Harvard Business Review LogoJoão SantosWe’d been working for several years with one of the world’s largest utilities when we received an urgent call from a senior executive there. “You remember that new power plant we announced we were building so that we could meet promises we’d made to the market for new electricity generation?” he said. “Well, we’re already behind schedule, and the engineering and construction firm we’ve been negotiating with has demanded a huge up-front payment before they start work. We simply cannot afford to pay anything close to that amount. But we have no alternative; we selected them because they were the only company with the capability to build this plant in the time frame we need. We can’t agree to what they’re demanding, they’re refusing to negotiate, and we can’t just walk away. What can we do?”A version of this article appeared in the May–June 2026 issue of Harvard Business Review.
Negotiating When There Is No Plan B
How can negotiators find leverage even when they appear to have no viable alternatives? The absence of a clear BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) doesn’t mean dealmakers are powerless; they can expand the concept of alternatives to include partial, temporary, and procedural options that can shift the negotiation dynamics. Creative approaches—such as identifying partial substitutes, looking for hidden strengths in your position, seeking tacit consent rather than explicit approval, reframing threats as warnings, and appealing to fairness—can help you gain leverage and achieve better outcomes, even when facing seemingly one-sided dependency or “take it or leave it” ultimatums.
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