Negotiation

Captain Barbossa and Elizabeth "Turner" negotiate aboard the Black Pearl.

"Why fight when you can negotiate? All one needs is the proper leverage."

―Jack Sparrow

Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties to reach a desired outcome regarding one or more issues of conflict. It is an interaction between entities who aspire to agree on matters of mutual interest. The agreement can be beneficial for all or some of the parties involved. Negotiators should establish their own needs and wants while also seeking to understand the wants and needs of others involved to increase their chances of closing deals or bargains, avoiding conflicts, forming relationships with other parties, or maximizing mutual gains.

People negotiate daily, often without considering it a negotiation. Negotiations occur in organizations, including businesses, non-profits, and governments, as well as in sales and legal proceedings, and personal situations such as marriage, parenting, friendship, etc.

The goal of negotiation is to resolve points of difference, gain an advantage for an individual or collective, or craft outcomes to satisfy various interests. Distributive negotiations, or compromises, are conducted by putting forward a position and making concessions to achieve an agreement. The degree to which the negotiating parties trust each other to implement the negotiated solution is a major factor in determining the success of a negotiation.

History

"Perhaps we could parlay... somewhere else? So we may speak privately?"
"Certainly. Though I must remain aboard my ship."
"Let us speak up there. That way both our crews will be able to witness that we negotiate in good faith and remain in good health."

―Esmeralda and Jack Sparrow

Following the death of Captain Nathaniel Bainbridge of the East India Trading Company brig Fair Wind during an attack from the pirate ship Venganza, First Mate Jack Sparrow took command of the ship and was able to negotiate with the pirate captain, who turned out to be his old love interest Esmeralda. She agreed to take only one third of the ship's cargo of rum, because she didn't want her crewmen to overindulge themselves in alcoholic beverages. The last prize ship the pirates took was carrying Madeira, and for the next two weeks most of the crew were so drunk Esmeralda thought she would have to make sails herself.

Some of the rumors about Davy Jones, the cursed captain of the Flying Dutchman and the supernatural ruler of the ocean depths, said that he would sometimes negotiate, make deals, with mariners brave or brazen enough to confront him, then stand up to him. When Jack Sparrow went down with his ship, the Wicked Wench, then an EITC merchant vessel, he used a magical incantation to summon Jones and they made a bargain. Jones resurrected Jack and the Wench, making the ship supernaturally fast. In exchange, after thirteen years of captaincy aboard the newly rechristened pirate vessel Black Pearl, Jack belonged to Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman, body and soul, to serve for a hundred years.

On the night of the attack on Port Royal, Elizabeth Swann invoked the right of parley by the Code of the Pirate Brethren and was taken aboard the Black Pearl, then captained by Hector Barbossa. As Elizabeth was brought aboard the Black Pearl to parley with Captain Barbossa, negotiating the cessation of hostilities against Port Royal, she used the Aztec gold medallion to strike a bargain, with her threat to drop it overboard making the captain cooperate. Barbossa then sailed away with the medallion and Elizabeth still on board, thinking Elizabeth's blood would help him lift the Aztec curse. Against Elizabeth's objections, citing the Pirate's Code, Barbossa said her return to shore was not part of their negotiations nor their agreements, and that the Code not applying to her as well as being more guidelines than rules.

After the escape of the motley crew from Isla de Pelegostos, Will Turner attempted to make a trade with Jack Sparrow, Sparrow's magical compass in exchange for a full pardon and commission as a privateer in service to England. Jack pointed that accepting those things was what Will wanted from Jack, but wasn't what Jack wanted from Will, which made the young man realize nothing was stickier than negotiating with a blasted pirate.

Behind the scenes

Negotiations first appear in the 2003 junior novelization for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

Appearances

• Jack Sparrow: The Siren Song
• The Price of Freedom
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Rising in the East
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Day of the Shadow
• Tears of the Goddess
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization) (First appearance)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2006 junior novelization)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization)

External links

• Negotiation on Wikipedia