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CS Professional · Arbitration, Mediation and Conciliation · Negotiation Skills and Communication

Two parties in a mediation each state a rigid position: the buyer says 'I will pay at most Rs 40 lakh' and the seller says 'I will accept nothing below Rs 55 lakh', and each refuses to explain why. The mediator asks the buyer about cash-flow timing and the seller about his urgent loan repayment. Which negotiation barrier is the mediator trying to overcome?

The barrier is positional bargaining, where parties fix on stated amounts and hide the reasons behind them. The mediator's questions on cash flow and loan repayment shift the discussion from positions to underlying interests, which allows creative settlement options such as staged payments.

  1. APositional bargaining that hides underlying interestsCorrect
  2. BLanguage difference between the parties
  3. CLack of legal representation
  4. DExcessive formality of the venue

Explanation

Each side is locked into a stated number without revealing the reasons behind it. By probing cash-flow and loan needs, the mediator moves them from positions to interests, which opens room for creative options such as staged payment. Language, representation and venue are not features of the facts.

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