The organization as negotiator

The authors discuss the surprising shortage of research on how organizations negotiate or plan to negotiate, when the work is considered on a broader than individual level. They contrast this with evidence that certain organizations have profited enormously, and even become dominant players in their markets, largely by adopting and enforcing one consistent style and approach to negotiation, one which supports in every detail the organization’s overall strategy. They argue that building on this evidence represents a potentially huge strategic opportunity for organizations which have not yet tackled consistency of purpose and of execution across all of their relationships with suppliers, employees and other stakeholders. They note, however, that the results of such consistency are not always attractive to the outside observer