During the course of negotiations, people often misrepresent
information to gain at least a temporary advantage. For example, a seller may
fabricate existence of another interested buyer or a buyer may misrepresent the
price and availability of an item from a different vendor. Reflect on
deceptions in negotiations and describe four ways to evaluate information
during negotiations. Relate an example of a recent negotiation in which you
have been misled and one in which you may have overstated a claim.; define how
far you would be willing to go to leverage your position.
Negotiation (similar to argumentation) comes into play when
managers leaders need to influence those who actively disagree with them, e.g.,
new ideas, projects, processes, practices etc. The focus of argumentation is to
create a foundation of superiority of one position over another, however, the
focus of negotiation is to reach a conclusion that is acceptable to both sides.
Negotiation process includes closed-loop communication to reach a decision when
most people are in disagreement. A combination of both compatible and
incompatible interests marks negotiation scenarios. Negotiators must have some
common goal or they would not be negotiating. At least one or more issues must
separate them or they wouldn't need to negotiate to reach a mutual agreement.
For example, everyone (students) working in MSLD 632 class project group team
probably wants a good grade of an A. However, some group members could prefer
to spend their time relaxing or studying for other classes instead of meeting
with the group or gathering documenting research. The amount of work each
member does for the group then becomes a matter for negotiation. This
negotiation process was documented on our group charter this week (Hackman and Johnson,
2013).
There
are two negotiation climates: 1. cooperation, and 2. competition. There are huge
differences between cooperative and competitive negotiation climates. Cooperation
includes: open and honest communication, an emphasis on similarities, trusting
with friendly attitudes, mutual problem solving and reduction of conflicting
interests. Competition includes: very little communication with messages
usually negative and misleading, an emphasis on differences, suspicion, hostility,
one party wins over the other and escalation of conflict with negative emotions
(Hackman and Johnson, 2013).
The
classical view, win-lose negotiating, suggests negotiations are frequently a
form of a zero-sum game, i.e., whatever extent one party wins something, the
other party loses. This is also known as distributive negotiating as resources
are divided. Unfortunately, win-lose negotiations are common at many
organizations. For example, it characterizes most bargaining involving material
goods, such as the procurement of supplies or manufacturing raw materials.
Win-lose negotiating can be seen at colleges and universities where each
college attempts to negotiate the best operating budget for itself usually at
the expense of other colleges (Ivancevich, Konopaske, and Matteson, 2014).
Win-win,
or integrative, negotiating brings a different focus and perspective to the
process. Unlike the zero-sum orientation in win-lose, win-win negotiating is a
positive-sum approach which is where each party gains without a corresponding
loss for the other party. This doesn't mean that everyone gets what they want
which does not usually occur. It means that a mutual agreement has been
achieved that leaves both parties better off than they were before the
agreement. In order for conflict to be converted into a win-win situation,
leaders managers need to accept the idea that conflict is useful and empower
employees to actively engage in it. The win-win approach can be summarized by
stating, "I want a solution which achieves your goals and my goals and is
acceptable to both of us" (Ivancevich, Konopaske, and Matteson, 2014).
People
are generally more comfortable telling lies of omission by not revealing
information than lies of commission by actively misrepresenting information.
Negotiators can misrepresent their interests and intentions: reservation
prices, interests, intentions and material facts. Lies can also be told about
oneself, about the target, about another person or about an object or event.
Lies can also be a primary motivation to promote one's own interests or promote
someone else's interest. Some lies can actually facilitate the communication
process. During the negotiation process it is important to: establish trust,
shift the frame, ask direct questions, listen carefully, pay attention to
nonverbal cues, keep records and get things in writing (Hoch and Kunreuther, 2001).
I
can improve my negotiation skills by becoming more aware of the styles and
tactics of the other parties in negotiations. Most people, including myself are
not very good at detecting deception and the best defense is to reduce the
likelihood that people will use deception by developing trust and assurances to
others that I will not use deception. E-mail and other information technologies
can be used also to facilitate a less emotional approach, e.g., face-to-face confrontations etc.
References
Hackman,
Michael Z. and Johnson, Craig E. (2013).
Leadership: A Communication Perspective
(6th ed.). Long Grove, IL:
Waveland Press, Inc.
Hoch,
Stephen J., and Kunreuther, Howard C. (2001). Wharton on Making Decisions. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley &
Sons, Inc.
Ivancevich,
John M., Konopaske, Robert, and Matteson, Michael T. (2014). Organizational Behavior & Management
(10th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
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