The Negotiation Society magazine: The global trade issue

ISSUE 8 

The Negotiation Society 

BRINGING THE ART AND SCIENCE OF NEGOTIATION TO LIFE 

THE EFFECT OF COVID-19 

ON GLOBAL TRADE 

SUSTAINABILITY 

SPECIAL 

BREAKING 

BACK 

LEARNINGS FROM 

ENTREPRENEURS 

QUESTION 

TIME 

Negotiating to secure 

our future 

The Australian Open's 

ace response to Covid 

Category disruptors 

share their stories 

Pandemic panic for 

global trade negotiators?

INSIDE THIS ISSUE 

06 12 

Shipping and 

Shopping 

A global and regional 

review of the havoc 

wrought on supply 

chains across the world. 

Sustainability 

Special 

Commercial and personal 

approaches to sustainability 

and the role for negotiation. 

WELCOME FROM GRAHAM 

21 24 

Breaking 

Back 

How tennis grand slam 

the Australian Open 

served up success in the 

face of uncertainty. 

Professionals working in 

high-stress environments 

relay how negotiation 

supports them. 

26 36 

Learnings from 

Entrepreneurs 

Two category-disrupting 

tycoons share their 

stories of innovation 

and deal-making. 

When the 

Stakes are High 

Question 

Time 

Our diverse panel of 

specialists give concise, 

expert advice to global 

trade negotiators. 

As we start to take stock following the 

tsunami that was Covid-19, one of the less 

predictable consequences is the reversing trend 

of globalization. Following 70 years of increasing 

internationalization, we now see global markets 

under real pressure for the first time. In this eighth 

edition of The Negotiation Society magazine 

we start to unpick the impact on global trade: 

escalating shipping costs, supply chain weakness, 

FX volatility, increasing foreign trade bureaucracy, 

and worker shortages are all changing the global 

negotiation landscape. Is this seismic shift 

devastating, or rather a useful wakeup call? 

We ask a panel of experts. 

We also hear from two category-disrupting 

entrepreneurs about how negotiation influenced 

their personal success, we discuss how negotiation 

has helped both Tennis Australia and a hospital 

intensive care unit through the pandemic, 

and we examine the concept of fairness in 

negotiation when determining who gets access 

to a Covid-19 vaccination. 

And let me leave you with the thought that as 

the ink dries on the climate change commitments 

our world leaders agreed in Glasgow, how will 

our countries, our businesses and all our people 

implement the actions that will deliver on them? 

I believe that negotiation will be at the heart of the 

environmental sustainability agenda, and to that 

end we are starting that conversation in this edition. 

We’ll be talking about how you use negotiation to 

drive sustainability a lot more in the months and 

years to come! 

Graham Botwright 

CEO, The Gap Partnership 

2

THE NEGOTIATION SOCIETY 

OUR CONTRIBUTORS 

Matsepo Mabena 

As Procurement & Sustainability 

Director for Indirects and Capex 

for multinational drink and brewing 

company Anheuser-Busch InBev 

Africa, Matsepo manages and 

negotiates spend across eleven 

markets. She previously worked in 

the IT space for multiple service 

integration companies, building 

expertise in competitive analysis, 

modelling scenarios and pricing, 

and contract negotiation. 

Stephen Dumpleton 

A native Irishman now based 

in Sydney, Stephen is a negotiation 

expert at The Gap Partnership 

and leads the specialist practice 

for Australia and New Zealand. 

Prior to joining TGP in 2016, 

he spent his career working and 

negotiating across both the Irish 

and English retail industries. 

Catherine Oh 

Originally from Houston, Texas, 

Catherine moved to Hong Kong 

in 2018 to pursue a global career. 

She joined The Gap Partnership 

as an associate consultant in 

2021, bringing in three years of 

management consulting experience. 

She had worked on projects 

spanning APAC in various 

industries including FMCG, 

pharma, and professional services. 

Hrvoje Zaric 

Hrvoje has over 20 years' experience 

in consulting, strategy development, 

and business transformation 

in the travel, transport, and 

telecommunications sectors. 

He held commercial responsibility 

for multilateral and international 

negotiations and also delivered 

executive coaching and team 

development in various industries. 

Hrvoje joined The Gap Partnership 

in 2019. 

Emma Moss 

Originating from the UK, Emma 

has worked in procurement for 

the past 25 years and has always 

championed projects that can 

deliver a positive environmental 

impact. Now based out of Bonn, 

Germany, Emma leads the 

Global Supplier Management & 

Sustainability Programs team at 

Deutsche Post DHL Group. 

Dan Anderson 

Dan is a negotiation consultant 

based in the UK at The Gap 

Partnership, and also manages 

the sustainability strategy for the 

business. Dan has worked in sales, 

marketing, and finance roles for 

several leading consumer goods 

brands, and has also led sales 

efforts for an award-winning 

sustainability start-up. 

3

INSIDE 

MY HEAD 

LINDA LIU 

ASSOCIATE GLOBAL ECOMMERCE DIRECTOR AT UNILEVER, SPILLS THE 

BEANS ON HOW SHE BUILT HER CAREER, THE ROLE THAT NEGOTIATION 

PLAYS, AND HER ADVICE TO THOSE WHO SEEK TO EMULATE HER SUCCESS. 

How did you make it to where 

you are today? 

My purpose is to make the world 

better through lighting the way for 

the ones in need. This purpose led 

me to always be thinking about how 

to better serve our consumer and 

customer. My career started as a 

marketer, developing innovation and 

crafting communications to bridge 

brands and consumers, and it then 

evolved to a customer lead, taking 

lead of global strategic partnership. 

What’s the best thing about 

your role? 

The best thing in my role is learning 

every day, as you can see how fast 

the global digital commerce world 

is changing. I feel excited about 

it. Every newly-learned piece of 

knowledge makes me feel passionate 

and energetic. 

How do you deal with challenge? 

I embrace it, because challenge means 

opportunity. What I try to do is 

maximize the resources available to 

me, and make myself ready for any 

challenge. Most importantly, I explore 

the opportunities that go hand-inhand 

with challenge. My advice? 

Be open-minded, fearless, and 

well-prepared! 

How important is the skill of 

negotiation in your career? 

Super critical. In terms of internal 

stakeholders, good negotiation skills 

will help to unlock the resources to 

achieve business goals and maintain 

great relationship with colleagues. 

For customer management, better 

negotiation skills will help Unilever 

maximize a great relationship and 

dial up our long-term partnership. 

And what about negotiating 

outside of work? 

It’s also very important as negotiation 

is needed every day, everywhere. For 

example, when you would like to buy 

something, good negotiation skills will 

help you achieve the best outcome. Or 

if you own your business, negotiation 

skills can help to secure more interests. 

Any negotiation disasters? 

No disasters, but maybe some 

challenges. The way to deal with 

challenges is always to proactively 

explore creative solutions and identify 

ways to unlock joint value creation. 

What’s the most important lesson 

you’ve learned as a negotiator? 

Listening to counterparts will help 

you understand their needs and craft 

your negotiation plans accordingly. 

Offering the things your counterparts 

value will help you achieve trust. 

How has negotiation changed 

since Covid? 

Top of mind, negotiation has shifted 

from physical to virtual due to Covid. 

The physical and mental distance 

between people is increasing, and 

health and wellness has become a 

top priority for everyone. Keeping 

connected and building trust are 

becoming immensely important. 

You have been very successful. 

What advice would you give to other 

women with similar aspirations? 

I will quote what Steve Jobs said: 

“Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” My advice 

is to explore your purpose and never 

set boundaries for yourself. TNS 

4


Tricks of my Trade 

Consultant Glin Bayley reveals how a challenging year led to 

an epiphany that inspired a move into commercial coaching, 

entrepreneurship, and negotiation consultancy. 

The Negotiation Society: Glin, tell us about your career 

before The Gap Partnership. 

Glin: I started out as a graduate management accountant at 

EDS (later Hewlett Packard), then Coca-Cola in the UK. 

I worked my way up to middle management, had a stint 

at General Electric in mortgages and financial services, 

before joining Associated British Foods (ABF). 

TNS: That’s quite a mix of corporate experience. What next? 

Glin: I spent ten years moving around the ABF businesses – 

Allied Bakeries, Silver Spoon, Twinings – where I was 

working with the group CEO and CFO to evaluate global 

business performance, building relationships, and supporting 

managers. I loved the people aspect – working in a team to 

make things happen. In 2015 I relocated to Australia to head 

up the finance function for Pataks ANZ. 

TNS: The people aspect is interesting…but first, what 

prompted the move to Australia? 

Glin: I’d had an extremely tough year. I’d suffered a miscarriage 

and then my marriage ended. I entered a period of soulsearching, 

questioning what I wanted out of life. Moving to 

the other side of the world was a way to find new perspective. 

TNS: Did it work? 

Glin: Yes and no. I had a nightmare boss who was supportive 

one minute, then the next power hungry. He uttered these 

soul-destroying words: “I don’t need you to be a copilot, 

I just need the numbers.” 

TNS: Ouch. Not quite what you were looking for? 

Glin: Well no, but as I’ve discovered the toughest life 

experiences can deliver the greatest moments of learning 

and clarity. 

TNS: Okay, tell us more. 

Glin: Well, I resolved to never work for a poor leader again. 

I was ready to explore more about myself, so I joined 

a professional speaking program. My final assignment 

was to deliver a TED-style talk that shared my story, 

was meaningful and included teachable elements. 

TNS: Sounds challenging! How did you get on? 

Glin: At first I was completely stuck! Then a friend suggested 

I write a question on a Post-it note for the universe to answer. 

I wrote, “What shall I speak about?” Then I looked around the 

room and saw hearts everywhere – as decorations, as bullet 

points on a whiteboard…even my scarf had hearts. It became 

instantly clear to me that hearts were a key part of my story. 

TNS: Ah, an epiphany. What did you do with the 

heart symbolism? 

Glin: I created an acronym that became the cornerstone of my 

coaching method and philosophy: H for hope, E for energy, 

A for action, R for resilience, and T for trust. I left my 17- 

year corporate finance career and started a leadership and 

executive coaching business. I’ve also written two books, 

hosted numerous podcasts, and become an expert in social 

media marketing! 

TNS: Amazing! And so we are at the people part of your 

journey now. Did that segue into joining The Gap Partnership? 

Glin: Very much so. I was consulting with a retailer when I heard 

about a business looking for a “unicorn” with workshop and 

facilitating experience. It immediately felt like a good fit. 

Within a few weeks I was a TGP consultant. 

TNS: Great. How’s that going? 

Glin: It’s been awesome! The synergies between successful 

negotiation and a successful life are incredible. For example, 

people value things which are hard to obtain. Women in 

particular give away their time so freely it devalues it, 

then we wonder why people don’t appreciate us. 

TNS: Indeed. What’s the most powerful 

negotiation principle, do you think? 

Glin: They are all interlinked, but 

one of my favorites is that when 

you want to say yes, try saying no. 

At the end of a negotiation when 

time is running out there is a very 

human propensity to agree to a 

proposal. It often means you lose 

out – in a negotiation, you lose 

value, and in life, it could 

be your wellbeing. There 

are few more powerful 

realizations. It’s so 

fulfilling for me that 

I help people discover 

and adopt this behavior 

for themselves. TNS 5

6


The pandemic has had a significant disruptive impact 

on global trade, with strained supply chains, soaring 

shipping costs, and a general downward trend. 

Negotiation experts from TGP share both global 

and local insight into how this has played out. 

THE GLOBAL SUPPLY 

DRAIN OF TRADE 

by Hain MacKay-Cruise 

S 

eptember 2021 was supposed to 

have been the moment; everything 

back to normal across the US and 

Europe as people returned from summer 

breaks, children went back to school and 

offices reopened. 

Well, that’s not going to 

happen easily. 

The global impact of Covid-19 

created a raft of issues and threw most 

global supply chain networks into 

complete disarray. Then came signs 

of recovery and businesses started to 

work out how to manage the “catch-up 

phase”. So, I’d wager that if I’d written 

this article a mere three months earlier 

in the summer of 2021, the story would 

have signs of an ending. But now it’s 

leaving us wondering, “What next?” 

Everyone is feeling the impact of the 

change in trade and with that comes 

an imbalance of power, perceived 

and real. Who gets the priority on 

production and who decides which 

markets (let alone which clients) get 

the early shipments? 

But that’s only part of the challenge. 

The geopolitical landscape is shifting, 

and with it the balance of power on 

trade. The continual posturing between 

some of the world’s largest economies 

isn’t helping to support local businesses 

looking to increase foreign trade. In 

parts of Asia the rise of nationalistic 

sentiment often impedes companies 

through active targeting campaigns 

accusing them of not being loyal 

enough or selling to foreign markets 

in preference. Much of this is rhetoric, 

but it certainly doesn’t help anyone 

trying to negotiate a deal! 

“So what?” I hear you ask. Well, let’s 

take the humble bicycle; bike frames 

are almost a year behind planned 

production with high-end carbon 

models being sold out well in advance, 

and many not expected to deliver 

until spring 2022 in the US. Recently 

the website of a well-known direct to 

consumer bike brand showed that over 

50% of its stock was sold out with next 

delivery dates into spring of 2022. Think 

of the competition taking place between 

some of the world’s leading bike brands 

from a small handful of frame builders 

(most of which are in Taiwan by the 

way). Who holds the balance of power? 

We can look further; processors for 

everything electronic are as precious 

as gold and companies are scrambling 

to meet demand. Raw materials for 

building are scarce and commodity 

prices are erratic, if not inflated. 

So, the next time Amazon takes a few 

extra days to ship the faux-fur slippers 

in peach that will complement your new 

working-from-home office attire, take a 

moment and think about the items that 

we all take for granted, but simply can’t 

get. Trade just isn’t easy anymore! 

