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Anxious Moments: Openings in Negotiation
Abstract
Even experienced negotiators often feel anxiety about beginning a new negotiation. Subjects in this study described these opening moments with vivid imagery and metaphors, among them: lurking wolves, alligators, tightropes, and rushing trains. People's deep-seated worries can be triggered by several factors: doubts about personal competence, fear about the attitudes and behavior of other parties, and the inevitable uncertainty about what path negotiation will take. The author compares openings in other contexts, notably in the arts, to illustrate how the impact of anxiety need not be entirely negative. These feelings can also spark creativity and support constructive relationships.
... Over the years, researchers have given considerable attention to the orientation of negotiators (e.g., cooperative vs. competitive) and the associated behaviors or tactics that these individuals employ (Pruitt & Carnevale, 1993;Shell, 1999;Thompson, 2009). Since negotiation experiments typically begin with the parties already at the bargaining table, far less attention has been given to the initiation stage of negotiation (Wheeler, 2004;Small, Gelfand, Babcock & Gettman, 2007). ...
... Models of the negotiation process frequently focus on exploring issues and managing concessions, with little attention given to initiating the process (Holmes,1992;Pruitt & Carnevale, 1993;Schuster & Copeland, 1996;Shell, 1999). However, as with many individual and organizational processes (problem-solving/decision-making: Nutt, 1992; group development: Bettenhausen, 1991), the early stages of the negotiation process are often important in determining the direction of succeeding stages (Adair, Taylor & Tinsley, 2009;Wheeler, 2004). What is the nature of the initiation process in negotiation, ...
... Getting off on the right foot is important in negotiations, particularly international negotiations. The early stages often set the tone and direction for what follows (Adair, et al., 2009;Wheeler, 2004). At the same time, there are some cultures where individuals are recognized as more assertive in initiating a negotiation than is the case in other cultures (Volkema, 2012). ...
... Surprisingly, the literature on emotions in negotiations has neglected the study of anxiety. This is an important omission because anxiety may be one of the most pervasive negotiator emotions (Wheeler, 2004). ...
... A few scholars have speculated that anxiety may be important for negotiations (Adler, Rosen, & Silverstein, 1998;Small, Gelfand, Babcock, & Gettman, 2007;Wheeler, 2004). For example, Babcock, Gelfand, Small, and Stayn (2006) suggest that women may avoid negotiations because they feel anxious. ...
... Although a few scholars have suggested that anxiety is important for negotiations (Adler et al., 1998;Wheeler, 2004), extant research has neither documented its importance nor directly studied the influence of anxiety on negotiations. To motivate our investigation, we conducted a pilot study with an adult population. ...
Across three studies, we demonstrate that anxiety is both commonly associated with negotiations and harmful to negotiator performance. In our experiments, we induced either low anxiety or high anxiety. Compared to negotiators experiencing low levels of anxiety, negotiators who experience high levels of anxiety make steeper concessions and exit bargaining situations earlier. The relationship between anxiety and negotiator behavior is moderated by negotiator self-efficacy; high self-efficacy mitigates the harmful effects of anxiety.
... As previously noted, negotiation is a process involving social engagement (Thompson, 2009), an endeavor that can produce anxiety for one or both parties (Volkema, 2009;Wheeler, 2004). In general, an individual will experience the greatest anxiety or dissonance when his/her behavior is counter-normative, voluntary, and public (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959). ...
... Social persuasion in the form of support and encouragement from colleagues and other confederates can affect confidence and performance generally, and initiation behavior more specifically (Bluen & Jubiler-Lurie, 1990;London, Larsen & Thisted, 1999). Finally, there are physiological factors such as fatigue, aches and pains, trembling, perspiration, stuttering, and nausea that can affect self-efficacy (Bluen & Jubiler-Lurie, 1990;Wheeler, 2004). Cho and Lee (2006) found that, in addition to risk propensity, self-efficacy influences an individual's risk perceptions, which in turn can affect his/her likelihood of reducing risk through information search or reduction of stakes/investment. ...
