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Introduction
Success at the bargaining table often comes down to one simple factor: power. Even when not explicitly identified, power is frequently the precipitating and driving force of negotiation processes and outcomes.
Yet, power is a multifaceted construct that can take many forms and be derived from a variety of sources. In this article, we identify four important sources of power at the bargaining table: alternatives, information, status and social capital. We first provide a formal definition of power in negotiations that integrates and goes beyond how past research has conceptualized this critical construct. Building on this definition, we then discuss how each of the four sources of power help negotiators achieve their goals. Finally, we discuss the psychological and behavioral consequences of power in a negotiation.
Defining power in negotiations
A review of the literature on power and negotiations reveals two surprising facts: first, despite the sizeable body of research on the effects of power in negotiations (for reviews see Brett and Thompson, 2016; Kim et al ., 2005; Thompson et al. , 2010), there is currently no parsimonious definition of what power means for negotiators at the bargaining table. Second, when power is studied in negotiations, it is most often conceptualized around a negotiator's best alternative to a negotiated agreement or BATNA (Fisher and Ury, 1991). However, this conceptualization is too narrow to capture the full range of power in negotiations. We argue that power in negotiations goes beyond the alternatives a party has and can include other important sources. Thus, a more general conceptualization of power in negotiations is needed to reflect the fact that power can emerge from a variety of factors.
Power outside of negotiations has been defined as "asymmetric control over valued resources in social relations" (Magee and Galinsky, 2008, p. 361). Our interest is in the power that negotiators wield to achieve success at the bargaining table. Although alternatives, information, status and social capital can be conceptualized as resources, in negotiations the definition of power needs to connect to the eventual outcome.
We define power in negotiations as the probability that a negotiator will influence a negotiation outcome in the direction of his or her ideal outcome [1]. Thus, the more power one has, the higher the...