ABSTRACT

Both leadership and negotiations constitute key success factors for organisations. Previous studies on leadership suggest that leadership effectiveness differentiates successful organisations from others. Equally, negotiations success constitutes a key distinguishing factor separating developed countries from the developing and under-developed ones.

A perusal of available literature and previous research on leadership and negotiations reveals a historical tendency by writers and theoreticians to deal with these topics separately. Thus, while the two topics have each been researched extensively, the number of studies dealing with leadership and negotiations as concomitant variables in the same study is limited.

Roger Fisher and William Ury, say that negotiation is a fact of life –“You discuss with your Boss, you try to agree with a stranger on a price for a house, two lawyers try to settle a lawsuit arising from a car accident, a group of oil companies plan a joint venture exploring for offshore, a city official meets with union leaders to avert a strike – All these are negotiations”.

According to City Press dated 24.08.2009: “For most job seekers, the art of negotiation comes into play at two specific times in their careers: during an interview and at their performance evaluation”
Some negotiations, also, operate on a grand scale, with discussions about company, cars, relocation, etc. But most of us focus on one issue which is salary.

What do I mean by above? Everyone negotiates something everyday!