Buying a House with Distributive Bargaining Skills

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Distributive bargaining is a very important negotiation skill. Used as the core of the core of an negotiation, distributive bargaining is defined as, “a negotiation method in which two parties strive to divide a fixed pool of resources, often money, each party trying to maximize its share of the distribution” (Michael R. Carrell, 2008). Within the distributive bargaining process, the two parties involved have to negotiate over a set of assets in which one person looses and the other gains. This is why Distributive bargaining is also called Zero-sum. Carroll explains that distributive bargaining is called a zero-sum process because one party looses whatever amount is gained by the other” (Michael R. Carrell, 2008).
The dynamic of a win-lose bargaining situation can cause negotiations to be exceedingly tense and volatile because only one side will gain at the end of these type of negotiations. This makes the concept of distributive bargaining controversial. Michael Wheeler, the author of the article, Three cheers for teaching distributive bargaining, discusses how many professors at an academy of management conference disapproved of distributive bargaining negotiation tactics. Wheeler explains, a huge majority of the attendees disapproved of exposing their impressionable pupils to the reality that in some negotiations, more for one party means less for the other” (Wheeler, 2012).
The reluctance to teach the distributive bargaining tactic may be due to the fact that most teachings on negotiation skills are centered around the notion of all parties coming out of a deal with something they want. Negotiations are supposed to begin in a positive way in which the negotiators consider the needs and wants of the others involved and their...

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...n purchase a home at the price more compatible with the buyers budget.

References
Michael R. Carrell, C. H. (2008). Negotiating Essentials: Theory, Skills, and Practices. New Jersey: Pearson.
Venter, D. (2014). Framing-An Important Negotiation Tool. Retrieved from www.calumcoburn.co.uk: http://www.calumcoburn.co.uk/articles/articles-framing/
Wheeler, M. (2012). Three cheers for teaching distributive bargaining. Negotiation Journal, 73-78.
William Goetzmann, a. L. (2006). Estimating House Price Indexes in the Presence of Seller Reservation Prices. Review Of Economics and Statistics. pp. 100-112. www.acq.osd.mi. (2014). Bargaining Tactics. Retrieved from www.acq.osd.mi: http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/cpf/docs/contract_pricing_finance_guide/vol5_ch7.pdf

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