what is a best alternative to a negotiated agreement batna 
a best alternative to a negotiated agreement batna is a course of action that a party engaged in negotiations has determined should be taken if talks fail and no agreement can be reached negotiation researchers roger fisher and william ury coined the term batna in their 1981 bestseller getting to yes negotiating agreement without giving in 1a party s batna is the position it will fall back on if negotiation proves unsuccessful understanding a best alternative to a negotiated agreement batna considering a batna can be useful to anyone in any situation that calls for negotiations whether it s an employee seeking a raise or a company considering a merger a party to negotiations cannot make an informed decision about whether to accept an agreement unless they first think through their alternatives importance of a batnaidentifying your batna in advance gives you the option of walking away from a bad deal for example if you re negotiating a price for a new car and the dealer s final offer is unacceptable what can you do the obvious options are disappointing you can take a deal you don t want or walk away empty handed or if you have identified your batna you can go to another dealer that you know has another make and model car that you like your batna gives you negotiating power even if you don t reveal it during the negotiations you know you don t have to take a bad deal 2in a negotiation the best alternative to a negotiated agreement or batna is the individual s determination of the action to be taken if no deal can be reached the zone of possible agreement or zopa is the area of overlap among each party s batna to be really prepared for a negotiation you don t just have to determine your own batna you need to have a sense of the batna that each other party has settled upon if there is any overlap among them there is the possibility of an outcome that is satisfactory to all while a batna may not always be easy to identify harvard researchers have outlined several steps to help clarify the process 3if the value of the deal proposed to you is lower than your reservation value you should reject the offer and pursue your batna however if the final offer is higher than your reservation value you should accept the offer a strong batna can also help a party understand that it has an appealing alternative to the deal and can walk away from a tempting offer negotiation is more than determining a series of alternatives understanding the nuances of negotiation tactics can help improve professional relationships by resolving difficult disputes understanding negotiation can also help you evaluate personal strengths and weaknesses in the face of conflict and learn to manage your bargaining tendencies finally studying the manipulative negotiation tactics employed by some skilled negotiators can help neutralize their effects batna tipsto reach the best possible outcome it is important to do as much preparation as possible before entering into negotiations this means that not only should you prepare a strong batna in advance but you should also consider the batnas that may be available to the opposing party you must expect the other party to do the same don t let the other side attempt to downplay your batna 4it is also possible to prepare multiple batnas contrary to what the word best might imply in fact you should have as many as possible the more batnas in your arsenal the more cards you have to play at the negotiating table 5despite the name you can prepare multiple batnas giving you a stronger negotiating position batna trapseven when you understand all the available options it is possible to reach an unsatisfactory result there are many possible pitfalls in a difficult negotiation and it is important for negotiators to remain disciplined under pressure from the opposing party it is also important to understand the value of all the alternatives available a negotiator who places too high a value on the other party s hand risks making big concessions for little benefit a negotiator who undervalues the other party s hand can be too intractable to move many negotiators become emotionally invested in a successful outcome especially if they have already spent a lot of time at the bargaining table this is the sunk cost fallacy a skilled negotiator should always be ready to walk away advantages and disadvantages of batnaa strong batna can be a valuable card at the negotiating table allowing parties to ground their positions on a factual basis rather than emotions strong batnas also ensure a backup plan so that the organization won t be interrupted if the negotiations fail it makes failure less likely the stronger the batna the more likely the opposing party is to seek a mutual agreement however the batna process has its costs depending on how complicated the business at hand is finding the best alternative can be a lengthy and expensive process in itself it is also not an infallible process and negotiators run the risk of miscalculating their options or overlooking possibilities provides a backup plan if negotiations failgrounds negotiations in a sound factual basismakes agreement more likely as a strong batna is more likely to be acceptable to all partiescalculating batnas can be an expensive and complicated process negotiators may still miscalculate the cost or benefits of some alternatives there is still a risk of making a disadvantageous choice example of a batnafor example company a makes a takeover offer of 20 million to company b but company b s executives believe it is worth 30 million company b quickly rejects the offer however company b did not take into account the increasing competition in the industry and tighter regulations which will restrict its growth in the coming year s and lower its valuation if company b had taken time to incorporate these factors into the current valuation and clearly moved through the four batna steps including evaluating the alternative of staying the course in a difficult business environment management might have been persuaded to accept company b could have included these potential risks in their estimate of the reservation value the worst possible outcome that a negotiator is prepared to accept 