7

RUSSIA 

RUSSIA 

by Pyotr Sviridov 

In the wake of Covid-19, coupled with everchanging 

local trade regulations, some of the 

more agile FMCG suppliers took advantage of 

the situation and managed, with expert help from 

their The Gap Partnership team, to renegotiate 

their current trade terms with top retailers. 

This was despite some of the contracts not 

having expired, to mutual advantage. 

The Covid-19 aftermath and ongoing 

impact were used to precondition retailers 

about imminent price increases, and the 

consequent necessity to review existing trade 

terms. Reference to local trade law ensured fully 

conditional investments instead of universally 

practiced “double or triple net prices” from 

most suppliers in favor of top retailers. With 

thorough preconditioning across all hierarchy 

within suppliers, and internal alignment, select 

suppliers managed to improve P4P of both oninvoice 

and off-invoice, or retro, investments in a 

market where over 95% of local and international 

suppliers accepted unconditional on-invoice 

discounts and off-invoice investments in favor 

of retailers. 

At the same time, suppliers used international 

commercial agreements, or their equivalent, 

to incorporate trade investments. These were 

usually paid to the European headquarters of 

international retailers, then into their local P&L in 

Russia, thus limiting in the case of food suppliers 

their overall trade investment by 5% of turnover 

as retro-bonuses paid under Russian trade law to 

retailers. By contrast, some suppliers continue to 

pay said investment on top of local investments. 

As examples of such FMCG suppliers 

shows, having a clear strategy and using existing 

circumstances to their advantage will yield positive 

results in any environment. This becomes even 

more important across Europe, where some 

retailer buying alliances request, unconditionally, 

“triple net prices” from major suppliers. This can 

be dealt with by due preparation. 

ASIA 

by Catherine Oh 

Since the declaration of Covid-19 as a global 

pandemic by the World Health Organization in 

March 2020, the commercial negotiation landscape 

has been defined by a building cost conundrum. 

Manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers tussle 

in price wars as they bump elbows to protect 

their eroding margins from rising costs across 

all sectors. Commodities have reached historic 

highs, impacting the manufacturer’s ability to 

meet demand stirred up by consumers’ disasterinduced 

panic buying and stockpiling. Suppliers 

struggle with rising costs of shipment, as container 

prices soar during border closures, lockdowns, and 

logistic chaos at country ports. The escalating price 

of shipment goods internationally is pushed from 

supplier to retailer, who has no choice but to raise 

consumer prices. For the first time in years, it is 

the consumer who ultimately bears the weight 

of increasing costs due to the surging price of 

raw materials, production, and transit. 

This is especially pronounced in the dizzying 

costs of shipping a container by sea freight. 

Historically, Asia’s ports have led port performance 

globally, as the region’s manufacturing centers meet 

much of the world’s commercial demand. As of 

September 2021, the cost of a 40-foot container 

has increased over 100% YoY for all eight major 

east-west trade routes. Especially shocking are the 

costs of westward-bound transatlantic routes, with 

the Shanghai to Rotterdam route facing a 564% 

increase and the Shanghai to Genoa route facing 

a 511% increase YoY. 

In addition to rising costs, inactive containership 

capacity (the number of inactive vessels) has hit 

its highest peak since the 2016 Hanjin bankruptcy 

that crippled economies across Asia. Country 

lockdown policies throughout the region do not 

mitigate these difficulties, as Asia has the strictest 

Covid quarantine policies globally. Authorities 

mandate a 14 to 21-day quarantine for crew 

arriving in vessels from high-risk countries, limited 

port personnel, and high customs restrictions on 

all but essential cargo such as pharmaceuticals 

and PPE. Businesses have no choice but to adapt 

in this climate, and negotiations have come 

to sit front and center for a company that has 

successfully weathered the storm to this point. 

8


by Luis Soto 

LATAM 

March 13, 2020 will stand as one of the most 

historic moments of our lifetime and one that not 

only brought a major pandemic and unfortunate 

deaths, but also catastrophic economic problems 

from factory, businesses, and countries completely 

shutting down. As a result of the pandemic, 

repercussions have been felt in trade and 

negotiation agreements across Latin America. 

As it pertains to trade, one of the major issues 

the region is currently encountering is the scarcity 

of ship containers and the uptick in prices of 

fleet and logistics. According to analysts, there 

have been reports of fleet costs doubling or even 

tripling in some countries and that have blocked 

containers from returning back with goods to their 

original origin, meaning many ship containers 

are currently stacked in different ports across 

LATAM, Europe, and the US. 

Another major factor causing the decline of 

trade and increase in prices in Latin America is 

the interruption of maritime transportation. On 

one side, the typhoon season in Asia has blocked 

major shipments companies and caused them 

to halt their operations, as well as contributing 

to major Chinese ports, already impacted by the 

pandemic, closing. It is important to highlight that 

China has 8 of the 10 major ports in the world. 

These ports are operating at a 50% capacity due 

to the pandemic and as result a major bottleneck 

has been created leading to major delays and an 

increase in prices. 

Every time a trade tariff is imposed on a 

country like China, India and Bangladesh due to 

the pandemic and the rise in contamination, major 

factories in such countries are now producing less 

and charging far more for products. The demand 

in Latin America continues to increase and as a 

result it poses major challenges when it relates to 

negotiating pricing structures, logistical challenges, 

product fulfillment, and payment terms. 

To put this in perspective, and according to 

the IMF, an entire container filled from China 

to Latin America before the pandemic cost 

on average $2,000 USD, compared to the same 

container in 2021 for over $8,000 USD. 85% of 

the goods consumed in the US and Latin America 

are transported by a ship container. The constraints 

on negotiation are significant, and more so on 

small to medium-sized business that have less 

capacity and power to negotiate when compared 

to major multinationals. 

As a conclusion, Professor Willy Shih from 

Harvard Business School has said that someone 

is going to have to pay for the major trade 

challenges the pandemic has brought upon us, 

and that will most likely be the final consumer. 

In addition, many companies won’t be able to 

survive the current conflict the region encounters 

with trade and ongoing negotiations. The ongoing 

dependency in Asia is now even more prevalent, 

and governments and companies must find ways 

to counteract this notion. They must accelerate 

the digital transformation to allow businesses and 

consumers to adapt to a new normal and leverage 

pandemic recovery to create stronger economies. 

They must also tackle long-standing barriers 

to adopting digital technologies and bridging 

digital divides. 

9

UNITED 

KINGDOM 

by Donna Selway 

Many of you will have seen recent dramatic 

news headlines featuring e-tailer fashion 

businesses, such as ASOS CEO resigns as 

it warns over supply chain problems and 

Missguided seeks emergency funding as supply 

chain crisis hits finances. These are attentiongrabbing 

statements, but beneath the headlines 

are very real macro factors affecting every 

single retailer. 

Brexit red tape and Covid have together 

created a perfect storm of rising costs to import 

goods through labor shortages, escalating oil 

and fuel costs, surging packaging costs, and an 

imbalance of supply and demand pushing the 

costs of bringing goods into the UK through the 

roof. This has been steadily building for months, 

and as we approach the peak trading period of 

Christmas, that pressure and strain is about to 

reach boiling point. 

So, what can retailers do to help themselves 

negotiate their way out of this perfect storm? 

In times of crisis when there are greater pressures 

on supply chain, infrastructure, and resource, 

coupled with rising costs, you might assume 

that a negotiation consultant would recommend 

a hard bargaining approach: toughen up, be 

firmer; we live in a capitalist society where the 

strong survive and the weak perish. That would 

surely be the most effective approach, correct? 

Incorrect. Now is not the time for 

competition. Instead, cooperation and 

collaboration is a more appropriate mindset to 

get into, to enable retailers to navigate through 

these choppy waters. And so their focus should 

be on relationship building, joint problem solving 

and creative thinking. 

Nurturing and strengthening relationships 

throughout their supply chains will help retailers 

navigate through this current crisis and beyond. 

They must work in partnership and fully 

understand each party’s situation and challenges, 

finding out what is important to both parties and 

truly getting inside each other’s head. Only then 

may they be able to find solutions. 

They will then be able to joint problem solve 

through effective questioning, building trust by 

the act of sharing both information and their 

expertise and unique insight to fully understand 

the situation from the perspective of the other 

party. An adoption of a “help me to help you” 

mindset will unlock opportunities. 

And finally, retailers must proactively embrace 

creative thinking – thinking outside the box – 

approaching their challenges in a new way and 

devising new ways to solve their problems using 

effective tools and techniques to provide focus 

and structure. 

But this strategy is not just appropriate 

for retailers to adopt with their supply chain. 

Retailers could also look to adopt it with their 

fellow retailers and leaders in their industry, 

to share best practice and truly work together 

to enable the survival of the high street and 

online fashion businesses – again, more 

cooperation versus competition. 

In summary, now is the time for retailers 

to be creative, collaborative, and flexible, 

grabbing the tiller together to negotiate 

their way out of this perfect storm and into 

calmer and more prosperous waters. 

10


NORTH 

by Scott Chepow 

AMERICA 

I woke up yesterday morning and saw the 

headline photo of cargo ships backed up in the 

port of Los Angeles with a caption that noted 

the supply challenges being caused by that very 

port likely will not be eased until the early spring 

of 2022, well after the holiday shopping season. 

I promptly informed my beloved bride that 

whatever expensive gift imported from abroad 

she was planning on purchasing for me for the 

holidays, she had better buy soon before it’s sold 

through. This is the new reality for those of us 

that live in the United States. 

I can’t remember ever in my lifetime being 

faced with shortages prior to the onset of Covid, 

and these shortages are increasingly visible in our 

retailers. This past weekend I went to the local 

grocery with a mission to buy my favorite kind 

of cookie. You might say I am an aficionado of 

the brand. Much to my dismay the shelves were 

nearly bare as I snatched up the last couple of 

family size packs for my personal consumption. 

The past eighteen months have seen a surge 

in home consumption coupled with sporadic 

panic buying that continue to challenge the 

local and global supply chains. While one 

would be challenged to find domestic brands 

on the shelves, finding global brands is even 

more difficult as the flow of goods from abroad 

continues to face additional pressures in 

transportation across borders. 

One facet of the struggle is the inability to 

replenish buffer stock at manufacturers, while 

another is the prospect of SKU rationalization. 

Manufacturers are focusing on producing their 

core products as opposed to differentiated and 

evolutionary items. Quite frankly, consumers 

demand that supply and would generally prefer 

the core versus the breadth of the product line. 

So, how do you ensure that the right product 

mix is on the shelves? Honest, open dialogue 

about supporting the overall category growth 

is necessary. By having that conversation, both 

sides of the equation can maximize their onshelf 

efficiency better and drive towards mutual 

growth in step. This is the goal and epitome 

of joint business planning – mutual managed 

growth. The accomplishment of this feat in 

current times is challenging. Too often, the 

conversation derails on “red herring” topics. 

If both parties understand one another’s 

priorities and are willing to help solve the 

other’s challenges, we can create value. 

Selfishly, I hope these companies begin 

working together and quickly. There is a greater 

need for post-negotiation involvement than ever 

before with continued dialogue on supply. The 

challenge is that there is a tendency to blame and 

argue rather than support. For the United States 

to overcome the current supply issues, it is going 

to take collaboration at all levels, and we need to 

be willing to engage in that conversation. TNS 

11

SUSTAINABILITY SPECIAL 

Sustainability is the megatrend of our time; a challenge 

that can leave us feeling powerless to bring about 

meaningful change. In this special feature, we explore 

the role that negotiation can play in effecting change, 

and spotlight a plastic recycling initiative that is 

driven by collaboration and creativity. 

WHY 

EFFECTIVE 

NEGOTIATION 

IS CRITICAL TO OUR FUTURE 

by Dan Anderson 

S 

even years and 273 days. According to 

the highly publicized Climate Clock 

Project, that is how long we have left 

(at the time of writing) to transition the 

entire world from carbon-based energy 

sources to 100% clean, renewable energy. 

If we fail to hit this target, then warming 

will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial 

levels and the worst effects of 

climate change will become irreversible, 

with devastating consequences felt 

by every single person on Earth for 

generations to come. 

In addition to making this rapid 

transition to reduce our global carbon 

emissions, we need to concurrently take 

action on other areas of sustainability, 

such as increasing the number of rewilding 

projects to reduce biodiversity loss, and 

accelerating operations to clean up our 

polluted oceans. These actions are key 

factors in reducing climate change by 

creating healthy and balanced ecosystems 

and are required to preserve natural 

resources for future generations. 

When you take a moment to sit back 

and reflect on the sheer enormity of the 

challenge we face, it can at times be simply 

overwhelming. This is especially true when 

you consider just how little time we have 

left to reengineer huge parts of the global 

infrastructure that support our current 

way of life, not to mention the incredible 

number of cultural and geopolitical barriers 

that actively stand in the way of nations, 

businesses, and people working together 

to find sustainable solutions to currently 

unsustainable practices. 

12


HOW CAN EFFECTIVE NEGOTIATION HELP US BUILD 

A MORE SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL ECONOMY? 

Compared with headline-grabbing news 

concerning new international sustainability 

targets, or the rollout of innovative new 

technologies, a focus on negotiation may 

not appear to be much of a priority versus 

the many other initiatives in place which aim 

to build a more sustainable global economy. 

However, let us consider the process that 

all these sustainability initiatives and projects 

will need to undergo for them to move from 

concept to reality. Each will require people 

to sit down and negotiate an agreement 

(or indeed several agreements), many of 

whom will have very different opinions 

and underlying interests to contend with. 

Much focus and discussion is rightly 

given to why we need to change current 

unsustainable practices, in addition to what 

changes are required, and when they need to 

be implemented. However, the exact details of 

how we implement the changes required can 

sometimes be overlooked, with the negotiation 

process forming a key part of this element. 

