Roderick Swaab

INSEAD | INSEAD · Area of Organisational Behaviour

The current research examined whether cross-national variation in egalitarianism predicts talent levels and organizational performance. We propose that national variation in egalitarianism predicts country-level talent because egalitarianism influences policymaking at the institutional level and everyday social interactions at the psychological lev...

Although teams of negotiators are widely assumed to be better at unlocking integrative solutions than individual negotiators, the interteam negotiation context is characterized by unique challenges which can make effective collaboration between teams difficult. We extend our theoretical understanding of interteam negotiations by offering novel insi...

Although negotiations between teams can result in informational advantages resulting in higher joint gain, the presence of teams can also undermine trust, fuel competition, and impair joint gain. This research addresses this challenge by using structured dialogues to develop trust that helps to establish cooperative interdependence between teams. B...

We propose that making a series of decreasing concessions (e.g., $1,500-1,210-1,180-1,170) signals that negotiators are reaching their limit and that this results in a negotiation disadvantage for offer recipients. Although we find that most negotiators do not use this strategy naturally, seven studies (N=2,311) demonstrate that decreasing concessi...

In an era of globalization, it is commonly assumed that multicultural experiences foster leadership effectiveness. However, little research has systematically tested this assumption. We develop a theoretical perspective that articulates how and when multicultural experiences increase leadership effectiveness. We hypothesize that broad multicultural...

In distributive negotiations, people often feel that they have to choose between maximizing their economic outcomes (claiming more value) or improving their relational outcomes (having a satisfied opponent). The present research proposes a conversational strategy that can help negotiators achieve both. Specifically, we show that using an offer fram...

This review synthesizes the impact of power on individual and joint negotiation performance. Although power generally has positive effects on negotiators’ individual performance (value claiming), recent work suggests that more power is not always beneficial. Taking a dyadic perspective, we also find mixed evidence for how power affects joint perfor...

This research demonstrates that people can act more powerfully without having power. Researchers and practitioners advise people to obtain alternatives in social exchange relationships to enhance their power. However, alternatives are not always readily available, often forcing people to interact without having much power. Building on research sugg...

The present research shows that managers communicate negative feedback ineffectively because they suffer from transparency illusions that cause them to overestimate how accurately employees perceive their feedback. We propose that these illusions emerge because managers are insufficiently motivated to engage in effortful thinking, which reduces the...

We challenge the assumption that having multiple alternatives is always better than a single alternative by showing that negotiators who have additional, less attractive alternatives ironically exhibit downward-biased perceptions of their own and their opponent’s reservation price, make lower demands, and achieve worse outcomes in distributive nego...

Does making the first offer increase or impair a negotiator's outcomes? Past research has found evidence supporting both claims. To reconcile these contradictory findings, we developed and tested an integrative model-the Information-Anchoring Model of First Offers. The model predicts when and why making the first offer helps versus hurts. We sugges...

The current research used the contexts of U.S. presidential debates and negotiations to examine whether matching the linguistic style of an opponent in a two-party exchange affects the reactions of third-party observers. Building off communication accommodation theory (CAT), interaction alignment theory (IAT), and processing fluency, we propose tha...

The current research finds that having no power can be better than having a little power. Negotiators prefer having some power (weak negotiation alternatives) to no power (no alternatives). We challenge this belief that having any alternative is beneficial by demonstrating that weak alternatives create a low anchor that reduces the value of first o...

Significance Functional accounts of hierarchy propose that hierarchy increases group coordination whereas dysfunctional accounts claim that hierarchy impairs performance by preventing low-ranking team members from voicing their perspectives. This research presents evidence for both accounts within the same dataset. Analysis of archival data from 30...

This article provides an answer to the question of why negative feedback in organizational settings is often perceived more positively than intended. Past research has primarily focused on empathic buffering and conflict avoidance to explain why feedback inflation occurs. We argue that these accounts are incomplete and propose that there is a disco...

Functional accounts of hierarchy propose that hierarchy benefits groups by increasing coordination and reducing conflict. In contrast, dysfunctional accounts claim that hierarchy impairs performance by preventing low-ranking team-members from voicing their valuable perspectives and insights. The current research identifies both the promises and per...

Five studies examined the relationship between talent and team performance. Two survey studies found that people believe there is a linear and nearly monotonic relationship between talent and performance: participants expected that more talent increases performance and that this relationship would never turn negative. However, building off research...

The current research establishes a first-mover disadvantage in negotiation. We propose that making the first offer in a negotiation will backfire when the sender reveals private information that an astute recipient can leverage to his or her advantage. In two experiments, we manipulated whether the first offer was purely distributive or revealed th...

Two experiments using hidden profile tasks show that, in groups split by majority and minority factions, group decision quality and majorities´ private final decision quality are the highest when majority members expect repeated interactions and minority members do not. These effects occur because majorities are more integrating and minorities are...

The first-offer effect demonstrates that negotiators achieve better outcomes when making the first offer than when receiving it. The evidence, however, primarily derives from studies of Westerners without systematic power differences negotiating over one issue-contexts that may amplify the first-offer effect. Thus, the present research explored the...

Two quantitative meta-analyses examined how the presence of visual channels, vocal channels, and synchronicity influences the quality of outcomes in negotiations and group decision making. A qualitative review of the literature found that the effects of communication channels vary widely and that existing theories do not sufficiently account for th...

