Maurice A. Bercof - The Art of Negotiating

Résumé du document

Maurice A. Bercoff is a Bachelor of Law, PhD in Economics and a Statistics graduate; and fluent in four languages. He developed his systematic approach to negotiations in Harvard, Wharton Business School and the Kennedy School of Government.
He has more than thirty years of experience (in Europe and the USA) in labor conflicts, re-engineering schemes, acquisitions, and change management projects in culturally diverse companies; giving him sound knowledge of international, intercultural and social negotiation and relationships.

In 1993 he created Negotiators Associated. Through this company, he prepares teams for difficult negotiations for businesses, partnerships, industrial affairs, etc. Some of the companies he has worked with include: France Telecom, EDF-GDF, Schlumberger, Saint-Gobain, EADS-Airbus, Renault, etc…

He wrote L'Art de Négocier (The Art of Negotiating); which was published by Groupe Eyrolles: the first edition in May, 2004; and the second edition in 2007.

Extraits

[...] Bercof, L'Art de négocier (The Art of Negotiating) General presentation The author Maurice A. Bercoff is a Bachelor of Law, PhD in Economics and a Statistics graduate; and fluent in four languages. He developed his systematic approach to negotiations in Harvard, Wharton Business School and the Kennedy School of Government. He has more than thirty years of experience (in Europe and the USA) in labour conflicts, re-engineering schemes, acquisitions, and change management projects in culturally diverse companies; giving him sound knowledge of international, intercultural and social negotiation and relationships. [...]

[...] Section two: the situation Everything said, no matter how much you prepare, each situation is unique and depends on many variables that are completely out of your control: emotions, feelings, moods, conflictive situations, competitive situations This is where the art begins. This is where the true negotiator is able to move around, to improvise, and to persuade. CHAPTER SIX: WHAT TYPE OF RELATIONSHIP DO YOU WANT? The type of relationship you will have with your counterpart will be settled in the first few minutes of the negotiation, and will be highly influenced be the possible cultural differences. In these first minutes it is essential to be welcoming, and to try to create a reciprocal environment. [...]

[...] In this chapter we learn that we must have a very clear image of what we are negotiating at all times. It may sound absurd to say this, but it has been known to be a problem; especially in complex international negotiations. Once that is clear, make sure you know the cold facts, and then try to understand your counterparts' perception of the facts. Not only that, but what is at stake for them? The people sitting at the other side of the table have professional challenges that they want to meet; but for us it may be very interesting to understand their personal stakes as well, because we can lead them through those. [...]

[...] He starts by enunciating that there are two basic (yet contrary) views of negotiation: negotiation as a fight against and adversary, who we want to win; and negotiation as an exchange process by which we construct intelligent solutions for each counterpart. We usually perceive negotiation as the first; as a conflict of interests that gives way to a contest of power. But what is “strength” or in a negotiation? After 35 years of work, observation and analysis of negotiations, the author has developed a model, not a theory, which he presents us in this book. [...]

[...] However I think that this book has a kind vision of negotiation. The author maintains that negotiation should always be a question of cooperation and of positive collaboration in order to have positive output for both parties. He thus always recommends an open and nice attitude toward the other negotiator. Even if he is right in his general statement, I think that he should have taken more time to explain how to deal with a negotiator who is not playing fair. [...]