Some negotiations will be globally 

significant in terms of their scale and impact 

and will feature a high degree of complexity 

and multiple different stakeholders. 

A good example would be the Paris Climate 

Agreement from 2015, which was eventually 

signed by a grand total of 175 different 

nations. At the other end of the scale there 

will be negotiations which are comparatively 

small and simple in nature, concerned with 

making a specific local practice or process 

more sustainable. 

In terms of the driving forces to get 

all parties to the negotiating table, some 

negotiations will be brought on by mandated 

change resulting from new government 

or state legislation, whereas others will be 

business-driven change largely resulting from 

increasing consumer or customer pressures. 

Regardless of the scale of these negotiations 

or the reasons behind them, all will come with 

their individual challenges. One common 

factor depending on the specific circumstances 

surrounding each negotiation, will be that 

the discussions will either be competitive 

or collaborative in their nature, as are all 

negotiations, broadly speaking. 

COMPETITIVE VS. 

COLLABORATIVE NEGOTIATION 

COMPETITIVE NEGOTIATIONS 

• “Win-lose”, e.g. haggling and hard bargaining 

• Transactional in nature 

• Largely concerned with distributing a finite, 

known amount of value between counterparties 

• Have few variables 

• Often tough and confrontational 

COLLABORATIVE NEGOTIATIONS 

• Offer opportunity to create incremental, 

mutual value for “win-win” 

• More complex 

• Higher dependency between the parties 

• Present an opportunity for flexibility 

and creativity on variables 

• Based on trust between parties 

At The Gap Partnership our belief is that 

neither type of negotiation is right or wrong. 

The type of negotiation you face into is 

determined by the unique circumstances 

surrounding the deal, in addition to where 

the perceived balance of power lies between 

the negotiation parties. It is incumbent on the 

negotiator to make an objective assessment on 

both factors ahead of the negotiation, so that 

they can adopt the appropriate behavioral 

strategy and mindset to optimize value. 

However, when considering which type 

of approach would be most effective for these 

high-stakes negotiations focused around 

sustainability, only collaborative negotiation 

offers the opportunity to create incremental 

value in an agreement for both parties when 

dependency between parties is high. Given the 

number of barriers to change facing governments 

and businesses alike, there is strong evidence to 

suggest that extracting more value from current 

agreements will be necessary to suitably appease 

all stakeholders who will be affected by changing 

a particular process or industry practice. 

13

CASE STUDY – COP24 

In 2018 governments from 

around the world met in Katowice 

for COP24. The key objective was 

to agree on the specific guidelines 

that would allow the previously 

agreed Paris agreement to be 

implemented. One of the key 

areas that required alignment was 

‘Article 6’, which concerned the 

development of a centralized and 

standardized framework for the 

purchase, trading, and reporting 

of carbon units by nations. 

Initially the talks made good 

progress and alignment was found 

in many important areas as parties 

worked together to try to come 

to an agreement. However 

Article 6 remained a sticking 

point, and as the conference 

progressed the issue became 

increasingly isolated from the 

other points of discussion. As it 

became clear just how contentious 

it was for many nations, it was 

eventually decided that it would 

be discussed as a separate 

issue. This separation of 

Article 6 from the main 

agenda has been regarded 

as one of the key factors 

in the conference finishing 

without agreement. COP25 

in Madrid also followed 

a similar pattern and has 

subsequently been viewed 

as a failure by many, given 

how important Article 6 

is for implementing the 

wider agreement. 

Complex negotiations 

often require us to think more 

collaboratively and broadly about 

the deal rather than just haggling 

over variables in isolation. By 

linking issues together, trading 

variables conditionally and 

repackaging proposals we increase 

the opportunity for more creative, 

value enhancing agreements and 

reduce the risk of a potential 

deadlock scenario. 

Did negotiators take a different 

approach in COP26 in September 

2021? The jury is out. Although 

arguably the geopolitical 

landscape was less favourable 

for reaching agreement than it 

was in 2018, the passing of time 

means the pressure on the deal 

that was struck is even higher. 

During the past ten to fifteen years there 

has been much talk around “green growth”. 

The concept is simple: we can adopt sustainable 

strategies and practices to preserve the 

natural assets on which our current and future 

wellbeing relies, while also maintaining the 

strong economic growth and globalization that 

traditional (carbon-based) market development 

methods have yielded during the last century. 

This idea epitomizes a win-win outcome; 

good for us, good for the planet. And there 

are plenty of examples of the fruits that have 

resulted from this way of thinking, such as the 

rapid growth of ecotourism or the development 

of the circular economy to name but a few. 

Some of these win-win opportunities are 

significantly harder to realize than others and 

require highly complex and creative solutions, 

but in all cases a suitable agreement will only 

be found if both parties adopt the appropriate 

behavioral strategy to engender trust. 

CASE STUDY – WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION 

There is widespread 

recognition that the health of 

our oceans has rapidly declined 

during recent decades, due 

largely in part to unsustainable 

fishing practices and increasing 

pollution. The former is currently 

a highly contentious issue for 

many governments, as drastically 

reduced catches are resulting in 

a heavy dependence by fishing 

communities on government 

subsidies to maintain jobs. 

Unfortunately, these subsidies 

maintain a destructive and 

unsustainable cycle, which 

will inevitably end with both 

the collapse of entire marine 

ecosystems and subsequently 

the fishing communities who 

depend on them. 

The World Trade Organisation, 

(WTO) is now trying to 

introduce new rules concerning 

subsidies to shift this investment 

to support fishing communities 

in other ways, so that heavily 

depleted fish stocks have time 

to recover and can be fished 

sustainably. Previously the WTO 

has successfully negotiated global 

rules which limit government 

subsidies to industry and farming 

by adopting a collaborative 

approach between stakeholders. 

This gives hope to many that if 

these new rules can be agreed 

on, the health of our oceans 

will start to improve. 

Understandably however, 

there is scepticism from these 

fishing communities around 

suggested changes to the 

subsidies as the stakes could 

not be higher; their entire 

livelihood currently depends 

upon on this funding. 

14


This therefore means 

that if a deal is to be done, 

trust will be critical. If these 

communities are not able to 

realize alternative revenue then 

they will suffer dearly, and 

may even disappear altogether. 

Given this, if parties were to 

adopt a competitive mindset 

and behavioral strategy for 

these types of negotiations 

it would clearly result in 

failure, as there won’t be the 

appropriate climate of trust 

to come to an agreement. 

So, if a collaborative approach appears more 

likely to result in a better outcome for these types 

of negotiations, what specific things can you do to 

optimize the potential value from your collaborative 

agreements and reduce the risk of deadlock? 

HERE ARE FIVE THINGS WE SHOULD CONSIDER WHEN 

NEGOTIATING SUSTAINABLE AGREEMENTS: 

IMAGE: CATASTROPHE_OL/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM 

IMAGE: BEATA ZAWRZEL/NURPHOTO/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM 

1. HOW ARE YOU FRAMING YOUR NEGOTIATIONS? 

A 2012 report by William Moomaw and 

Mihaela Papa suggested that one of the 

primary reasons climate negotiations have had 

limited success in the past is because climate 

change is viewed as a pollution problem, 

rather than recognizing that emissions are 

really the symptom of an underlying pattern 

of unsustainable development. 

2. THINK CREATIVELY AND REMAIN 

OPEN-MINDED TO NEW IDEAS 

Thinking “outside the box” is often where 

the biggest source of value can be found in 

negotiations! Are there potential synergies 

that could realize incremental value for both 

parties which also increasing the sustainability 

of a particular practice or process? 

3. STAKEHOLDER ALIGNMENT 

High-stakes negotiations often feature a huge 

number of stakeholders. If all decision-makers 

in your party are not aligned to the strategy 

ahead of the negotiation this will significantly 

increase the risk of not reaching an agreement, 

so ensure that this features as part of your 

planning process. 

Seven years and 242 days. This article is 

close to publication. And the clock has carried 

on ticking. For any one of us concerned about 

its steady, unstoppable march and who may 

feel compelled to act, in whatever context or 

capacity, then consider the skill of negotiation 

as one of the most critical weapons in 

your arsenal. TNS 

4. EMPATHIZE WITH THEIR POSITION 

TO ENGENDER TRUST 

When the stakes are high, it can lead to 

emotional reactions. Actively listening 

to the position of your counterparties and 

subsequently demonstrating empathy to their 

situation is a great way to build the appropriate 

climate for the negotiation, mitigate the risk 

of potential emotional reactions and quickly 

engender trust between stakeholders. 

5. UNDERSTAND THEIR PRIORITIES BY ASKING 

QUESTIONS AND SHARING INFORMATION 

In collaborative negotiation, we create value 

by assessing the relative cost and value of 

individual variables for each party so that we 

can then trade effectively for the mutual gain 

of both parties. Data concerning emissions 

or waste for businesses or governments could 

be considered sensitive and/or confidential 

and may therefore be held back, but to make 

existing processes more sustainable it is often 

in the interests of parties to share this data 

with each other so they can make informed 

decisions on the best alternative or solution. 

The Gap Partnership is the world’s leading 

management consultancy specializing in 

negotiation. Please get in touch if you would 

like to discuss how changing attitudes and 

policies concerning environmental sustainability 

are affecting the key negotiations facing 

your organization. 

15


NEGOTIATING A BETTER 

SUSTAINABILITY OUTCOME 

A blend of personal and professional negotiations 

can deliver a more sustainable future. 

by Eelco Modderman 

W 

e live in a new world, with new ways of 

working and living. Change has been the 

one constant these past eighteen plus 

months. And it continues. Both in our personal 

lives, as well as around us in the natural world. 

Change is happening there too, frighteningly fast, 

which the recent IPCC report on climate change 

made abundantly clear. 

My thoughts here are not so much concerned 

with what we do with change, but what we do 

about it. Are you in charge of your own life and 

the impact of the ongoing situation on what 

you want to achieve? Given so much change 

is happening, wouldn’t it be incredible if you 

could harness it to benefit both your life goals 

and the greater good at the same time? 

This is where your negotiation skills come in. 

In your negotiations it would be a wise choice 

to be in charge, regardless of the circumstances. 

And by that I mean, in charge of the process as 

well as yourself. 

How can we apply that same skill in our daily 

life? A better world begins by looking in the 

mirror and asking some hard questions. What is 

my carbon footprint? How much packaging do 

I use? Is the fish on my plate from a sustainable 

source? Do I really need to drive to the office every 

day? Or fly to all those meetings? As consumers 

there is so much we can do, simply by effectively 

and consciously negotiating our daily life and 

being more in charge of the choices we make. 

In essence, negotiating is nothing more than 

agreeing who gets how much out of a deal. If you 

plow my field, I give you a goat. If you also take 

care of my crops, then I give you milk for the year. 

Or maybe something similar involving that thing 

called money...like producing something in your 

factory in return for dollars. But because people 

tend to mostly associate negotiation with this 

bargaining element, we often miss the deeper 

opportunity: Can I do something for you that 

helps you with a problem you have, and can 

you do something to help me in return? 

That is what we are talking about here. 

We cannot save the world on our own. 

“A better world begins by 

looking in the mirror and 

asking some hard questions. 

We have a collective responsibility, which requires 

trust and openness about what you are struggling 

with, and for someone to go first. That in turn 

offers opportunity to create value for both parties. 

And a better life for both parties along the way. 

Or is there a third party? How often would it 

be possible to create value in the supply chain 

while also benefiting the environment? Could you 

reduce waste from your factory if your logistics 

partner agrees to bring back the packaging so you 

can reuse it? Or think about the raw materials you 

are demanding your suppliers to use; in this time 

of raw material price increases, how could you 

turn that around and view it as a problem 

that creates an opportunity? 

What I am saying is this: we all have 

a role to play, on our own journey 

and in the one for our children 

and our children’s children. 

It’s simple. Negotiate 

for a better outcome 

and a better 

world at the 

same time. TNS 

16



SUSTAINABILITY CASE STUDY 

An initiative from a consortium of plastics companies 

uses digitalization to power plastics recycling. 

P 

lastic is often seen as the epitome 

of environmental pollution. 

Those involved in its production 

may point to the benefits it delivers 

to food safety, hygiene, and medical 

care, but they also recognize that this 

doesn’t get around a fundamental 

issue: plastic is not recycled enough, 

or to a high enough standard. 

For high-quality recycling, two 

enablers are essential: fully recyclable 

packaging and sophisticated recycling 

processes. The first exists, but the 

second is hampered by presentday 

waste streams, with even fully 

recyclable packaging often not 

separated precisely enough to achieve 

high-quality recycling. In Germany 

for example, only about 6% of plastic 

from domestic waste is recycled to 

equivalent new products. 

A new initiative, R-Cycle, tackles 

this issue of precise waste sorting by 

providing a digital product passport 

which automatically records all 

recycling-related properties during 

production. Precise information is 

passed along the value chain and 

made retrievable via an appropriate 

marker such as a digital watermark or 

QR code on the packaging. By using 

this information, waste-sorting lines 

can identify recyclable packaging. 

R-Cycle is being developed by 

a cross-industry consortium of 

technology and plastic packaging 

companies who are designing 

an open and globally applicable 

tracing standard to permit seamless 

documentation stored on a common 

data platform. It’s accessible to any 

production equipment, processing, 

printing, and filling machines, and 

waste sorting and recycling lines. 

In addition to improving waste 

sorting capability, manufacturers 

and processors of plastic packaging 

benefit in terms of process efficiency, 

quality, and complying with legal 

information requirements. Machines 

that are networked with the R-Cycle 

data platform obtain precise 

information about the primary 

products contained and add their 

own data accordingly. Converting 

or filling lines for packaging can 

configure themselves automatically, 

increasing efficiency and product 

quality in the production process 

and reducing production waste. 

To develop a global standard, 

partnerships brokered through 

collaborative negotiation are essential. 

