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Summary: Excellent Handling of the subject!
Review: A very pragmatic framework for success in professional life
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Coherent, lucid and well written. Interesting cases and excellent insight backed up with real research (not just anecdotes). The author (Shell) has done a superb job.
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Summary: Outstanding!
Review: G. Richard Shell's book on negotiation was my first read on the topic, aside from a little Dorling Kindersley guide. This is not a book to teach you how to be a cutthroat or hardball negotiator, it is a book designed to help YOU get the best solution every time.The author is to be commended for a number of achievements in this book. First, the writing was excellent -- easy to read, yet not simplistic; interesting enough that I actually enjoyed it; and extremely well organized. Unlike maky other books, the anecdotes are both interesting and well-used to illustrate his points. Second, the author presents guidance on a wide range of issues. One section helps you identify your bargaining style and then gives you suggestions on how to maximize its effectiveness. Another offers advice on how your strategy should change based on the relationship (or lack thereof) between the two parties. This book is not just for MBAs; it's for all people, since everyone negotiates in various forms with everyone else. Third, the book achieves an excellent balance between theory and practice. Shell refers to numerous psychology and economics experiments to describe the ideas beneath the negotiation process, but he also gives real-world advice on how to put these ideas to work. Finally, a section on ethics is included which, although enlightening enough to provide a basic knowledge of legal, moral, and practical implications of various bargaining strategies, is really only a primer to a much larger topic. Again, this was a truly excellent book, especially for anyone looking for a first read on the topic.
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Summary: Extremely practical guide to learning effective negotiaions
Review: I had always been under two false impressions about negotiations. First, that negotiations are all about business and commercial transactions. Second, that negotiations are about hardball tactics where the stronger side "wins" and gets away with a great deal while the weaker side is beaten down and suckered into a raw deal. Richard Shell's book completely changed this impression. This is a book that is well written and the ideas are structured in way that I could read and take away bite-sized chunks. The book is also very practical and ends each section with a checklist to be used when you negotiate. Shell has made the book very readable by not going overboard on negotiations theories and sprinkling the book with some terrific stories. The stories range from negotiation strategies employed by Mahatma Gandhi and Akio Morita to Indonesian villagers and Tanzanian tribesmen. The main message of the book is that negotiations are mostly about relationships and that each party may have something to offer that is of enormous value to the other party. By building your relationship and unearthing that value you can conclude a successful negotiation where everybody leaves the boardroom or village center with satisfaction. Shell draws his rich material from many negotiating situations (e.g.-: kids negotiating with their parents about dinner, an elderly widow negotiating with real estate tycoon Donald Trump, and the negotiations for buying out RJR Nabisco). He has also drawn on negotiating styles from around the world and compared the cultural differences (e.g.-: Gandhi negotiating in South Africa, the importance of networks or Guanxi in Chinese cultures, etc.) The first part of the book focuses on the six foundations of effective negotiation - being aware of your personal style, setting goals, adhering to certain standards, building relationships, uncovering the other person's interests and making use of leverage. The second part of the book is about the negotiation process - preparing you strategy, exchanging information, the actual negotiation, and finally getting commitment. I liked Shell's use of a chessboard metaphor to put these principles into a framework. It is unlikely you will master all these skills in one shot. This is a book you want to come back to every now and then, nibble a bit, practice the skill during your next negotiation opportunity, and go read the book some more. I would strongly recommend the book because it teaches you skills to successfully negotiate your way through life. Even if you were to measure it in narrow monetary terms this book would reward you enormously in all the big-ticket negotiations we do in our lives such as buying a car, buying a house, agreeing on a salary, or accepting you next stock options package. But, even more important shell gives you valuable lessons about setting goals, following a strategy and building a meaningful relationship with the people you interact with whether it is your spouse, friend, grocer, or friendly neighborhood business tycoon. When I finished the book I realized that this book is not just about negotiations. It is an enlightening and entertaining book about living more effectively. While it will certainly help you negotiate a better price on your house it will also help you develop a more meaningful relationship with your spouse or child the next time you negotiate your vacation or broccoli vs. ice-cream deal.
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Summary: Great in Silicon Valley
Review: I must admit, when I first heard about this book from a business colleague, I was skeptical (oh no, another pop-ivory-tower book on how to persuade and influence people) ! Yet, the author has done something rare for an academic--he's taken something inherently secular and complex and provided some great research and valuable insight that can save "new economy" types alot of grief and hassle. For example, when discussing and describing a negotiating technique known in academic circles as "post settlement settlement" (something only an academic could conjure up), Shell succinctly provides insight from his own research into the technique, and his conclusion that while interesting in theory, the technique is hard to implement in the real world (no sacred cow theories here). No surprise really, that real world managers find the technique of little or no value (who really wants to discuss more issues AFTER a deal is done? ---only someone who feels they got jipped, I suppose). But it does serve as an example to one of the lessons which, I believe, permeates the book ---that the best negotiators transcend technique and gimmicks (he does though, describe negotiating ploys to watch out for--helpful stuff). This book is well written, well organized and pertinent. I read the book while negotiating the sale of my Internet company to a large corporation and found it to be very helpful in "bargaining for advantage".
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Summary: Great for beginners
Review: I really like the subject of negotiation. As a matter of fact we all negotiate, I'm an engineer and I negotiate all day: with marketing, with manufacturing, with suppliers. I needed some key concepts to bring with me in every negotiation. I knew I was naturally doing something good and something bad in every negotiation and I needed to become more reliable.
This book gave lots of good inputs, starting from my favourite: know your style. I now realised how, being almost a natural "compromiser" or "problem solver", I need to improve in those negotiations where stakes matter more than relationship. A very interesting book for people who want to be more effective and want to analyze their own behaviour in day to day negotiations.
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Summary: A welcome change!
Review: I've recently completed a Masters degree with a dissertation comparing authentic to simulated sales negotiations from a linguistic point of view. My research reading was limited not only to publications in the field of linguistics, but also general 'business' books as well. On the whole I find this latter category somewhat lacking in rigour and prone to a glibness of language and analysis that is at best irritating. Shell's book, Bargaining For Advantage is one of the finest exceptions to this trend I have come across in many years and I recommend it to anyone wishing to improve their negotiation skills, or to negotiation trainers like myself, always on the lookout for new insights and serious analyses.
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Summary: This is an investment in your effectiveness -- great book.g
Review: If you ever asked yourself if a book can make you money- look no further. This is an amazingly effective and well-written book. One of the most unique aspects is that it does not ask you to alter your personality or business style. Rather, Shell delivers techniques that allow you to be true to your own style and become a much more effective negotiator. It works.
Rating:
Summary: Superb book; very intelligently written
Review: Richard Shell's book shall be a must reading for all those who are sitting at negotiation tables at any level between and including decision makers and note takers. 'Bargaining for Advantage' is illuminating, convincing and intelligent.
Rating: 
Summary: Superb book, overall.
Review: Richard's experience in conducting various workshops shows on how he presents himself in this wonderful book. Well written and easy to read. What's lacking however are specifics. Most people are specifically interested in negotiating or bargaining for better compensation when looking for a job or negotiating with a supplier for better overall prices, what to look for in a M&A situation etc. There is also little discussion with respect to "kickbacks" offered during negotiations, an accepted practice in a number of countries. I know it is illegal, but its awareness is most critical especially when the whole corporate world is being "globalized". The discussion should then lead to its awareness, alternatives in combating or avoiding or handling in most appropriate way. The book nevertheless is very useful in developing your own strategy for specific situations. Deserves 4plus stars.
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