Dr. Oliver Mäschle is a passionate negotiator and joined the NASHER “Negotiation Consulting” competence team in September 2023. During his studies of economics in Munich and Rostock, he was already intensively involved in microeconomic, behavioral economic and psychological research on the subject of negotiations.
Immediately after completing his studies, he joined TWS Partners as a negotiation consultant. The consultancy specializes in the use of auctions and negotiations in industry. There he gained negotiation experience as a project manager for well-known large corporations in various industries such as automotive, consumer electronics transportation and pharmaceuticals.
His next stop was at a former negotiating opponent, the cable harness supplier Kromberg & Schubert. At the automotive supplier with more than 50,000 employees worldwide, he contributed his negotiation skills in both direct and indirect purchasing and moderated all global sourcing committees.
He eventually joined the Negotiation Advisory Group. At that time, it was a start-up that quickly grew from eight to more than 40 employees. In his role as Director, he managed major projects in sectors as diverse as the semiconductor industry, air conditioning and heating technology and mechanical engineering. He played a leading role in guiding his clients through their most important strategic negotiations.
Between negotiating magic and purchasing expertise
He describes his consulting work as a mixture of negotiating magic and down-to-earth purchasing and sales expertise — analytical skills are just as important as communicative social skills. After all, negotiation consulting is not just about finding the right strategy at the right moment. It also means unpretentiously keeping your back to the customer, who is often fully occupied with day-to-day business obligations.
One man for all negotiation cases
As a negotiation consultant, you face very different challenges. According to Dr. Mäschle, sometimes it is a matter of “putting out fires quickly”, for example when a customer has to build a new plant in a very short space of time or when there is still a huge savings gap in purchasing towards the end of the financial year. In such cases, negotiation management must be used pragmatically and swiftly to achieve the internal goals that have been set.
Other customer situations are characterized by more continuity. In transformation projects, for example, the aim is to sustainably improve an organization’s internal negotiation skills. After carrying out a few lighthouse negotiation projects in tandem with the customer, purchasing and sales are intensively trained across the board. The conclusion of such a transformation project is often the sustainable establishment of a dedicated center of competence for negotiations. This is already the case at various DAX companies.
Dr. Mäschle Tasks and goals at NASHER
Dr. Oliver Mäschle is responsible for the “Organizational Consulting” division, where he continues his successful work to date. Together with Dr. Jack Nasher, he continues to develop the range of consulting services for companies. Young talents and old hands are always welcome in the team.