The R-Cycle consortium’s thirteen 

different organizations include the 

Reifenhäuser Group. CEO Bernd 

Reifenhäuser says, “Sustainability 

is not a threat, but an opportunity 

to do things better. In this context, 

it is very important not to tackle 

big challenges alone. You have 

to find the right partners and 

act as a team.” TNS 

www.r-cycle.org 

R-CYCLE STORES RECYCLING-RELEVANT DATA BY PROVIDING A DIGITAL PRODUCT 

PASSPORT TO ENABLE PRECISE WASTE SORTING FOR HIGH-QUALITY RECYCLING. 

17

AHEAD OF 

THE GAME 

Tim Green meets Tom Hilgeman to find out his approach 

to cracking problems and complex industry sectors, 

as well as how passion and purpose underpin it all. 

18


Algorithms. We all think we know about 

them; they are, after all, everywhere. 

But what are they exactly? At their most 

general, algorithms are a process to be followed in 

problem-solving operations, from arithmetic, to a 

cake recipe, or the functionality of a search engine. 

But their potential scope and application 

goes far further than these relatively simplistic 

examples, something that human rights attorney 

Flynn Coleman considered in her book, 

A Human Algorithm. In it, she argues that 

to ensure 

this power 

shift from 

humans to 

"I consider all the things 

that could happen, and the 

moves that could be made. 

increasingly 

advanced 

artificial 

intelligence 

is successful, 

it will be 

necessary 

to instill 

in them values, ethics and morals; to give them, 

in emotive language, a heart as well as a brain. 

Why am I talking about human algorithms? 

Well, because my subject for this profile feature, 

Tom Hilgeman, might just embody a blend of 

humanity and logical process that future-facing 

algorithm designers will look to create. 

But before we dive into algorithmic metaphors, 

let’s start with some scene-setting. As a leader 

in The Gap Partnership's US team, Tom comes 

with years of commercial leadership experience 

gained in some of the world’s biggest businesses. 

I ask him what prompted his move, back 

in 2019, into a management consultancy 

specializing in negotiation. He explains, 

“The Gap Partnership was something different; 

a business with the biggest, quickest tangible 

return of all the consultancies I worked with 

when I was in industry. The flagship training 

program, The Complete Skilled Negotiator, 

gave my teams more confidence than 

anything else they undertook, be it advisory or 

developmental, making them more successful 

and effective in both external and internal 

negotiations. They told me, ‘You have to 

experience it for yourself ’ – but I saw first-hand 

the results and the difference it made to their 

performance, and that of the business.” 

Tom juggles a busy schedule running his 

team, managing clients, and delivering negotiation 

consultancy and training. With such a multifaceted 

role, I’m curious to know what gets him 

out of bed in the morning and whether there’s 

an aspect of his job he enjoys the most. He tells 

me, “It has to be the end-to-end journey we go 

on with clients – working together as a team 

to design the best solution for their challenges, 

whether that’s a consulting intervention, 

a training program, or quite often a bespoke 

mix of the two. The process itself is fascinating; 

starting with what’s effectively a blank sheet of 

paper we’re able to facilitate aha moments. And 

from there we deliver solutions that help people 

think differently about their business and the role 

that negotiation plays in achieving its objectives. 

That to me is the definition of problem-solving 

– creatively but logically moving from issue, to 

solution, to delivery. It’s hugely satisfying.” 

It’s evident that Tom is a critical thinker 

par excellence, adept at analyzing information, 

testing scenarios and exploring options. What 

exactly goes on in his head when he approaches 

a problem? “The short answer is a lot! I consider 

all the things that could happen, and the moves 

that could be made.” 

It’s at this point in our chat that I venture 

that this sounds almost algorithmic in nature, 

and Tom (luckily) agrees, “Yes, I would go so far 

as to say I do think algorithmically. I ask questions 

like, what is the best solution? Where are the 

risks? Where are the rewards? Can we take on 

the risks? I play all the moves as much as I can 

before trying to find a final answer. But it’s not 

a solo endeavor. I gather input from my team, 

and our client, so we cocreate the best possible 

end solution.” 

Thinking algorithmically is such a wonderfully 

rich concept, it makes me wonder whether 

Tom literally thinks numerically in 1s and 0s, 

or whether he also conjures mental images 

that help inform his rationale? His answer is 

beautifully visual: “Think of them as thought 

trees, with branches that reflect what happens 

if we go off in one direction or another. 

These branch off until I’ve possibly figured 

out everything I can. Once I’ve played enough 

moves to be fully informed, I bring others into 

the mix, because you don’t know what you 

don’t know.” 

19

The picture of Tom that is building in my 

head as we talk, is that he is not only precise, 

thoughtful and deliberate (algorithmic, 

indeed), but also questioning and creative. 

As a further proof point of this mix of traits, 

he tells me he’s characterized on the Myers 

Briggs personality inventory as the “Architect” 

or “Strategist”, someone who is equal parts 

inventive to analytical. 

I want to know how this plays out for real, 

and Tom shares his experience of advising 

clients in the US healthcare sector, arguably 

one of the most complicated routes to market 

in the world, and “one in which initially 

I had limited experience.” He’s candid 

about the challenge it presented, admitting, 

“Yes, it’s complex – for example, six layers 

of stakeholder to get to the end user. But 

I was excited to learn something new. So, 

logic and preparation kicked in. I started 

with what I knew: how to break down a 

business, how to understand competition, 

profit and loss, balance sheets. I studied 

analyst reports, and in the end assimilated 

all of the disparate information.” 

So far, so analytical, but what Tom says next 

reveals a humanity that can be missing in our 

automated, increasingly computerized modern 

world to which I have (perhaps unflatteringly) 

been comparing him. Because what he says is, 

“I am the subject matter expert on negotiation, 

and I need to find connections between my 

client’s industry, their problems, and our 

solutions. Listening is key. But ultimately 

one of the most important goals I have is 

to gain empathy for my clients’ situations.” 

Empathy? Not a word you’d necessarily associate 

with a computer program. But it’s one that comes 

up repeatedly when Tom speaks. He expands the 

point: “When a new business talks to us they’ve 

recognized there’s a problem and have asked for 

our help. The last thing we should do is present 

with an egotistical attitude, as though we know 

everything and they should just step aside. You’re 

a person helping another person, so you need 

to have empathy and build trust – not only to 

attain the business, but so they’ll share enough 

information to help us figure out what they need.” 

And what role does Tom see empathy playing 

at The Gap Partnership? He puts it simply – “This 

business has a heart. We’re doing something bigger 

than just business, and I’d tell anyone joining today 

not to view it through solely a commercial lens, 

but to appreciate that what we do is operate as 

a trusted adviser. In fact, I feel we’re on something 

of a mission to apply this incredibly powerful 

skill of negotiation for the greater good of the 

individuals we work with, the businesses they 

work for, and even all of our lives outside of work.” 

Of course I agree wholeheartedly with this 

statement; The Gap Partnership is in one sense 

a highly specialized, technical consultancy, but 

equally what we do has a powerful and broad 

capacity to change relationships, situations and, 

yes, lives, for the better. And that is perhaps also 

what an evolved, creative and empathetic algorithm 

of the future could deliver to humankind. But 

until that day, we have Tom Hilgeman: analytical, 

rational and über-prepared, yes. But also humane, 

compassionate and caring. 

Algorithms, eat your yet-to-be-programmed 

hearts out. TNS 

A2 

20


Stephen Dumpleton finds out how the negotiations that 

underpin the Australian Open have intriguing parallels 

with the sport itself, especially in times of challenge. 

J 

anuary 2020. Australia was 

experiencing some of the 

worst bush fires on record 

and Melbourne, home of tennis 

grand slam the Australian Open 

(AO), was in the middle of a 

national emergency. With this 

environmental crisis as backdrop 

(and Covid barely registering as 

the global pandemic it became), 

Tennis Australia’s chief revenue 

and experiential officer, Ben 

Slack, was in reflective 

mood after the delivery of 

another successful and recordbreaking 

tournament. 

The show had rolled on 

without too much disruption, 

and Ben and his team were 

already looking ahead to next 

season’s opening tennis slam, 

cautiously optimistic that they 

had been through the very worst 

of it. Of course, if they’d been 

gifted a crystal ball at that point, 

it’s unlikely that optimism – 

even cautious – would have 

been the prevailing emotion. 

Professional tennis players 

understand more than most 

the value in preparation. 

Many spend their entire lives 

preparing, practicing and finetuning 

their game to ready 

themselves for their one shot 

at glory. To be the best, they 

must obsess over every detail. 

From their diet to their sleep 

routine, to the preparation of 

their tennis bag on game day, 

no element is overlooked. 

Ask Novak Djokovic, the 

current AO men’s champion 

– a record-breaking ninth 

time he’s held the title – who 

puts his overall haul of twenty 

grand slam wins down to 85% 

preparation, 10% talent and 5% 

luck. Or Emma Raducanu, who 

spent five months working on 

a slight but critical adjustment 

to the position of her elbow on 

her forehand, one of multiple 

hard-won marginal gains in her 

game that helped her sweep to 

a phenomenal record-breaking 

victory at the US Open in 

September 2021. 

But as another iconic tennis 

star, Serena Williams, said, 

“If Plan A isn't working, I have 

Plan B, Plan C, and even Plan 

D” – and indeed, so often in 

sport what is anticipated and 

expected doesn’t eventuate. 

In these moments, athletes are 

required to think on their feet 

(quite literally), adjust and adapt 

to the situation in front of them. 

Those that have contingency 

plans in place and are able 

to draw on them quickly 

and instinctively are often 

the most rewarded. 

This was the situation that 

Ben and team experienced 

during the following Australian 

Open of 2021. As he recalls, 

“During 2020 we prepared 

for scenario after scenario 

to ensure we were ready, 

but of course, what we had 

not anticipated was a fiveday 

snap lockdown right in 

the middle of the tournament! 

That was a curveball for sure, 

something which didn’t fall into 

one of our scenarios.” 

To provide a little context, 

the Australian Open kicks off 

the international tennis season 

each January, the first of the 

four Grand Slam events. This 

scheduling provided Tennis 

Australia plenty of time during 

2020, as Covid rampaged 

through the world, to plan and 

prepare for the 2021 event. 

But with so much uncertainty 

there was much outside of their 

control. Ben explains how this 

made the need for agile thinking 

even more important: “As much 

as you plan, your ability to 

problem-solve and deal with 

21

The Australian Open is both a player and fan favorite 

slam – hence its nickname " The Happy Slam". 

what’s in front of you is just 

as important as your preparation. 

The team's negotiation training with 

The Gap Partnership back in 2019 

enabled a very positive outcome, and 

I believe we would not have managed 

as well without that training.” 

He goes on to acknowledge the 

similarities between high-stakes sport 

and high-stakes negotiation, saying, 

“It’s about being prepared enough 

that you can still be flexible in your 

approach when needed, and manage 

your way through each 

new challenge.” 

The tournament organizers 

were not the only ones who 

had to adapt to the changing 

circumstances. Historically, players 

get the opportunity to play lead-in 

tournaments prior to the Australian 

Open to help them warm up and 

acclimatize, but this year was 

different. Players had to think of 

more creative ways to get match-fit 

and ensure they were best prepared, 

many posting amusing social media 

clips of innovative training methods 

from hotel quarantine. (Think 

forehand smashes into mattresses 

propped against bedroom walls, 

and fitness drills around tennis 

balls placed in strategic formation 

on the floor.) 

Ben has been with Tennis 

Australia for close to a decade 

and currently works with over 

60 brand and media partners, 

forming highly collaborative 

and mutually beneficial 

relationships. He explains 

the key role of a partner: 

“We massively rely on them 

to help contribute to the 

experience, as they help 

amplify the event and take 

it to the consumer and fans. 

It’s always been a priority for 

our team to take a long-term 

view on how we approach the 

negotiation with each partner. 

We are very aware that each 

organization has its own 

unique set of challenges. For 

example, partners from travelimpacted 

industries such as 

aviation and accommodation 

were clearly in a very different 

situation during the height 

of Covid to that of partners 

from, say, the technology or 

automotive sectors.” 

Ben is clear that his team’s 

negotiation skills were sorely tested 

working up to the event. “We were 

essentially negotiating entirely new 

terms and conditions with each 

partner based upon the change to 

their and our circumstances. Once 

each negotiation had concluded, 

the goalposts shifted, and at times 

we had to start all over again.” 

“If Plan A isn't working, 

I have Plan B, Plan C, 

and even Plan D. 

Serena Williams 

I suggest that there must have 

been some difficult conversations 

between sponsor and the team with 

so much change. Ben makes a careful 

clarification, saying they had 

to “take difficult decisions”, 

rather than “have difficult 

conversations.” He goes on, 

“The relationships we had and 

still have with our partners come 

first, which paves the way for 

more favorable and collaborative 

negotiation. Constant, clear, and 

direct communication has been 

vital in ensuring 

our partners were aware of our 

plans. As we prepare for next year’s 

event, we will continue to focus 

on communication with hopefully 

a little less uncertainty.” 

Long-term thinking is one of 

the most important criteria when 

it comes to achieving success at the 

negotiation table; skilled negotiators 

are all too aware that quick deals 

aren’t always the best deals, and 

a long-term view can ultimately 

be the most rewarding. This is also 

true in sport. Elite athletes recognize 

their careers must be treated like 

a marathon rather than a sprint if 

they are to extend their time at the 

top. In fact, the average career of 

a tennis professional has increased 

steadily over the past decade, with 

some players reaching their peak 

performance later in life. Flavia 

Pennetta famously won her first 

Grand Slam at the age of 33 in 

2015, following Li Na who won 

the Australian Open and her 

second Grand Slam at 32 years 

old in 2014: both are proof that 

long-term thinking can breed 

longer-term results. 

