, and mistakenly assumed this topic would be a big draw.

As it turned out, my concern was premature. Just prior to the official start time, the room was full, indicating the interest that this topic generates among supply management professionals.

One of the reasons that I offered to speak on this topic was my perception that too many companies still practice “conventional” or “tactical” negotiations. We could spend a lot of space describing the distinction, but I find that one chart (see Figure below), can nicely summarize some of the key differences between “old school” and “new paradigm” negotiations.

Is your current practice best described by the left column, or the right column? If the former, then you are leaving a lot of value behind.

More on this topic in my next posting.

Note: the Figure is © Copyright Greybeard Advisors LLC All Rights Reserved

Posted by Robert A. Rudzki on March 28, 2008 | Comments (0)