Direct effects of goals have four aspects.
First, wishes are not goals (needs that motive goals, but they are not goals themselves). In Achieve Planner, we use the concept of wishes to capture things that you potentially desire or want without having to commit to actually doing them. This is an important distinction because it allows you to brainstorm freely about the things you want without your judgments regarding how/when to accomplish them getting in the way. Second, goals are often linked to the other party’s goals (the linkage between the two parties’ goals defines an issue to be settled and is often the source of conflict.
My goal is to buy a cheap house and the realtor goal is to sell the house in the higher possible price, my issue is the price I will pay for the house). Third, there are boundaries or limits to what goals can be (if what we want exceeds these limits i.e. what the other party is capable of or willing to give we must either change our goals or end the negotiation, if my goal “to buy a house at a cheap price” isn’t possible because the house that I like is more expensive I need to change my goal or find another house.
Fourth, effective goals must be concrete, specific and measurable (the less concrete and measurable our goals are, the harder it is to a) communicate to the other party what we want, b) understand what the other party wants, and c) determine whether an offer on the table satisfies our goals, to get a house cheaply or to agree on a price so that the mortgage payment does not use all of my paycheck is not a very clearly goal, the realtor has to determine exactly how big a payment can comfortable come out of a paycheck at present interest rates and add to that what is available for a down payment in order to be able to negotiate exactly what the person is willing to a pay a month. Indirect effects of goals are simple and direct can be obtained in one single negotiation session support a competitive strategy because we tend to view this as a single event without future consequences it affects our choice of strategy in developing our goals and we ignore the relationship with the other party. Goals that are complex tend to support collaborative or integrative strategy. Motivates negotiator towards a strategy in which a relationship with other party is of value. For example, a substantial increase in one’s line of credit with a financial institution or the establishment of a privileged status with an important trading partner such relationship-oriented goals should motivate the negotiator toward a strategy choice in which the relationship with the other party is valued as much as the substantive outcome.