... Since it is both a voluntary and public act in many cases, "asking" can bring on considerable angst, even if the outcome is favorable. Unfortunately, asking is one of the first things a negotiator must do if he/she hopes to get something that is needed or desired (Wheeler, 2004). And failing to ask not only can adversely affect the initiator, but his or her counterpart as well (e.g., the exceptional employee who chooses to pursue another job opportunity rather than ask for a raise, the company representative who chooses not to propose a joint venture, etc.). ...
Like many decisional processes, the early stages of negotiation play a critical role in determining how an encounter will unfold and, ultimately, the nature of the outcome. Yet for many individuals, initiating a negotiation is a difficult undertaking, frequently aborted if not avoided altogether. This paper tests a model of the initiation process, focusing specifically on those aspects of culture (individualism-collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity-femininity, power distance) and personality (risk propensity, locus of control, self-efficacy, Machiavellianism) that have been proposed to influence assertiveness and propensity to initiate. The study draws participants from diverse country cultures, and examines assertiveness/initiation propensity through three distinct measures. The results of these analyses for negotiators and future research are reported.
... Surprisingly, the literature on emotions in negotiations has neglected the study of anxiety. This is an important omission because anxiety may be one of the most pervasive negotiator emotions (Wheeler, 2004). ...
... A few scholars have speculated that anxiety may be important for negotiations (Adler, Rosen, & Silverstein, 1998;Small, Gelfand, Babcock, & Gettman, 2007;Wheeler, 2004). For example, Babcock, Gelfand, Small, and Stayn (2006) suggest that women may avoid negotiations because they feel anxious. ...
... Although a few scholars have suggested that anxiety is important for negotiations (Adler et al., 1998;Wheeler, 2004), extant research has neither documented its importance nor directly studied the influence of anxiety on negotiations. To motivate our investigation, we conducted a pilot study with an adult population. ...
... To fully understand the impact of making the first offer in the negotiation, it is important to understand not only how this strategy influences objective economic profits but also how it influences subjective outcomes (i.e., satisfaction). Economic profits may be at odds with feelings of satisfaction when negotiators make the first offer in a distributive bargaining setting because they experience anxiety, a pervasive emotion shown to be felt at the prospect of participating in a negotiation (Brooks and Schweitzer 2011;Wheeler 2004). When negotiators make an opening offer in a negotiation they may be anxious about its effect on the negotiation process and the negotiated outcome. ...
... In fact, the very prospect of negotiating incites anxiety (Brooks and Schweitzer 2011;Wheeler 2004). At the onset of a negotiation, negotiators are often uncertain about the cost structure of the other party's issues, the alternatives of the other party, and what the other party's general negotiating demeanor will be. ...
Two studies tested whether making first offers influences negotiators’ feelings of anxiety and their sense of satisfaction. The results of Study 1 show that the strategy of making the first offer led to decreased levels of satisfaction with the negotiation process and outcomes. This effect was mediated by perceived feelings of anxiety. Study 2 discerned that anxiety about making the first offer derived from self-perception concerns, represented as anxiety about being taken advantage of by the opposing party. In both studies, anxiety led negotiators who made the first offer to be relatively less satisfied with the negotiation, than negotiators who did not make the first offer, despite the increased economic gains associated with making the first offer.
... (Ury, 2006, p. 43) Conventional wisdom suggests that heightened physiological activation is both pervasive and pernicious in negotiation. It is true that demanding or competitive situations often are accompanied by hallmark physiological responses, such as an upset stomach, quickened heart rate, flushed face, increased blood pressure, or shaking legs (Adler, Rosen, & Silverstein, 1998; Despres, 1997; Malhotra, 2010; Wheeler, 2004), and many individuals may even fear or dread these physical reactions (Williams, Chambless, & Ahrens, 1997). Yet, despite its prevalence and perceived negativity, physiological activation (or arousal) has rarely been examined within extant empirical research on negotiation (Wheeler, 2004), and has received limited attention within decision-making research more broadly (Ku, Malhotra, & Murnighan, 2005; Malhotra, 2010). ...
