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Negotiating the Pandemic Like an Entrepreneur: Lessons from the Turbulent World of Start‐Up Ventures
Author(s) -
Manwaring Melissa,
Weirup Amanda,
Balachandra Lakshmi
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
negotiation journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.238
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1571-9979
pISSN - 0748-4526
DOI - 10.1111/nejo.12357
Subject(s) - negotiation , context (archaeology) , pandemic , public relations , business , political science , stakeholder , action (physics) , covid-19 , psychology , law and economics , sociology , law , medicine , paleontology , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , biology , physics , quantum mechanics
The COVID‐19 pandemic has forced many organizations to negotiate existential issues in the context of diminished resources, high stress, heightened uncertainty, and lack of relevant precedent. A predictive approach—in which negotiators conduct research, prepare a strategy, and then act—may be insufficient in these turbulent pandemic conditions. Yet these are the very conditions in which nascent entrepreneurs typically negotiate. We recommend that organizations apply lessons from the start‐up venture context when negotiating during the pandemic: (1) recognize and tap into existing resources; (2) address conflicts directly and early, seeking stakeholder input; and (3) shift from the typical “predictive” negotiation approach to a more entrepreneurial “creative” approach, in which they take experimental action, learn from that experiment, and then plan their next steps.