In this chapter, we have set the groundwork for a thorough and detailed examination of the negotiation process. We began with examples—examples from the news of events around the world and examples from our everyday experience. We used these examples to introduce the variety of negotiations that occur daily and to discuss how we will present material in this book. We then turned to the extended example of a day in the life of Joe and Sue Carter and showed how negotiations permeate daily experience. We also used this example to help define the key parameters of a negotiation situation.

Our definition and these examples lead us to explore four key elements of the negotiation process: managing interdependence, engaging in mutual adjustment, creating or claiming value, and managing conflict. Each of these elements is foundational to understanding how negotiation works. Managing interdependence is about the parties understanding the ways they are dependent on each other for attaining their goals and objectives. Mutual adjustment introduces the ways parties begin to set goals for themselves in a negotiation and adjust to goals stated by the other party in order to emerge with an agreement that is satisfactory to both. Claiming or creating value are the processes by which parties handle negotiation opportunities to share or "win" a scarce resource or to enhance the resource so both sides can gain. Finally, managing conflict helps negotiators understand how conflict is functional and dysfunctional. It involves some basic strategies to maximize the benefits of conflict and limit its costs.

These four processes are central to any negotiation, and they serve as the foundation for our expanded treatment of this subject. In the remainder of this chapter, we provided an overview of our broader approach by introducing the overall organization and chapters in the book.