I would like to start by defining what a negotiation is, "Negotiation is a process by which two or more parties who have both common and opposite interests - exchange information over a period of time, with a view to reaching an agreement for their future relationships.". (Villalba, 1989, p.12).
Taking into account this definition we can say that negotiation is present in our lives at all times, deciding where to have dinner with your partner is a negotiation, but it is in the business environment where a bad negotiation can generate losses for the company or that they are not reached the objectives in the planned or foreseen time.
To carry out a successful negotiation, we must first identify what my needs are or what I want from my counterpart, in order to direct the negotiation to achieve the expected benefit. The negotiation in agricultural companies is developed in the same way the problem is that, due to the nature of these companies and the high risk they run generates uncertainty in the administrator since he does not know if this year the amount of rain will be necessary to cultivate your harvest or be sure that you will reach the minimum production so as not to lose money.
The uncertainty generated by this type of company makes administrators decide to take immediate action, sometimes in the opposite direction to what was proposed in their objectives in order to ensure a profit and continue to survive, is where negotiation skills for part of the administrator play a decisive role in such a way that these risks can be avoided, mitigated or responded in the best way for the company.
As administrators we can reduce this uncertainty through a risk analysis process, identifying the risks that the company may run through the acquisition of knowledge about our environment, our society, the economy and weather conditions, to name a few, since depending on the different business needs and the geographical area in which it is located arise. Therefore, we must identify the risks that would most impact the company, those that are most likely to occur, and prioritize the weaknesses of our company according to our objectives. For example.
Una plaga de insectos para un productor de Jitomate sería un riesgo alto porque podría acabar con su plantación, pero es muy poco probable que suceda ya que en el país contamos con un correcto manejo de plagas, otro riesgo podría ser el granizo en la temporada de lluvias, es un riesgo alto porque podría significar gran pérdida de la cosecha e incluso daños en infraestructura, la probabilidad de que suceda la podemos conocer mediante estudios meteorológicos. Aunque en este tipo de situaciones tan comunes en el sector agropecuario no se sabe si sucederá o no el riego previsto, ayuda al administrador a generar estrategias y planes para afrontar este tipo de problemas.
Generating strategies to cope with risks plays an important role in the negotiation process since it defines our priorities and what actions we are going to take to meet our objectives, if we do not know how we are going to face the situation we are not clear about our needs which we it can lead to bad decisions when negotiating.
During the negotiation process, you always have to think ahead, trying to maintain a good relationship with the counterpart, in case of value for the company, alliances with the company's stakeholders generate value for it. In certain situations that arise in the agricultural sector, it could give you a position of greater bargaining power in front of your interested parties, in this situation you could take advantage of what is happening, to get more benefit; This would represent a growth in profits or profits but it deteriorates the business relationship and damages the loyalty of the interested parties.
References
The processes, negotiation techniques and technology: Villalba. J (1989) retrieved from
Written by: Marcelo Aguilar Herrera
