BATNA and Negotiation

Student S asked us:

I wonder, does a person with higher power in the negotition have a higher BATNA?

It's generally thought of the other way round. The individual with the highest BATNA tends to have stronger bargaining power.

Thank you, but what is bargaining power? Do you mean it is less easier to walk away?

That's not bargaining power directly, although it can be related. How easy it is to walk away is usually determined by the BATNA (i.e. do you have other, equally good, or even better options if the negotiation fails).

Bargaining power is more about how far you can push the other side to get what you want. If you have stronger bargaining power, this means that you are in a better position to secure a bigger slice of the pie being negotiated. However, I would always argue that even with strong bargaining power a negotiator should always go for a Win / Win