Looking towards the future 

I am eager to know how planning 

is going for 2022, especially (at 

the time of writing) with most of 

Australia currently under ongoing 

lockdown measures 

and restrictions. 

Ben is, dare I say it, 

cautiously optimistic. 

“This year we believe 

we have more clarity 

around what to 

expect regarding 

spectators and travel 

restrictions from 

our early discussions 

with the Department of Health, 

but we do have several scenarios 

for which we will be prepared for. 

After last year’s event we made sure 

22 

Ben Slack, Tennis Australia’s chief 

revenue and experiential officer.


everyone had some additional time 

off in recognition for their incredible 

work over the year, but we have 

regrouped and have already started 

to plan for 2022 and beyond.” 

So what can we expect? Ben paints 

a compelling picture. “Last year we 

learned a lot about our team and our 

tournament which will help us deliver 

an even better experience in 2022, 

and I’m incredibly excited about that. 

In 2021 we accelerated the launch of 

our new digital and virtual experience 

for our offsite fans, and you’ll see a lot 

more of that in the future. We have 

planned some excellent collaborations 

with our commercial sponsors and 

partners for onsite too.” 

I’m not surprised to hear this. 

Since the Australian Open moved 

to its home at Melbourne Park 

(previously named Flinders Park) in 

1988, the number of onsite spectators 

has grown exponentially nearly every 

year. It has proven to be not only a 

fan favorite but a player favorite too, 

with Novak Djokovic and many other 

players claiming a love affair with 

the AO, or it being their favorite 

slam – hence its nickname, 

"The Happy Slam". 

But the tie to the sporting world is 

deeper than first thought with Tennis 

Australia. Like all good 

professional athletes, 

they are constantly 

looking to improve, 

year-in, year-out. In 

the same way that elite 

athletes rely heavily on 

their backroom teams 

for support, guidance 

and inspiration, Tennis 

Australia view The Gap 

Partnership as a key part 

of their backroom team. 

The current world number 

one, Australia’s own Ash Barty, talks 

openly about her ambition to become 

the complete tennis player, making 

small improvements every day, and it 

seems the Australian Open organizers 

are equally ambitious and determined. 

Ben, who was recently named in 

the class of 2021 for the Leaders 

Under 40 Sports Awards, took 

inspiration during last year’s lockdown 

from Bob Iger’s classic business 

book, The Ride of a Lifetime. Like its 

author, Ben is also responsible for 

delivering first-class experiences to a 

large audience, and not surprisingly 

drew inspiration from and related 

to much of his philosophy. “As the 

CEO of Disney, Bob looked for 

creative ways to problem-solve and 

push boundaries, and this made me 

question some of my ways of thinking. 

He was committed to challenging 

the status quo, for example by 

championing female and black actors, 

and I have huge admiration for how 

he overcame roadblocks to do that. 

For our business, I realized that 

we should also be bolder and more 

“Once each negotiation had 

concluded, the goalposts 

shifted, and at times we had 

to start all over again. 

creative, and sometimes that meant 

taking more risk in our negotiations.” 

Reflecting on this sentiment, 

I predict that if all things go to plan, 

we will with any luck get to see some 

of that creativity and innovation 

during 2022’s Australian Open. 

But back to our intriguing parallel 

between the corporate and sporting 

worlds; for Ben the similarities 

between elite sport and negotiation 

are real. Whether it’s running one 

of the greatest sporting tournaments 

in the world, winning a tennis grand 

slam or achieving success through 

negotiation, he believes there are some 

defining principles which support 

success in all fields. “You need to be 

prepared but ready to execute what 

is in front of you. Remember, longerterm 

thinking can deliver longer 

term results and drive a team or an 

individual to get better and make 

improvements every day.” 

So what is Ben’s honest assessment 

of next year year’s Grand Slam opener. 

What can the spectators expect? Are 

we out of the Covid woods, or is it 

simply too early to say? 

He is a considered mix 

of optimism and realism. 

He recalls only too 

clearly a day in February 

2021 when he stood 

in the center of Grand 

Slam Oval on the middle 

Saturday, alone on 

what should have been 

the busiest day of the 

tournament. As someone 

who knows Ben as a sociable 

bon viveur who loves the 

company of people and finds the buzz 

of a crowd thrilling, I find this image 

poignant – and an all too recent 

reminder of the impact the pandemic 

has had across all aspects of life. 

When the Australian Open does 

finally come back to town, there is not 

an iota of doubt in my mind that Ben 

and his team will relish and make the 

most of every minute they’re back in 

the thick of it. 

What I’m also sure of is that 

their rigorous planning, painstaking 

preparation and finely honed 

negotiation skills will together 

deliver a world-class result. TNS 

23

WHEN 

THE STAKES 

ARE HIGH 

Negotiation skills are essential for most modern-day 

corporate roles. But what can they contribute to other 

jobs, particularly those where decisions can mean the 

difference between life and death? We spoke to a doctor 

and a fighter jet navigator to find out. 

OSCAR GROOT 

Head of Intensive Care, Meander 

Medical Center Amersfoort, Netherlands 

A 

s head of the intensive care unit 

(ICU) at a top clinical hospital 

in the Netherlands, Oscar was in 

the eye of the Covid storm from the 

beginning. He recalls that as the world 

woke up to the threat in early 2020, 

there was, unsurprisingly, a scarcity of 

information: “We had few facts and 

little data. But as the situation in Italy 

deteriorated, so we learned more. The 

European Society of Intensive Care 

Medicine had an Italian chair and 

Dutch co-chair and became a valuable 

resource for those of us at the coalface.” 

This collaboration and informationsharing 

echoes principles that 

commercial negotiators apply, 

although albeit for them the stakes 

aren't generally life-and-death. It 

was replicated in highly effective 

inter-country communication too, as 

Oscar explains. “Every hospital in the 

Netherlands communicated twice daily 

with each other; how many beds we 

had, and what capacity we needed, or 

could offer. The transparency of the 

system worked well and resulted in 

a lot of movement between hospitals 

to accommodate patients. Plus, getting 

to know each other helped a lot.” 

Oscar’s own hospital responded 

quickly to the increased demand, 

doubling intensive care beds from 14 

to 28 by taking over half of the adjacent 

operating theaters – “The peak for us 

was April 2020, with every bed taken.” 

Negotiation played a critical role in 

team engagement given that, 

“The ICU nurses not only had to 

work with people from other units 

that lacked their qualifications, they 

also had to care for more patients, 

work longer hours, and change the 

way they worked.” 

How did they manage this with 

the nursing team? “We were clear we 

shared a common goal and had to face 

the pandemic with a common effort. 

This clarity of objective was crucial 

in keeping the team motivated and 

24


cooperative. Another element was 

recognizing that, unlike in normal 

times, perfection was not the goal; 

the new goal was as many people 

surviving as possible.” 

Clarity around objectives and 

pragmatism about what good likes 

like is another familiar theme from 

commercial negotiation. A key 

difference is the public appreciation 

that Oscar and his team received 

in those early days – “It was really 

special; people were clapping for 

healthcare workers” – which proved 

hugely valuable to morale, given that, 

“We did 12-hour shifts every day.” 

To “sweeten the deal” for the team, 

the hospital management took some 

positive steps; “You have to take care of 

the personal stuff. We listened to staff 

and made sure they were taken care of; 

for example they had all of their meals 

delivered and paid for. And, to ensure 

they had enough rest after a night 

shift, with kids at home during the 

lockdown a complicating factor, 

we offered staff a hotel to sleep in 

during the day.” 

This “give and take” approach was 

harder to facilitate with surgeons who 

had patients needing operations – a 

particular backlog was in orthopaedics. 

Oscar explains, “To manage treatment 

prioritization, the management team 

set up a committee of surgeons, 

pulmonary specialists, hospital leaders 

and so on, meeting twice a week to 

discuss and agree priorities. These 

discussions could be intense and we 

made some difficult decisions. But 

again, the shared goal was critical in 

ensuring a decision could be reached.” 

These ongoing and life-changing 

negotiations are one reason why 

those in medicine have been on 

a steep Covid learning curves. 

Oscar’s assessment of the response 

he has been part of is thoughtful 

and positive. He sums up, “The 

Dutch way of negotiation is quite 

straightforward, and in a crisis it’s 

helpful to say exactly what you need. 

I learned as I went; I’d only had one 

or two days of negotiation training. 

My advice? Be straightforward 

and trustworthy. Do what you say. 

Be as transparent as is possible. 

And, collaboration is vital.” 

DAVID COOPER 

Executive General Manager, 

Nova Systems and former 

Commanding Officer, Royal Air Force 

D 

avid’s illustrious decades-long 

career in the Royal Air Force 

(RAF) included leading the 

famous Dambusters squadron and 

commanding a frontline station of 

over three thousand people. He also 

logged over 1,500 hours flying the 

iconic Panavia Tornado aircraft. In 

2020, David left the RAF and joined 

a leading aerospace, systems and 

advisory company, Nova Systems, 

where negotiation is a central part 

of his role. 

Drawing parallels between the 

behaviors of an effective negotiator 

and those of frontline aircrew 

might appear at first glance a tricky 

exercise. But David’s military career 

required core competencies and 

skills that will sound familiar to 

commercial negotiators: stakes were 

high, risk was ever-present, mistakes 

could result in serious consequences, 

and the margin of error was small. 

But let’s start with where it all 

begins, whether that’s a military 

operation or a commercial 

negotiation: planning. Effective 

planning skills were crucial 

requirements for David’s RAF 

roles, whether he was mapping out 

reconnaissance missions, preparing 

for discussions with foreign 

counterparts, or conducting strategic 

reviews of airspace: all needed 

thorough and aligned plans in 

order to be successful. 

However, even the best-laid plans 

face challenge when circumstances 

change, or key intelligence or 

assumptions prove incorrect. 

As David says, “Time in planning 

is rarely wasted, but there’s a famous 

saying that, ‘Plans are worthless, but 

planning is invaluable’. You can have 

a plan written down, but you may 

not stick to it. But by following a 

planning process you have ‘bricks’ 

or constituent parts, and you 

can rebuild them in a different 

way depending on how the 

situation develops.” 

That’s where contingency 

planning comes in, which David 

says he and his teams spent 

a “phenomenal” amount of time 

doing, to mitigate against identified 

risk and facilitate quick reactions 

when time is at a premium. 

However, he concedes it can only 

take you so far when dealing with 

highly complex situations, or when 

large numbers of stakeholders 

are involved in decision-making. 

“The bigger and better the plan gets, 

the more you rely on stakeholders 

outside your sphere of influence. 

That’s where contingency planning 

falls down – it takes too long or 

relies on too many people to agree.” 

So what do you do if presented 

with a problem that your plans 

do not adequately account for? 

How do you ensure you remain 

in charge and stay in control? 

David emphasizes the importance 

of taking “time-outs” in highpressure 

moments, to give yourself 

time to think clearly – also highly 

appropriate in a negotiation. 

Within a military context 

however, situations often require 

rapid decision-making with no time 

to pause and reflect. David recounts 

a time he was leading a large 

international formation of aircraft 

and became aware he could lose 

control of proceedings, presenting 

a huge risk to the mission. He 

needed to fix the situation quickly, 

and the quality that became vital 

was humility: “The first thing you 

need to do is recognize something 

has gone wrong. Then you need 

to stand up and communicate the 

issue to your peers and superiors.” 

While this can feel deeply 

uncomfortable, David is a passionate 

believer in the importance of 

humility within leadership – a view 

that is very much of the zeitgeist in 

the commercial world, and another 

example of the synergies between 

leading squadrons and leading 

negotiation teams. TNS 

25

LEARNINGS 

FROM 

ENTREPRENEURS 

They are seen as an exotic commercial breed: 

quick-thinking visionaries who take risks and 

blaze trails. But how do they assess the 

story of their success, and the role that 

negotiation has played? We spoke to 

three entrepreneurs to find out. 

DOMINIC SMALES 

Founder of Gleam Futures and The Glow Project 

26 

I 

t wouldn’t be hyperbolic 

to describe Dominic 

as an influencer 

industry pioneer. He set 

up talent management and 

influencer marketing agency, 

Gleam Futures, at a time when 

influencing was not even a 

twinkle in the big corporates’ 

eyes. Now they are in every 

consumer brand marketer’s 

toolkit, and the savvy consumer’s 

best friend. 

Where did Dominic get 

his crystal ball? He recalls not 

knowing what he wanted to do 

after leaving school, so got a 

degree, sold ad space for local 

rag the Bucks Examiner, and 

had a stint at his stepdad’s media 

agency. Dominic describes these 

as, “amazing years that inspired 

my epiphany moment; I noticed 

the amount of attention garnered 

online for people entertaining 

through organic social channels.” 

He continues, “I then went to 

a small production company 

which had an agenting side; 

my first foray into talent.” 

What happened next is what 

Dominic calls “a jolt” – he was 

diagnosed with the brain disorder 

hydrocephalus. This life-changing 

event led to a life-changing 

decision to go it alone. And so, 

Gleam Futures was born. 

Every business needs a 

founding category, and Gleam’s 

was beauty, with clients including 

Chanel and TRESemmé 

owners Alberto-Culva. In 2010, 

Dominic asked YouTubers, Sam 

and Nic Chapman – makeup 

artists Pixiwoo – to review 

Chanel’s traceable tattoos. He 

instantly spotted their potential: 

“They were engaging, fun and 

charismatic. We struck up a 

relationship and I pivoted my 

business from media to talent 

management agency.” From 

those early days a community 

was born, and Gleam onboarded 

a stable of super-influencers 

including Zoella, Tanya Burr 

and Jim Chapman. 

Success was not without its 

naysayers. Dominic remembers 

pushback manifesting as 

a “knocking of heads between 

paid content creators, and the 

new ‘digital first’ talent. But 

like or loathe them, influencers 

had, and still have, access to an 

engaged audience who are getting 

increasingly hard to reach.” 