The present research examined how intra- and inter-team discussions prior to negotiations affect negotiation processes and outcomes. A Pilot Study showed that intra-team discussions motivate negotiators to understand the underlying interests more deeply (i.e. epistemic motivation), whereas inter-team discussions foster a greater concern for the cou...

We hypothesized that in online, virtual formats, negotiators receive better outcomes when mimicking their counterpart's language; furthermore, we predicted that this strategy would be more effective when occurring early in the negotiation rather than at the end, and should also be effective across both independent and interdependent cultures. Resul...

The purpose of this study is to examine how language affects coalition formation in multiparty negotiations. The authors relied on communication accommodation theory for theoretical framing and hypothesized that language can help coalition partners reach an agreement when it is used to increase a sense of unity. Findings of an experimental study su...

Building on face theory, we propose that managers can mediate disputes more effectively when they use a pre-mediation caucus (a separate meeting with each disputant prior to any joint meeting) to give face to each disputant. A field study of 540 employment disputes indicates that mediators who use the pre-mediation caucus to affirm face by establis...

We examine how words within the first period of a conversation can predict agreement between conversation partners in multiparty and dyadic negotiations. In a computer-mediated environment, it was shown that linguistic mimicry increases the likelihood of agreement in a multiparty negotiation (Study 1) and individual gain in a dyadic negotiation (St...

Previous research has argued that people exclude others in multiparty negotiations when their inclusion does not increase their payoffs. However, the majority of this research has been conducted in settings where participants do not interact person-to-person or where they communicate through highly restricted means. We argue that this view on exclu...

Previous research has proposed that the ability to see others would benefit negotiations. We argue that this view is too narrow and that the impact of visual contact on negotiated agreements depends on the meaning individuals ascribe to either its presence or absence. Based on previous research showing that females are more likely to understand oth...

This research explores the impact of dyadic side conversations on group norms within three- and four-person groups. The authors propose a link between dyadic communication and group norms such that the absence of dyadic communication enhances a norm of group unity, whereas its presence enhances a norm of faction-forming. In two studies, we demonstr...

Based on the recently proposed Interactive Model of Identity Formation, we examine how top-down deductive and bottom-up inductive identity formations influence intentions and behaviour in multiparty negotiations. Results show that a shared identity can be deduced from the social context through recognition of superordinate similarities. However, sh...

Previous research on coalition formation has argued that people exclude others to maximize their own payoff. However, the majority of this research has been conducted in settings where participants do not interact person-to-person or where they communicate through highly restricted means. We argue that this view on exclusion needs to be modified to...

Abstract We present an experimental approach to study the micro-dynamicsof coalition formation in an unrestricted bargaining environment. We first show that negotiators use a variant of proto- coalition bargaining to come to a multi-party agreement. We then investigate the hypothesis that coalition bargaining under majority rule may leadto ineffici...

Three studies examined the hypothesis that shared cognition and group identification can be each other's catalysts as well as driving forces behind multiparty negotiation outcomes that might not otherwise be realized. Experiment 1 demonstrates that clear links exist between communication, the development of shared cognition and group identification...

Mediation training does not acknowledge the potential of private meetings between mediator and disputants before a joint session. However, analyses of 1381 labor and family mediations in The Netherlands show that the use of private meetings to establish rapport prior to the mediation positively impact the quality of settlement because they help res...

The dynamics of personal and social identity formation Each one of us has two heritages, a “vertical” one that comes to us from our ancestors, our religious community and our popular traditions, and a “horizontal” one transmitted to us by our contemporaries and by the age we live in. It seems to me that the latter is the more influential of the two...

Two interactive studies on multiparty negotiations - with parties represented by several negotiators - show that different interaction structures (or caucusing structures) influence the formation of shared social identities, thereby influencing negotiation behavior and outcomes (Study 1, N = 108, Study 2, N = 238). Subgroup caucusing led to higher...

The present paper tries to overcome the dualism of group-level vs. individualistic analysis of small group processes, by presenting a model of social identity formation that incorporates factors at both levels of analysis as well as their interaction. On the basis of prior theorising in the social identity tradition and a programme of research span...

We examine how interpersonal and group-level factors relate to prosocial motivations and group negotiation outcomes. Three studies showed that superordinate group identification and interpersonal attraction positively influence each other, and underlie prosocial value orientations, and joint outcomes. Specifically, we demonstrate a direct link betw...

This paper deals with sex differences in negotiations. Many claims have been made about males outperforming females in negotiations. However, much of this research does not account for the contextual factors involved. In the present study, we replicate prior effects on the 'sex gap' in negotiations and demonstrate that by making certain communicati...

Innovative approaches such as the use of technology in negotiations raise questions of how technology interacts with the manifold contextual factors that play a role in negotiations. In this article, we introduce a theoretical framework that seeks to inform the design of Negotiation Support Systems (NSS) by focusing on two antecedents of negotiatio...

This paper examines the relation between shared cognition and shared social identity, and the influence of these two variables on negotiation productivity. Three studies showed that both shared cognition and identification with an overarching group are associated with better negotiation outcomes. Moreover, clear links exist between the development...

The study examines a method for supporting multiparty negotiations by means of a Negotiation Support System (NSS). More specifically, this study investigated the effect of visualization support on the development of shared mental models among negotiators who resolved a spatial planning dispute. The objective of this study is to determine how to sup...