The basis of my behavior and ethical values has a lot to do
with past experience, relationships, and perceptions. Learned behavior and personality, and concern
as to how I am being viewed have an undertone in how I prefer to interact in a
negotiation. The importance of a
relationship with the person you are negotiating with will clearly lead one to
be more open, honest, accommodating, and willing to collaborate. This is where I feel like I would normally
land in any setting, even if the stakes were higher and the relationship was of
little importance. I prefer to avoid a
tactically demanding setting, which would make me feel uncomfortable, anxious,
and focused more on the negative feelings then the goal at hand. I’m surprised that I scored higher on
Traditional Competitive Bargaining, I think it’s more that I believe that
tactic is acceptable, but I may not use it myself. It seems rather obvious when one opens a
negotiation with an extreme demand and more of a waste of time than anything, at
least if the extreme is blatantly obvious. I agree that there are times where
one would pressure the opponent and constraints such as time, or ego may be the
underlying focus, but that seems like a waste of time as well. I have experienced many situations where I
have felt as though I am being pressured to concede to something and my
thoughts are that it’s either annoying, too boastful by the other party, and unnecessary,
but I don’t believe it to be unethical.
Most people in any sort of sales position will take this position
initially. It’s more of a turn off to
whatever is being sold than it is a tactic, the reason I would prefer not to go
that route, it sours my take on the negotiation.
I scored rather low, under the average on; Attacking
Opponent’s Network, False Promises, and Inappropriate Information Gathering. All three of these seem rather unethical and
based off a lack of confidence, preparedness, and little knowledge of what one
is negotiating. More of a tactic to
strong arm an opponent and attack them with fear, bribery, and
misrepresentation, none of which seem at all ethical. One’s
fear of an attack to paint them as weak is enough for some people to give in to
a certain demand, money motivates some and leads to bribery, but does not mean
that it’s the correct way to negotiate and false promises run along the lines
of being intentionally untruthful, which may or may not be realized but it’s
not the correct course of action. Some
negotiations, even those that produce great results, are based on a foundation misrepresentations
which could eventually fall apart or gain someone a reputation of someone that
is not trustworthy, effecting future negotiations. There are times where untruths may be told, it’s
unavoidable in some cases, as long as the untruth has no harmful effect, or is
not a major misrepresentation of a promise being made, then it’s OK from time
to time, if the untruth is meant to gain some advantage but will not have a negative
impact. Some untruths are expected in
negotiation, more inflations of truth, if your opponent is expecting it and may
be telling untruths themselves, then it can be considered a part of
negotiation.
Overall I’m not disappointed how I scored in comparison to
others who took the questionnaire. Each negotiator
has their own style, and this helps to understand that some folks are different
in how they view ethical behavior in negotiation, no two negotiators are the
same in their approach. One has to be
mindful that fellow negotiators can be more like sharks and you need to be
aware of that behavior and adjust and other folks are more timid and that
shouldn’t be taken advantage of for personal gain. Knowing as much as you can prior to a
negotiation in terms of topic and partner is key to a successful negotiation.
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