There are some familiar 

entrepreneurial traits in play here: 

resilience, tenacity, a relentless 

work ethic, and unwavering 

vision in the face of scepticism. 

As Dominic says, “From the very 

beginning I had absolute blind 

faith in my career.” He also says 

his attitude to risk is on the gung 

ho side, attributing this in part 

to his mild dyslexia and ADHD; 

a neurodiverse way of seeing 

the world. He’s clear that luck – 

meeting the right vloggers at 

the right time – also featured. 

What of negotiation? “It’s 

an incredible tool to progress 

in life. It’s about communication 

and relationships; if you apply 

those organic skills to a good 

framework then you’re set up 

to succeed.” What are his top 

tips? “The biggest misconception


about negotiation is that it’s 

about winning and losing. I tell 

people it’s win-win or no deal, 

so think about what the other 

person wants and needs. It’s been 

a huge part of my professional 

life, from buying stationery to 

selling my business to a big 

media company.” 

Which brings us to 2017 and 

a multimillion buyout of Gleam 

by Japanese ad giant Dentsu, 

proving the cynics from the early 

days definitively wrong. (Dentsu 

are no fools: the industry is a 

multibillion dollar one and enjoys 

80% a year growth.) Dominic 

sees the future filled with 

influencer-owned brands, “done 

in a super-authentic way”, citing 

Sam and Nic Chapman endorsed 

make up brush brand, Real 

Techniques, and Zoella Beauty, 

as examples of getting it right. He 

expects similar success for Grace 

Beverley’s sustainable leisurewear, 

Tala, and Tanya Burr’s premium 

makeup, Authored. He’s now on 

the lookout for the next crop of 

direct-to-consumer mega brands. 

As for his own next chapter, 

he’s excited about new ventures, 

one of which, The Glo Project, 

focuses on the commercial 

opportunity in paid-for content 

on subscription platforms. It 

seems likely he will be described 

as a pioneer of talent in that area 

in the future, too. 

THYME SULLIVAN 

Co-Founder and CEO, TOP The Organic Project 

A 

self-confessed “grocery geek”, 

Thyme spent close to three 

decades as a high-flying 

sales executive at consumer giants 

including PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and 

Nestlé before going it alone. She 

says this relatively late entry to 

entrepreneurship was because, 

“It just wasn’t a thing when 

I left college. Saying you were 

an entrepreneur was code for 

you were jobless and sleeping 

in your parents’ basement.” 

So Thyme graduated, got 

a job at Frito-Lay – “I drove a 

truck but was terrible at it so got 

promoted” – and went on to climb 

the corporate ladder. However, an 

entrepreneurial spirit was everpresent: 

“The roles I loved most 

were those where we were building 

our own businesses and had room 

to be creative and take risks. It was 

a respite from everyday corporate 

culture which rewards staying in 

line and doing as you’re told.” 

Thyme acknowledges that 

without a shock redundancy, 

leaving her “devastated”, she would 

never have left the security of 

her career – and indeed, her first 

response was to apply for other 

big corporate roles. Then an old 

boss suggested that now could be 

the time to think differently and 

redesign her life. And there was 

certainly an incentive: “Corporate 

America isn’t built around moms. 

I hadn’t been there to raise my 

kids, I missed Halloween and 

the first and last day of school, 

I worked all weekend and came 

home tired and cranky. I accepted 

it, but losing my job was the 

universe giving me a nudge.” 

Fortuitously Thyme’s cousin, 

Denielle – a senior executive in 

fashion retail – was at a similar 

crossroads. She left her job and 

together they identified a gap 

in the feminine care market. 

“As moms of daughters, we knew 

there was no innovation in period 

products. 80% of women use what 

their mom bought them their 

first time.” That insight combined 

with their own values – “We were 

raised by hippies and organic was 

a big thing in our houses” – and 

TOP the organic project was 

born: a category-disrupting brand 

producing organic cotton, plantbased, 

hypoallergenic products, 

complete with a mission to 

normalize the conversation around 

periods, raise awareness around 

period poverty, and give back. 

Since then, they’ve experienced, 

“major mountains and valleys 

on our journey. We were the 

breadwinners, so it was a huge 

risk.” So to the first lesson: have 

courage. Their lead investor told 

them they were “badasses.” It’s an 

apt descriptor; it takes bravery to 

leave a successful career in a world 

that had taught them “not to quit 

and to have grit. But staying in 

a job or relationship that’s not 

right isn’t grit, it’s insanity.” 

A rejection 

of negativity also 

plays out in Thyme’s 

recollection that in her 

old roles, she felt that, 

“I was fighting all day long. 

But in our business now, we’re 

building relationships and 

learning. We have curated a 

powerful group of cheerleaders 

and thought leaders around us. 

That’s important because there’s 

no way you can know everything 

as an entrepreneur. And that’s 

another quality – you can say, 

‘I don’t know how to do this.’” 

Thyme also credits success 

to what she learned about 

negotiation from The Gap 

Partnership, recalling, “The 

negotiation workshop was a 

game-changer...I remember all 

the concepts. Being silent was 

a challenge because I’m a talker! 

But it’s true, the first one to break 

can give away value.” 

And then there’s empathy, 

a trait that’s vital in negotiation 

but perhaps one not traditionally 

ascribed to entrepreneurs. But for 

Thyme it’s a superpower: 

“Understanding what your 

counterparty needs is so 

important. It’s a gift to be able to 

look at a situation from someone 

else’s perspective. After all, 

everything in entrepreneurship, 

parenting and life is 

a negotiation.” TNS 

27

and renegotiate 

by Jessie Lancaster 

and Richard Woodward 

Renegotiations are an unavoidable 

fact of commercial life right now. 

Instead of giving into fear, face into 

them with confidence by first knowing 

yourself, and then refreshing on some 

key negotiation principles. 

You don’t need us to tell you the 

world is changing. The global pandemic 

that’s been rumbling on for the best 

part of two years is serving up change, 

and its close relative uncertainty, in 

spades. It’s easy to see how with this 

as our new reality, our response to 

commercial challenges may default 

to a basic, combative “you versus me”. 

Issues become adversarial, barriers go 

up, and our unconscious reaction is 

to batten down the hatches. 

But while understandable, that 

will neither yield optimum value, nor 

result in the most fruitful and creative 

long-term partnerships. There is a 

pressing need, now more than ever, 

to get collaborative and renegotiate. 

And so the question we are posing to 

our clients is, how do you shift from 

this mindset of “you versus me”, to 

“you and me versus the problem”? 

The immediate answer is to be aware 

of the issue. Only then, when we are 

(in The Gap Partnership parlance) 

“consciously competent”, can we 

look to transition our behaviors and 

approach to a more constructive, 

mutually beneficial place. 

But where to start? 

The first step is to identify your 

inherent negotiation archetype – 

your persona, if you will, that shapes 

your own, unique approach and style. 

We have identified three negotiation archetypes: 

The Architect, The Diplomat and The Deal Maker 

The Architect 

The Architect solves problems by 

changing the shape of the deal, 

reframing and approaching it from 

a different angle. Expressing your 

Architect persona means understanding 

the priorities and analytically 

evaluating “worth” for both sides of 

the table. Architects use creativity 

and mathematical logic to construct 

sequenced proposals that either build 

value, or trade long-term, less tangible 

value with short-term distributive 

variables to overcome deadlock. 

Pitfalls to watch out for… 

a strong Architect can: 

• Be anal, or over-prepared 

• Get trapped in dead ends 

on specific issues 

• Underestimate the importance 

of the relationship 

• Become isolated from the team 

• Overcomplicate the deal 

28


The Diplomat 

The Diplomat manages the human at 

the other side of the table. They have 

high levels of emotional intelligence 

and perceptiveness, and good instincts. 

They stroke egos and provide the 

symbols of success by offering large 

amounts of satisfaction to gain 

agreement. The Diplomat is sensitive 

to the climate and maintains warmth 

without being disingenuous. They 

have a gift for oiling the wheels of the 

negotiation, and through sophisticated 

open questioning they trade 

information seamlessly. They fluidly use 

reciprocity to the point where 

the other side is unaware they 

are in a negotiation. 


a strong Diplomat can: 

• Be too fair 

• Give away too much information and 

and therefore power 

• Want to be liked rather than respected 

• Go “native” and get embedded in the 

other side’s perspective 

• Be driven by consensus 

The Deal Maker 

The Deal Maker is assertive and 

tenacious, in control of their thinking 

and focused on the deal potential. 

They are the master craftsman, an 

artisan who understands the effect of 

anchoring proactively, takes the analytical 

recipes developed during planning, and 

articulates proposals which motivate the 

other side toward acceptance through 

listening and questioning for priorities. 

They are relentless in seeking agreement 

and will have many proposals 

pre-prepared to find a way through 

lethargy, confusion, and deadlock. 


a strong Deal Maker can: 

• Say too much 

• Close too soon 

• Be perceived as manipulative 

and competitive 

• Have an unhelpfully large ego 

• Be driven by a need to win 

Once you have identified which 

archetype – or blend of archetypes – 

best represents your negotiation style, 

and you are aware of the pitfalls as well 

as the strengths, then you are ready to 

tackle the commercial, pandemic-driven 

imperative of renegotiation. 

Successful renegotiations make use 

of five principles. The first of these is 

proactivity – which means thinking 

ahead, planning and adapting behavior 

accordingly. Look for any precedents 

that might have been set. How did you 

behave when there was a shift in your 

favor, and how might that influence 

your counterparty to respond when the 

shoe is on the other foot? Make like a 

Diplomat and think about the behaviors 

you want to exhibit considering the law 

of reciprocity – and don't be surprised 

if your prior approach when the balance 

of power was in your favor is precisely 

how your counterparty behaves when 

the tables turn. 

Second, you need to find the 

confidence to renegotiate. This is related 

to power; when we perceive ourselves to 

have power, our confidence peaks. Since 

power can be borne from information, 

the more you know about your 

counterparty, your contract, your market 

and the economy, the more powerful 

a negotiator you will be. Channel your 

inner Architect and use research to 

build tenacity and confidence ahead 

of a renegotiation through gathering 

information about the circumstances 

and key stakeholders involved. 

The third principle is around your 

approach to risk. You cannot prepare for 

every eventuality but, like a seasoned 

Deal Maker, you can build a deal that 

strikes the appropriate balance between 

security and flexibility. Think carefully 

about the risks that lie within the deal 

structure and assess if this served its 

purpose. What would you do differently 

if you could have predicted your current 

circumstances? Consider challenging 

everything: the norms, process, levels 

of approval, and variables considered. 

Understand that everything is up for 

renegotiation, even if the contract was 

signed three months ago. 

Number four in our list of principles 

is positioning, a critical negotiation skill 

that sets an appropriate tone with your 

counterparty before you even get in the 

room. Renegotiations have a tendency 

to get competitive, and positioning 

is a way to mitigate against this – 

for example by signposting intent to 

collaborate and introducing the other 

party to problems or issues early to 

give them time to process them, 

reducing the possibility of an 

emotionally-driven reaction. 

Last but not least is the fifth 

principle that should underpin any 

renegotiation: total value. In truth, you 

will likely be back at the table because 

of one or maybe two variables at most, 

but the reality is that all variables 

have the potential to be back in play. 

The answer to your renegotiation may 

therefore reside in a separate area of the 

value proposition, perhaps something 

that wasn’t even in the original deal. 

This is where the Architect can shine, 

by going back to the drawing board 

and introducing new value opportunities 

if appropriate. 

So, when it comes to the 

inevitability of renegotiations, resist 

the urge to retreat and rescind or evade 

and entrench. Instead, get wise to your 

negotiation archetype. Then use it to 

your advantage – or at least be alert 

to it becoming a disadvantage – and 

follow our simple five-principle guide 

to renegotiating for success. 

Change and uncertainty? 

Bring them on. We’re ready. TNS 

29

Practice 

makes 

perfect 

If all the world’s a stage, then are all the boardrooms too? 

Hrvoje Zaric explains why preparing for your negotiation 

delivery as if it’s a performance is a no-brainer. 

I 

t’s no secret that the best 

negotiators are those who are 

best prepared. Before they 

are even close to taking a seat at the 

negotiation table, they’ve thought 

their strategy through, got their 

proposals ready, and planned 

their moves. 

But one significant task 

remains: to deliver that plan 

in a live negotiation setting. 

No matter how many analyses 

you have done or offerings 

you have calculated, you still 

need to perform. This should 

not be revelatory. But what 

may be surprising is the fact 

that just like every other aspect 

of a negotiation, this performance 

element can (and should) be 

practiced beforehand. 

Preparing for 

a performance 

For every live negotiation there 

is both an abstract and practical 

element to prepare for. The former 

includes the “why?” and “what?” of 

negotiation: objectives, involved 

parties, interests, negotiation 

variables, proposals. It also includes 

the “how?”, because deciding on 

negotiation approaches, exploring 

alternative routes to success, 

defining moves, and planning 

“Practice makes perfect. 

After a long time of practicing, 

our work will become natural, 

skilful, swift, and steady. 

Bruce Lee 

concessions are all part of describing 

the process of negotiation. Once 

you are prepared in terms of content 

and process, your preparation is 

done – theoretically at least. 

But what about 

practically? 

One way to prepare for a 

meeting is to script it in advance, 

which prepares you and your team 

to deliver the right messages at 

the right time in the right way. 

When we use “meeting scripting” 

in our consulting practice, we go 

through the scheduled time span 

of the meeting and meticulously 

write down every aspect of how 

the meeting 

will unfold. 

This covers 

questions 

such as, who 

is going to 

deliver the 

opening 

remarks? 

And word 

for word, 

what will they be? What is the next 

agenda point? How long will it last? 

What are the talking points we 

want to raise? How will we deliver 

them? What are our questions to 

the counterparty? What will their 

questions be? How will we respond? 

