What is Negotiation?
Negotiation is a form of direct or indirect communication whereby parties having opposite interests, discuss the form of any joint action they may undertake to resolve a dispute between them. Negotiations may be used to resolve existing disputes or to lay the groundwork for a future relationship between two or more parties.
Negotiation is also characterised as the “Preeminent mode of dispute resolution” given its applicability in all aspects of everyday life – individual, institutional, national or global levels. Negotiation is a good first step in any dispute resolution process. Each negotiation is nevertheless unique in nature, differing from one another in terms of subject matter, participants, process used, complexity, etc. Negotiation may also be applied as an Alternate Dispute Resolution such as mediation, arbitration or litigation settlement.