... It is true that demanding or competitive situations often are accompanied by hallmark physiological responses, such as an upset stomach, quickened heart rate, flushed face, increased blood pressure, or shaking legs (Adler, Rosen, & Silverstein, 1998; Despres, 1997; Malhotra, 2010; Wheeler, 2004), and many individuals may even fear or dread these physical reactions (Williams, Chambless, & Ahrens, 1997). Yet, despite its prevalence and perceived negativity, physiological activation (or arousal) has rarely been examined within extant empirical research on negotiation (Wheeler, 2004), and has received limited attention within decision-making research more broadly (Ku, Malhotra, & Murnighan, 2005; Malhotra, 2010). The current research fills this gap by examining the effects of physiological arousal on negotiation and, in particular, by questioning whether such effects are necessarily detrimental for negotiation outcomes. ...
In this research, we examined the impact of physiological arousal on negotiation outcomes. Conventional wisdom and the prescriptive literature suggest that arousal should be minimized given its negative effect on negotiations, whereas prior research on misattribution of arousal suggests that arousal might polarize outcomes, either negatively or positively. In two experiments, we manipulated arousal and measured its effect on subjective and objective negotiation outcomes. Our results support the polarization effect. When participants had negative prior attitudes toward negotiation, arousal had a detrimental effect on outcomes, whereas when participants had positive prior attitudes toward negotiation, arousal had a beneficial effect on outcomes. These effects occurred because of the construal of arousal as negative or positive affect, respectively. Our findings have important implications not only for negotiation, but also for research on misattribution of arousal, which previously has focused on the target of evaluation, in contrast to the current research, which focused on the critical role of the perceiver.
... At the same time, research on gender and negotiation has focused attention on the initiation process in negotiations, which conceptual models often have under-represented and researchers have overlooked Bowles et al. 2007). Increasingly, scholars have recognized that many negotiations fail before they get started, as individuals choose not to make a request or they avoid engaging a prospective counterpart altogether (Curhan and Pentland 2007;Magee et al. 2007;Patton and Balakrishnan 2010;Rousseau 2005;Wheeler 2004). ...
... To optimize a request in negotiations, individuals must first engage and then request. Previous studies indicate that several personal dispositions and culture can impact this process (Kim and Chen 2010;Miles 2010;Wheeler 2004). Nevertheless, initiating negotiations involves an intrapersonal decision that precedes actual engagement in which an individual weighs potential costs and benefits. ...
Initiation is an often-overlooked yet essential stage of the negotiation process. This study examined the effects of two measures of personality—Machiavellianism and risk propensity—and relative bargaining power (as based on multiple situational factors) on three phases of the initiation process—engaging a counterpart, making a request, and optimizing the request. Using a multi-scenario approach, one hundred fifteen participants indicated their initiation preferences for three distinct negotiations. The results of repeated measures ANOVAs indicate that bargaining power influences an individual’s decision to initiate negotiations. In addition, those high in Machiavellianism choose to initiate negotiations even when relative bargaining power is low, whereas those high in risk propensity tend to optimize their requests. The implications of these findings for practitioners and future research are discussed.
... Then there is scholarly work on particular aspects of negotiations such as how to negotiate with liars (e.g., Adler, 2007) and how to open negotiations (e.g., Wheeler, 2004). This work is very useful for digging deeper in understanding and learning the finesses of negotiations. ...
... Then there is scholarly work on particular aspects of negotiations such as how to negotiate with liars (e.g., Adler, 2007) and how to open negotiations (e.g., Wheeler, 2004). This work is very useful for digging deeper in understanding and learning the finesses of negotiations. ...