When do we take a time-out? What 

comes next? How do we want the 

conversation to end? What are our 

closing remarks? What will be the 

next steps? 

30


And this is 

not exhaustive! 

While this type of preparation 

can be invaluable, it cannot replicate 

the electricity in the negotiation 

room. The decisive difference 

between a negotiator who will 

excel in the critical moment of 

the negotiation and one who will 

struggle or even fail, is practice. 

Skilled negotiators train themselves 

to be mentally ready for the 

live performance. 

Getting comfortable 

with being 

uncomfortable 

When we are faced with an 

unusual situation, our minds 

interpret it as something potentially 

dangerous. This automatic fight-orflight 

response has been going on 

for thousands of years and proved 

very useful when the saber-toothed 

tiger was still around: adrenalin 

rushed through our bodies, our 

pupils widened, and we were 

primed for coping with the threat, 

increasing our chances of survival. 

These same visceral responses are 

triggered in more modern times 

of psychological stress, such as when 

conducting a negotiation. Pounding 

hearts and sweaty palms are signs 

that you are outside of your comfort 

zone. Since you cannot change the 

nature of negotiation, which 

is inherently fraught with distress, 

you need to become comfortable 

being uncomfortable. 

While a certain alertness is 

tremendously useful, the history 

of failed negotiations is paved 

with examples where emotions 

got in the way of a better deal: 

anxiety and anger frequently lead 

to poorer outcomes, and even a 

positive emotion like excitement 

can endanger the negotiation if 

it tempts you into making rash 

decisions or your gloating alienates 

the other party. 

The trick is not to rid yourself of 

all emotions, but to recognize how 

they affect your behavior and then 

decide to what extent you want to 

cloak or emphasize an expression 

of emotion: you must act in a 

"consciously competent" manner. 

Rehearse it, 

role-play it 

The good news is you can train 

for that. Consider a contentious 

message you have to convey to the 

other party. You may have aligned 

on what this message needs to be. 

You may even subscribe to it on 

a cognitive level. Yet the phrasing 

still feels awkward to you. 

The answer? Rehearse it! Say 

the words out loud. Do this until 

it starts feeling natural. If you 

have the chance to prepare with a 

team, two or more people can act 

out roles. Pay attention to your 

emotions and discuss the effects 

of your respective behaviors on 

each other. By exploring specific 

negotiation scenarios and analyzing 

various perspectives you are “getting 

inside your counterparty’s head,” 

anticipating how they are likely 

to respond. 

The beauty of role-play is you 

can try out different responses 

to certain stimuli. Imagine you 

anticipate a provocation by the 

other party. Your natural reaction 

might be anxiety. Wallow in this 

state and get a good sense of what 

it feels like, then “rewind” the tape 

and respond with anger instead. 

Could it help you strike a better 

deal? Or would it damage trust 

and goodwill and make an impasse 

more likely? 

On the flipside, if your 

counterpart is easily agitated, 

perhaps you can defuse their anger 

without giving ground on terms. 

Try it out. Pause and say nothing to 

see how that feels. Or, role-play the 

effect of providing a summary in 

the middle of the discussion. 

Your goal is to become aware of 

what you are feeling, recognize your 

behavioral tendencies and patterns, 

and express emotions in a measured, 

deliberate way, when doing so may 

be advantageous. 

A stretch goal is to learn how 

to manage not only your own, 

but your counterpart's emotions 

as well. Do a reverse role-play where 

you act as your counterpart and 

negotiate on their behalf. The more 

familiar you get with the multiple 

layers of emotion that are brought 

into the negotiation, the easier it 

will be for you to make accurate 

observations in the live situation. 

And by repeatedly practicing 

the negotiation in simulations 

and exercises, you become more 

comfortable with the experience. 

Train, practice, rehearse, and keep 

honing your negotiation skills. 

Learn to love 

(well-intentioned) 

feedback 

The mere exercise of roleplaying 

will reveal some of your 

"hot buttons" – circumstantial 

or attitudinal triggers that send 

you into autopilot, throw you 

off-balance and prevent you 

from thinking straight. During a 

negotiation, it is important to “stay 

in charge” by mentally detaching 

yourself from your natural impulses. 

You may not be aware of these 

parts of your demeanor – what 

psychologists call behavioral "blind 

spots”, but others will notice them. 

In a role-play scenario one of our 

clients resisted the urge to react to a 

scathing remark and gave his anger 

time to dissipate. He was convinced 

he’d handled the situation 

marvellously and was sceptical 

of feedback from colleagues that 

he was feverishly clicking his pen 

and bouncing his foot. But a video 

recording provided visual evidence, 

and his “blind spot” was revealed. 

The moral of this story? If you 

don't get feedback, ask for it. Then, 

cherish and work with it. 

Visualize it 

Whether it’s a lawyer preparing 

to address the jury, a politician 

getting ready for a public speech, 

or a negotiator setting himself 

up for a difficult negotiation, 

visualization is a powerful practice 

to prime yourself for success. The 

human brain consists of billions 

31

of neurons – nerve cells that, 

when strung together, form neural 

pathways. By visualizing yourself 

doing the desired action you are 

developing mental models and 

activating neural pathways. 

During their mental preparation 

ahead of a race, downhill skislalom 

racers will often close their 

eyes and take the slalom course in 

their heads, rocking to either side 

and using visualization as a tool 

to enhance their performance. The 

next time you have a big negotiation 

challenge coming up, close your 

eyes and imagine yourself doing 

well under duress. Envision the 

situation as vividly as you can. 

Focus on the details. The more 

visceral the elements you include 

in your visualization, the better. 

Then imagine yourself negotiating 

flawlessly. Visualize it, feel it. 

By playing out your negotiation 

in your head and executing it 

perfectly, you are poised to go live. 

Negotiating is a skill 

Rehearsing, role-playing, or 

visualizing an upcoming negotiation 

will greatly improve your 

performance. You will be better 

equipped to maintain your 

emotional balance because you’ve 

tested your psychological hot 

buttons in advance. At the same 

time, you can stay mentally alert, 

listen carefully to the other party 

and pay close attention to their 

emotional state. Never 

underestimate how feelings – yours 

and theirs – can influence the way 

people behave in resolving conflict. 

To be a better dealmaker, once you 

have concluded your strategic 

and tactical planning, you should 

invest effort in preparing your 

mental, emotional, and behavioral 

approach. This will improve your 

skill in dealing with the other 

party, reaching agreements, and 

creating value. TNS 

Role-playing negotiations: 

a commercial leader’s story 

Ilya Shirkoff, Commercial Capability 

Development Modern Trade, 

Coca-Cola HBC Russia 

We have instilled a role play culture 

across various processes in our company, 

for example in the hiring key account 

managers, assessment, learning, and 

negotiations. We use it to prepare for live 

negotiations at the proposal stage and 

in commercial policy discussions in the 

preconditioning phase. 

It’s important to make simulated 

negotiations as close as possible to the 

real thing; understanding the customer’s 

strategy and operational model, mapping 

data, understanding personal profiles based 

on our team's experience with the person 

at the other side of the negotiation table 

and stakeholders’ needs, as well as all value 

drivers and restrictions on both sides. 

To role-play one meeting can take 

two hours including feedback, shadowing, 

a coaching session, and up to a full day 

if we are rehearsing several upcoming 

meetings in two-hour blocks each. We 

see great benefits, including increased 

confidence, reduced stress and lower 

levels of uncertainty. 

Most importantly, the role-play 

results in changed behavior. And in a live 

negotiation, it’s ultimately behavior that 

drives results. My top tips? Simplicity and 

confidence conveyed with fewer but more 

precise words will have a more credible 

impact than complex language or elaborate 

speeches: less is more! 

32


FAIR ENOUGH 

VACCINE ACCESS IN 

A PANDEMIC ENVIRONMENT 

By Darci Horne 

W 

e live in a new world, with 

new ways of working and 

living. Change has been the 

one constant these past eighteen plus 

months. And it continues. Both in our 

personal lives, as well as around us in 

the natural world. Change is happening there too, 

frighteningly fast, which the recent IPCC report on 

climate change made abundantly clear. 

The devastating impact of the Covid-19 

pandemic on the economic, social, and health 

status of the global population is undisputed. 

Experts generally agree the severity and timeline 

of the lingering impacts will neither directly 

nor imminently be mitigated unless there is a 

coordinated global approach to address vaccine 

inequity in developing economies and in the lowest 

income countries of the world. Without such, apart 

from the ongoing risk of new variants of the virus, 

the global economic losses will increase by trillions 

of dollars and the economic recovery in even the 

world’s wealthiest countries and largest economies 

will be further delayed. 

How then do we agree as a global community 

on a coordinated approach when we represent 

such diverse populations, cultural norms, 

government structures, and vastly disparate 

economic circumstances? 

The answer may be more complicated than 

it seems on the surface. 

We are reminded often in daily life that the 

world is not fair. Individually we experience “fair” 

and “unfair” in unique and myriad ways. Lest we 

forget, fairness is subjective. The definition of “fair” 

or “unfair” is influenced by and built upon one’s 

personal perspectives, experiences, biases, beliefs, 

and values. Therefore, what I consider fair likely 

differs from what someone else considers fair when 

each of us looks at the same situation through 

our distinct lenses. 

So then, whose definition of fair do we use 

when considering access to Covid-19 vaccines – 

who gets it, when do they get it, and at what price? 

Do we apply principles where fair means equal? 

Do we define fair relative to economic or value 

contribution? Or is fair based on need? 

It depends on the context and perspective 

of the one answering the question. 

Wealthy countries felt the devastating effects 

of the pandemic first, with high rates of infection 

and death, and broad-reaching economic impacts 

of lockdowns and quarantine. These countries 

“Do we define fair relative 

to economic or value 

contribution? Or is fair 

based on need? 

jumped into action without regard to cost to fund 

the scientific and medical research innovation to 

quickly develop novel vaccines. Pharmaceutical 

companies and drug manufacturers assumed 

inordinate financial risk as they pushed to expedite 

development, testing, clinical trials, and preparation 

of facilities able to mass-produce vaccines. 

As health and socioeconomic impacts of the 

pandemic spread across the world, the race to 

develop effective vaccines led to unexpected 

challenges, setbacks, and delays – limited availability 

of raw materials, vaccine transport and storage 

logistics, and insufficient global production capacity 

to name a few. The countries largely responsible 

33

for the promising vaccine development initiatives 

felt increasing pressure to secure access to sufficient 

doses to inoculate their full population as soon 

as possible, and they were able to do just that. 

Restricted by tight healthcare budgets, lower 

income countries and developing nations are unable 

to respond to the pressures on the economy and 

healthcare system in the same way. Their annual per 

capita budget for healthcare will struggle to absorb 

the added cost of Covid-19 vaccines. Given they 

are almost solely dependent on imports for vaccines 

and have little to no production capacity locally 

or regionally, trade restrictions further exacerbate 

inaccessibility to vaccines. For these countries, 

their options are limited even as the societal and 

economic implications loom large. 

The global community will continue to bear the 

burden of Covid-19 and its impacts for years to 

come. But the burdens will be different, their weight 

will be different, and the approach to managing 

them will be different. Some will decide whether 

to reallocate funds for standard clinical services 

or established immunization programs to bring 

Covid-19 vaccines to vulnerable populations. 

Some will donate millions of vaccine doses to 

protect vulnerable populations. Some will make 

massive investments to boost vaccine production 

and accelerate availability in areas with low 

immunization rates. Some will continue to 

adjust to the personal and professional changes 

the pandemic brought while awaiting vaccine 

booster shots. 

And the question of whether access 

to Covid-19 vaccines has been “fair” or 

“unfair” will be answered in countless different 

ways as it is filtered through the unique lens 

of personal experiences, perspectives, beliefs, 

and values. TNS 

ASK ALISTAIR 

Negotiation expert Alistair White tackles questions 

on global supply chain and volatile currency rates. 

Q: I manage the global supply 

chain for a large, international 

consumer brand. As everyone 

knows, Covid has wreaked havoc 

with distribution and I feel I have 

a Hobson’s choice between soaring 

shipping costs, versus the cost of 

losing customers to small, more agile 

businesses who have been able to get 

goods to market on lower volumes. 

How can I negotiate from any position 

of power with the shipping companies 

when I feel like they know they have 

me over a barrel? 

A: The current 

pandemic has disrupted 

every business in the 

world – including shipping 

companies by the way – but 

sometimes, because a lot of 

things have changed, we feel 

that everything has changed. 

In many cases, this simply isn’t 

true. You say you work for a “large, 

international consumer brand”. You 

are still a large, international consumer 

brand. That hasn’t changed and your 

customers know that; they know 

that their consumers still want to 

buy your brand, and they also know 

that their consumers will potentially 

go somewhere else if they don’t have 

your brand on their shelves. And the 

shipping companies know that too. 

Shipping costs will stabilize at some 

point in the future, but just because you 

feel you have less power doesn’t mean 

you are completely powerless. Because 

of the volumes you need to transport, 

you are still an attractive proposition 

for any shipping company. With that 

in mind, there are a few things you 

could try to improve your negotiation 

position. For example, you could offer 

more attractive contractual terms, either 

by consolidating business among fewer 

shipping companies, or by making 

longer contractual commitments 

in return for lower or more stable 

prices. If you feel under threat from 

smaller, more agile businesses, surely 

there are smaller, more agile shipping 

companies who would be keen to steal 

market share from some of their larger 

competitors in return for a commitment 

from a large international brand? 

And, if agility is key, can you break 

your volumes down and ship smaller 

volumes at more frequent intervals? 

Conversely, could you form an ad 

hoc type of buying group where you 

consolidate your demand with other 

companies, perhaps competitors, 

or perhaps completely unrelated 

businesses, to create greater, more 

attractive volume and use this to 

negotiate more competitive rates? 

