Some institutional settings include the same parties engaged in multiple negotiations over the same issues concurrently and consecutively in time. Network theory has been utilised to describe the dynamic interplay at a systems-level, while less is known about micro-level dynamics – the strategic opportunities and challenges confronting negotiators at the table.
Dr Larry Crump from the Department of Business Strategy and Innovation is currently examining a network of bilateral free trade negotiations involving Chile, the EU, Singapore and the US through the use of linkage theory to demonstrate how differing strategic choices involving position coordination, concession management and cooperative action are managed in a linkage-rich environment.
Dr Crump was invited to speak at the 56th SIRENE seminar held in Paris in November, titled Negotiations of the Past, Lessons for Today? The aim of the seminar is to investigate the relationship between history and negotiation and to celebrate the recent publication of a book Landmark Negotiations from Around the World of which Dr Crump authored a chapter on linkage analysis with data from the US–Chile free trade agreement negotiations.
In this book, each of the 30 chapters gives an account of a famous negotiation, together with a critical analysis which cross references the facts with modern negotiation theory and concepts. The following is a brief quote from the Chapter authored by Larry Crump.
“Might I gain greater understanding of your circumstances if I know something about how your past has shaped what you seek today? …
Might I also be in a better position to understand your needs and interests, your opportunities and constraints, if I gain some insight into how your perception of the future is shaping what you seek today?”
“Landmark Negotiations from Around the World” – Linkage Analysis (Crump, p. 92)
