Excerpts From The Wall Street Journal

Eight Wise Men Offer Eight Ideas To End The Texaco-Pennzoil Fight

Gerard I. Nierenberg, author of "The Art of Negotiating," makes a profession of trying to convince adversaries that nobody has to lose.

"What the parties have to realize is that neither one of them wants to be, nor will permit themselves to be, a loser. My philosophy of negotiation is that in a successful negotiation everybody wins. Instead of just fighting over a piece of the pie, everybody gets together trying to make more pie."

"Texaco tried to buy Pennzoil instead of paying the judgment. That's not a bad idea. Maybe one can buy the other, or they can find a company to buy both of them"

The pilots union which gave in to Mr. Ferris’s wage demands, subsequently put together the buyout offer that led to his departure "No one likes to be a loser," Mr. Nierenberg says. "The antagonisms become so great that they destroy reasonableness. Approaching negotiation as a game with a winner and a loser is a tragic approach."