Natural resource negotiation often involves multiple parties with
overlapping interests and issues that can provide opportunities for
mutually beneficial solutions. These opportunities can be missed, however,
if negotiators are unable to comprehend the facts of a negotiation,
understand the interests of other parties, or accurately evaluate the
options that increase the size of the negotiation pie. Through structured
personal interviews with more than 60 representatives from seven different
hydropower negotiations, respondents identified core competencies that
help negotiators succeed at accurately comprehending the facts of a
negotiation, comprehending the interests of other parties, and fully
understanding the available options and alternatives. We categorized those
core competencies into three dimensions of
negotiation—interpersonal, organizational, and operational.