34


Q: The wildly fluctuating global 

currency situation due to Covid has 

impacted our commodity prices to 

the point where we are having to 

renegotiate when our goods are midocean. 

How can we approach such a 

difficult situation and ensure that our 

negotiations are not totally one-sided? 

A: The word “fluctuation” implies 

that currencies are moving in both 

directions so, presumably, your 

providers are suffering from the same 

market dynamics. One idea would be to 

take a “advantages and disadvantages” 

approach where you both acknowledge 

the volatility of the situation and 

agree in advance that you will operate 

within a “tolerance 

level”. That is where 

you set an exchange 

rate benchmark 

and, as long as that 

benchmark does not 

move more than 5 or 

10% (or whatever level 

you prefer) up or down 

from that pre-agreed 

rate, you agree that you 

will not renegotiate in 

the expectation that 

you will gain as much 

as you lose. 

Q: The pandemic has necessitated 

that we negotiate with many new 

suppliers to try and unblock our 

supply chain, many of whom are in 

countries that we have no experience 

in, with very different cultures and 

ways of working. How can we learn 

quickly the cross-cultural nuances 

and ensure we aren’t jeopardizing our 

deals by being culturally insensitive 

or naïve? 

A: At the risk of sounding cynical 

or even insensitive, the impact of 

cross-cultural difference is often overestimated 

in negotiation. Consider 

first how much you have in common 

with your potential new suppliers – you 

both work for commercial enterprises 

and you will share common business 

aspirations, you will be measured in 

very similar ways by your respective 

bosses and shareholders and they will 

almost certainly have already dealt with 

companies very similar to yours. It’s not 

as if your new suppliers come from an 

entirely different planet. 

Having said that, it would be wise, 

and an act of common courtesy, to be 

mindful of cultural difference during 

negotiations. There is no single answer 

to this question but I would offer 

three pieces of generic advice. 

First, conduct a bit of desk research 

in advance about the national or 

regional culture in question. 

Second, make a blanket statement 

at the outset about how this is the first 

time you have dealt with a company 

from country x, and, if at any time, 

you do or say something that they 

consider unusual or even inappropriate, 

then they should understand that 

this is done out of ignorance rather 

than malice. And third, periodically 

“Just because you feel you 

have less power doesn't mean 

you are completely powerless. 

ask a question such as, “This is how we 

normally do this sort of deal/conduct 

this kind of conversation; does it 

coincide with your view?” 

One final word of warning from 

an old cynic. Don’t allow yourself to 

be persuaded into making concessions 

simply because, “that is the way 

we do things in our country”. You 

wouldn’t be the first to be lured into 

that trap; your job is still to get the 

best deal you can for your business, 

not to accommodate every wish of 

your supplier just because they are 

new and different. 

Q: I find it very difficult to adjust 

to online negotiations compared 

to the face-to-face meetings we 

conducted pre-pandemic. 

What advice can you offer? 

A: This is a very common complaint. 

Negotiating “remotely” means exactly 

that; we are more remote, or removed, 

from our negotiations. Removed in 

the sense that we are physically more 

distant, emotionally more detached and 

intellectually less engaged. That is just 

the nature of remote negotiations, and 

the pandemic has simply brought that 

into sharper focus. It is bad enough 

on a video conference call, but this 

“remoteness” is even more pronounced 

if you are negotiating by telephone 

or by email. 

To counteract this, I would make 

the following practical suggestions. 

Attention spans are shorter so set a 

start and end time for your meeting. 

You don’t necessarily have to conclude 

your negotiation in one conversation – 

you can adjourn to another date 

and time. 

Position yourself in a space where 

there are as few distractions as 

possible. Optimize your video setup. 

There are some simple 

lessons you can learn 

about lighting, sound, 

backgrounds, and other 

basics which are widely 

available on the internet. 

Turn your camera 

on – and ensure as 

far as possible that 

your counterpart does 

the same. A camera 

turned off always gives 

rise to the suspicion 

that they, or you, have 

something to hide which isn’t a good 

starting point for many negotiations. 

In face-to-face settings, we 

understand and interpret what people 

say to us through many stimuli – body 

language for example – that we cannot 

observe as well in remote negotiations. 

It is therefore much more important 

to listen to their voice – tone, pace, 

emphasis – and watch their face. 

The voice and the face lend extra 

meaning to the words and often 

reveal more about their true state 

of mind than the words they say. 

Choose your words with extra care 

and make sure that you express yourself 

as precisely and concisely as possible. 

The potential for misinterpretation and 

misunderstanding is all the greater in 

remote negotiations. 

Avoid the temptation to interrupt. 

It is the single biggest complaint 

about remote negotiations. Perhaps 

agree a protocol that you will each 

indicate when you have finished 

speaking and will invite the other 

to contribute or make use of the 

“raised hand” function that is 

available on most video 

conferencing platforms. TNS 

35

QUESTION 

TIME 

We asked a panel of experts for their 

rapid-fire response to the statement, 

“The pandemic has provided a much needed 

wake-up call to global trade negotiators.” 

Emma Moss 

Global Supplier Management & 

Sustainability Programs, Deutsche Post 

AG, Corporate Procurement 

The entire world has felt the effect 

of the pandemic. It has shone a light 

on the vulnerability of supply chains 

to sudden shocks and widened the 

wealth gap, leaving an increasing 

number of workers exposed to human 

rights abuse. 

The most important action we can 

take from this is to join forces with 

critical suppliers to build resilient and 

sustainable supply chains. Consistently 

having unplanned and changing 

demand or always placing orders as 

rush orders not only impacts your 

relationship with the supplier, but, 

inadvertently, exacerbates human 

rights abuse in the supply chain as 

workers work longer hours to meet 

your demands. 

Negotiators who are fully aware of 

their company’s strategy, the potential 

points of supply failure and the impact 

on human rights across the value 

chain when building their negotiation 

strategies can protect the reputation 

and resilience of their company and 

create competitive advantage. 

36


Sven Mermans 

Negotiation Expert, 

The Gap Partnership 

Yes it has, but many haven’t 

woken up…yet. 

The pandemic has caused rapidly 

changing economic parameters 

and global shortages of goods and 

services, forcing many companies 

and governments to renegotiate 

with their trade partners. 

These negotiations often present 

global trade negotiators with an 

opportunity to create long-term and 

sustainable value. Unfortunately, many 

have instinctively gone into fight or 

flight mode, self-preservation and 

protectionist negotiation behaviors. 

We have witnessed governments 

taking short-term protectionist 

measures and bargaining over vaccine 

supplies, and of companies squeezing 

customers, suppliers and employees, 

all resulting in damaged trust 

and relationships. 

Value creation is always possible 

though when some dependency exists 

between trade partners, when there 

is a level of trust and respect for the 

relationship and when negotiators 

take a long-term view. 

So let’s hope global trade negotiators 

will wake up soon, start looking beyond 

the short-term and start leveraging 

trust and relationships to create 

mutual value! 

Dr. Meenal Shrivastava 

Professor, Political Economy & Global 

Studies, Centre for Social Sciences, 

Athabasca University 

In 2020-21, trade in goods 

declined by 5.1%, while severely hit 

by Covid restrictions, trade in services 

declined by 20%. The relatively robust 

recovery of trade in goods was driven 

by the surge in demand for durable 

goods and fewer factory shutdowns, 

especially in China. Ironically, the 

strength in manufacturing and the 

recent commodities boom has led 

to the current disruptions in supply 

chains, shortage of containers, and 

a nearly 350% rise in shipping costs. 

To prevent this unprecedented 

global health crisis from becoming 

a spiralling economic crisis, and to 

boost confidence in international 

trade in this era of global crisis and 

uncertainty, state negotiators need 

to improve transparency around 

trade-related policies and their 

implementation. Most importantly, 

they will need to ensure that trade 

policies are designed to serve the 

public interest. By continuing to serve 

short-term vested interests, trade 

negotiators not only risk creating 

future market distortions, but will also 

miss the opportunity to work toward 

a sustainable and just recovery of 

international trade and economy. 

Wai Lau 

Negotiation Expert, 

The Gap Partnership 

There’s a quote, apocryphal or 

otherwise, attributed to Warren Buffet 

that goes something like this: “Only 

when the tide goes out do you discover 

who’s been swimming naked.” 

Well, folks, the beach is looking 

awfully dry, and all the talk of prepandemic 

win-win is being put 

to the test. Those who invested in 

building trust and mutuality into their 

commercial relationships pre-Covid 

are reaping the benefits, whereas those 

who chose to exploit relationship-inlip 

service-only are feeling the pain 

(see: stories of $20K fees to move 

a container across the Pacific). 

So, what now? Supply chains 

are still a mess, macro headwinds 

continue to blow, and the Grinch may 

very well steal Christmas. Perhaps this 

is a blessing in disguise, an opportunity 

to renegotiate, if you will. Revisit 

those legacy contract terms, 

relationships, and other dusty cobwebs 

in your commercial arrangements and 

come out the other side of this better 

than ever. 

37

Matsepo Mabena 

Procurement & Sustainability Director: 

ZBB & Capex, AB InBev 

It has been close to two years 

since the global pandemic began and 

impacted our daily lives. It has also 

provided a wake-up call to global 

companies in the way we negotiate 

with our suppliers. 

The biggest challenge has been with 

small and local suppliers who provide 

critical services to our businesses. 

We have seen some of these suppliers 

liquidated and going under business 

rescue, and this means that we had 

to step in to support them financially 

by relaxing payment terms and 

providing upfront payment to deliver 

some services. 

It has now become essential to look 

at supplier diversity when sourcing for 

services instead of only looking at how 

much we can save from that supplier. 

This is also important as governments 

have been hit hard and the economies 

have been struggling, and now some 

are starting to recover we need to play 

our part to support them. TNS 

Iturned 50 this summer. Friends told me not to 

worry. This puzzled me. I wasn’t worried in the 

slightest about being an extra day older, I was 

pleased our unwelcome viral interloper hadn’t 

cut my time short! I’d also decided to stop worrying 

so much in general, especially about what other 

people think of me. In other words, as I edged closer 

to retirement, I vowed to retire my ego – or at least 

send it on long sabbaticals. 

One benefit of being ancient was getting my 

Covid vaccinations quickly. Shortly after, the subject 

of ego came to light again. A news story caught my 

eye about a woman hospitalized with Covid who had 

nearly died, despite her sister having been recently 

hospitalized for the same reason. Both had chosen 

not to get vaccinated. 

Now, I’m not interested in debating the rights and 

wrongs of that choice. The aspect to this story which 

interests 

me 

“Ego is dangerous. 

It can blind you to facts 

and creative thinking. 

Tim Green 

Go, ego, go 

concerns 

ego: the 

second 

ill sister’s 

personal 

belief 

system 

being 

such that 

even in the face of family precedent – a sibling close 

to death, attributed to non-vaccination – she did not 

retreat from her view and get the jab. 

Ego is dangerous. It can blind you to facts and 

creative thinking. It can inhibit personal growth 

and even, in the case of the poorly sisters, affect 

your health. In business, ego-driven outcomes in 

commercial negotiation can be financially and 

reputationally damaging, often resulting from 

a desire to beat your negotiation opponent. 

Maybe there is no virus, the vaccinations are 

sugar water and the sisters are right. But I’d rather 

be around to find out and laugh at myself for being 

gullible, than six feet under. 

In short, park your ego to get more from life 

and your negotiations. TNS 

38


CROSSWORD 

Our fiendishly challenging British-style crossword returns. 

ILLUSTRATION: CARTOONRESOURSE/CARTOOMSTOCK 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 

9 10 

11 12 

13 14 15 

21 22 

18 19 20 

23 24 25 

26 27 

28 29 

ACROSS 

1 Debate illustrates I got 

Etonian agitated (11) 

7 Starts to refill Oktoberfest 

beer mug (3) 

9 See 21 Down 

10 New or 4D vessel (9) 

11 Silent rodents move around 

reserve stealthily at first (9) 

12 Revolution from Cortez, 

a man to surprise (5) 

13 Journey – it comes after one 

leaves carriages (7) 

16 17 

15 Raw materials, sea transport finally 

organized producing strike (4) 

18 Champion of Cherokees (4) 

20 Irish fool to search 

for swimmers (7) 

"GIVE ME YOUR HAND, I RAN OUT OF CONES" 

23 Joker from the beginning 

of lockdown accepted expression 

of disgust (5) 

24 Alteration of pandemic quarantine, 

at last had trip to get bargain (4,5) 

26 Eat outside one area involving 

a couple in 1A (9) 

27 The beginnings of American 

manufacturers' award to incentivize 

violin makers (5) 

28 Margins of legitimacy around 

advanced deposit (3) 

29 Crazy fling, Anne's close to 

Robert Browning (4-7) 

DOWN 

1 Delivery of national movement 

without Conservative (8) 

2 Weight revealed by artist given 

little supplement to block wind (8) 

3 Subject of article by setter (5) 

4 Congress that is organization 

of nature lovers out-dated (7) 

5 Corporation is essentially covering 

up charges (7) 

6 City like a region found in former 

African country (9) 

7 Worried Northern retailers ignoring 

unfortunate rise in housing costs (6) 

8 Edge in lodger's broadcast (6) 

14 Animal companions in shorthand 

record by that woman’s detective (9) 

16 Intellectuals reportedly refuse 

a note (8) 

17 Taking on board trendy prince 

is entertained by serenade (8) 

19 Police provide long-standing 

charges (3,4) 

20 Gosh! Rector gets therapy, right? (7) 

21/9 International business getting round 

rejection of craft from French (6,5) 

22/25 Production and distribution 

logistics of banks of commodities 

unhappily redistributed (6,5) 

For solutions email 

hello@thenegotiationsociety.com 

39

© The Gap Partnership, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Negotiation Society magazine: The global trade issue

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