Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too? The Practical Challenges Executives Face with the Mutual Gains Approach to Negotiations

Winning a negotiation is undeniably the most desirable outcome for most negotiators. Unfortunately, a focus on one-sided gains rarely leads to sustainable agreements. In today`s competitive business environment it is therefore essential to reach a negotiation outcome that not only bridges the interests of both parties, but also enforces the relationship between them. While the idea that negotiators should strive towards mutually acceptable solutions has already been examined in literature, few studies address the practical challenges that executives face when they apply the mutual gains approach to negotiations in modern business practice. This article introduces a systematic 6-step process, which encompasses the key elements of the mutual gains approach to negotiation and the challenges that business executives typically face with the application of each element. The study provides a straightforward and user-friendly framework that can be used to prepare for a negotiation or at any time during a negotiation to avoid the most common mistakes and boost the chances of reaching executable agreements.