Insights

A statement from our CEO about The Gap Partnership's response to the war in Ukraine.

In times of instability and unpredictability, the established patterns associated with business relationships can be severely tested. This may cause significant disruption and negative impact to planned or ongoing commercial negotiations. What can businesses and their negotiators do when faced with uncertainty and the risk it brings?

It's understandable that a natural response to the commercial havoc that Covid has wrought would be to assume a competitive negotiation position. But paradoxically this is the time, now more than ever, for procurement teams to seek collaborative and creative solutions with their suppliers.

In these post-Covid times we are seeing inflationary pressure caused by rising commodity prices, as well as increasing wage demands. For companies who are now facing into negotiations with trade unions, there are five simple principles to keep in mind which will aid the discussions and ensure a positive result.

Front-loading decisions means bringing as many decisions forward as possible before they are due. Front-loading decisions is a powerful way to put you and your negotiation team in control of the execution phase of any negotiation. Anticipate potential problems before they arise and define your respective responses beforehand.

The Gap Partnership’s online negotiation skills program, The Foundation Negotiator, has won gold in the category of Best Unique or Innovative Learning and Development Program.

In our latest article exploring the timely and critical issue of price increases, we present a step-by-step guide to how to plan and implement one successfully.

With commodity prices soaring and uncertainty infusing our global markets, having a clear strategy in place for negotiating the inevitable round of cost price increases is critical. Read our simple guide to the main watch outs and learn about our calculator which helps you instantly quantify the value of any potential price increase.

An ancient text on warfare contains three aphorisms that over two thousand years later can help a modern negotiator overcome some common pitfalls. Expect practical wisdom on managing up, first proposals and the value of investing effort into truly knowing your counterparty.