Negotiation / Management / Communication
Negotiation / Management / CommunicationOtis's Law
Concessions are a normal part of bargaining.
Popularity
Usefulness
Aliases
Concession-readiness principle
Domains
Negotiation, conflict resolution, sales, management
Definition
- Otis's Law is not a standard English negotiation law. In secondary management sources, the label is used for the advice that every serious negotiation requires planned concessions rather than rigid insistence on every point.
Core Idea
- Concessions are a normal part of bargaining.
- Give deliberately, not emotionally or blindly.
- Treat the label as an informal teaching slogan, not as a settled law.
How It Works
- Parties evaluate interests, tradeoffs, and leverage.
- Outcomes improve when goals, limits, and concessions are handled deliberately.
- The slogan highlights one rule of thumb, not the whole negotiation method.
Usage Example
- A negotiator enters with a prepared concession plan instead of improvising under pressure.
Famous Example
- Example: No canonical, independently verified example was located for Otis's Law as a mainstream named law.
- Why it fits this rule: The label appears mainly in secondary management compilations rather than broad English reference works.
- Verification status: Low confidence as a named law; only the underlying idea is moderately interpretable.
Use Cases / Situations Where It Applies
- Negotiation preparation.
- Mutual-gain bargaining.
- Choosing concession strategy.
When Not to Use or Common Misuse
- Do not give concessions blindly.
- Do not confuse a slogan with a complete negotiation method.
- Do not ignore power, alternatives, or incentives.
Rule Invention / Origin
- Invented by: No reliable primary attribution found.
- Year of invention: Unclear.
- Country / context of origin: Appears mainly in secondary Chinese-language management compilations.
Evidence / Research Basis
- No primary or high-quality secondary source confirming this as a standard English named rule was found.