Negotiation Culture: A Manifesto for Strategic Success

“I don't understand why people are afraid of new ideas. I'm afraid of the old ones.” – John Cage

Why Create a Negotiation Culture?

This is a good beginning point.

Why would I alter the culture—or create a new one—in my company? And if I did, why select a negotiation culture?

These are ones that I’m usually asked, and they are substantial ones. It’s hard to change or create culture. Many people have grown up and found success through the one that exists, and pressures that keep the status quo may frequently outweigh pressures that push for change.

So let’s dive into it and take a look at the core of what a negotiation culture truly consists of—and why it matters. And along the way, I’ll dispel some of the more prevalent myths that can hold things back.

Misconception #1: Negotiation Is a Win–Lose Game

One of the things that I don't like about being a negotiation consultant is that people think we only do hard, contentious, relentless hard bargaining at all costs.

When negotiation is framed so negatively—as something aggressive, adversarial—it’s no surprise that incorporating it into an organisation’s culture seems like a step backward. Who would want to work in such an environment, one that only accommodates the most Machiavellian of personalities?

But that view is narrow as well as false.

In its fullest, most lucrative form, negotiation isn’t adversarial at all. It’s an extremely evolved exercise of listen, understand, construct novel solutions, and align commercially. It’s relationship building, discovering common value, and achieving better results—not just for one, but for both parties.

So What Does a High-Performing Negotiation Culture Look Like?

When we negotiate with clients, we emphasize a set of fundamentals that constitute the foundation of successful negotiation. These are:

• Clarity of team members' tasks and roles
• Comprehensive planning
• Objective risk evaluation and mitigation
• Control over the process, not being led by events
• Understanding available options and when to use them
• Deep knowledge of your counterparties
• Strategy that addresses both the “what” and the “how”
• Prioritising value—your own and theirs
• Internal alignment across stakeholders
• Strategic coherence—ensuring negotiation supports the wider business goals
• Effective internal and external communication
• A replicable, proven process for consistent outcomes
• A toolkit that reinforces and enhances all of the above

Seen through another lens, these aren’t just negotiation principles—they’re principles of sound commercial management. Yet in many organisations, they’re not consistently practiced. Sometimes it’s due to time pressure. Sometimes it’s because objectivity isn’t rewarded. And sometimes firefighting just feels more heroic than fire prevention.

But when these principles are embedded through training, systems, and leadership support, they become part of the organisation’s operating rhythm—and that's when real commercial change begins.

This is where negotiation training plays a vital role: it builds the habits, frameworks, and confidence needed to move from sporadic success to consistent performance.

Misconception #2: Only Specialists Negotiate

The sales team negotiates. So does procurement. Maybe legal and HR too. But what about marketing, negotiating with agencies? Or IT, with vendors and service providers? Facilities, with landlords and contractors? Internal teams, negotiating priorities and budgets?

In truth, everyone negotiates. Every day. With internal stakeholders and external partners alike.

In today’s complex operating environments, negotiations rarely sit neatly within a single department. They involve multiple stakeholders, cross-functional goals, and broader strategic implications.

Take, for example, a recent engagement where we supported a multibillion-dollar RFP for a core raw material portfolio. The decision-making process wasn’t just about price—it had to consider sustainability, legal requirements, supply chain resilience, innovation, customer support, technical integration, and more. Over 30 factors were assessed, and multiple departments had a stake in the outcome.

Negotiation in this context is not a specialist function—it’s a strategic capability that demands alignment, coordination, and long-term vision.

Misconception #3: Negotiation Comes at the End

One of the most dangerous misconceptions is that negotiation happens after the strategy is set—as a tactical execution step. Negotiation is how strategy gets delivered.

At The Gap Partnership, we’re known for our negotiation expertise. But in truth, we’re increasingly helping clients bridge the gap between strategic intent and commercial execution. We often find that:

• Negotiation objectives are mismatched with individual KPIs
• Those KPIs are misaligned with departmental goals
• Departmental goals don’t support the overarching strategy

The result? Negotiated outcomes that actively undermine the business strategy.

Our first task, on many occasions, is to re-connect the dots—ensuring negotiation goals reflect and align with strategic direction. It implies planning negotiation at an early stage, as opposed to overlooking it as an afterthought.

Bringing It All Together: What Is Negotiation Culture?

Negotiation culture, at its essence, is about finding an intelligent manner of doing commerce.

The word “negotiation” comes from the Latin word negotiari, which means “to conduct business.” “Culture” comes from the word cultus, meaning “to foster or cultivate.”

These two, as a combination, reflect something strong: a trained, conscientious manner of doing business through negotiation.

Building negotiation culture requires investments in three key fields:

People – attracting and building people who can think commercially and act collaboratively Process – including reproducible, transferable frameworks that maximize negotiation outcomes Structures – creating governmental systems that implement good practices, enable alignment, and store learning

It also means accepting negotiation training as a long-term capacity building effort—not once, but as part of on-going learning.

Why Now?

Back to the original question:

Why change culture? Why establish negotiation culture?

Because firms that do are more capable of executing on strategy, of responding to change, of delivering performance. Because the world keeps changing fast—and equipment that used to work may not work again tomorrow.

Because somewhere, a competitor you’ve never heard of is already doing it.

About the Author

Chris Atkins leads the global consultancy practice at The Gap Partnership. He specialises in strategic commercial solutions across sectors, with expertise in negotiation strategy, cost management, RFPs, mergers, trade union discussions, and capability development. Chris is driven by a passion for delivering value through smarter negotiations.