... Specifically, anxious buyers with weak alternatives should strive to make the counteroffer, given the anchoring effects of first offers on outcomes. Alternatively, they should consider adopting precautionary anti-anchoring strategies (e.g., perspective-taking, Galinsky and Mussweiler, 2001) or apply anxiety-reducing techniques (e.g., taking a neutral stance, clearing one's mind; Wheeler, 2004) before making the first offer. ...
The behavioral decision-making and negotiations literature usually advocates a first-mover advantage, explained the anchoring and adjustment heuristic. Thus, buyers, who according to the social norm, tend to move second, strive to make the first offer to take advantage of this effect. On the other hand, negotiation practitioners and experts often advise the opposite, i.e., moving second. These opposite recommendations regarding first offers are termed the Practitioner-Researcher paradox. In the current article, we investigate the circumstances under which buyers would make less favorable first offers than they would receive were they to move second, focusing on low power and anxiety during negotiations. Across two studies, we manipulated negotiators' best alternative to the negotiated agreement (BATNA) and measured their anxiety. Our results show that, when facing neutral-power sellers, weak buyers who feel anxious would make inferior first offers (Studies 1 and 2). When facing low-power sellers, weak buyers would make inferior first offers across all anxiety levels (Study 2). Our findings shed light on two critical factors leading to the Practitioner-Researcher paradox: power and anxiety, and offer concrete guidelines to buyers who find themselves at low power and highly anxious during negotiations.
... Every negotiation is a social interaction between parties, whose purpose is to make a business agreement that fulfills both parties' diverse goals (Wheeler, 2004). Interests in negotiation situations may be different or opposite; therefore, the business meetings may be interpreted as a balancing activity between two differing poles (Dankó, 2004). ...
The warnings of encouraging litigation seem to have fallen into deaf ears, as the
number of incoming cases to courts are still on the rise. Nonetheless, to address disputes,
there are also increasing numbers of mediation cases. This study compares alternative
dispute resolutions in two different national contexts and reviews the possible advantages
of this method in conflict management. Our study is intended to review if context can help
explain the increasing popularity of alternative dispute resolutions? We examine the status
of mediation, as an alternative dispute resolution procedure, in both Hungary and Spain, to
compare this alternative to the court proceedings filed annually. The study addresses the
question of whether mediation reflects a more economic driven mentality, and what the
drivers for this type of resolution are. We also examine the cost to the parties involved in
conflicts who choose mediation in both Hungary and Spain. The way conflict is resolved
can vary, however acting on a basis of mutual trust in conflict resolution management
method, helps to obtain a fairer resolution to the dispute and this can be systematically
facilitated. This form of conflict management can also help enable the parties to take
responsibility for themselves in resolving their disputes.
... Even as they resist specification, they lead to insights that are useful to practitioners and inspiring to researchers. Critical moments can help us to clarify the significance of a particular stage, such as an opening, in a broader interaction (Wheeler 2004). They can help us to see how turning points develop in complex negotiations through the interaction between David Laws is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. ...
This article takes a pragmatic approach to understanding critical moments and explores their use in three forms of practice: research, conflict diagnosis, and a form of intervention called a reconstruction clinic. Reviewing what makes critical moments useful in these practices provides insights into their character, and into how they function in the work of adept practitioners, and into the way stakeholders experience, make sense of, and act in a conflict. This review opens insights into the relationship between stories, memory, and action and into the layered and relational quality of experience that the use of critical moments helps to evoke. It also highlights a plasticity that distinguishes critical moments and helps to foster interaction and development in research, in conflict diagnosis, and in efforts to intervene in the contested history of a conflict.
... This article describes a negotiation exercise, the Restaurant Negotiation, which can be used in introductory organizational behavior or management courses, as well as in a course on negotiation. The exercise focuses on initiating negotiations, a critical yet often overlooked stage of the negotiation process in both classroom simulations (where the parties are assumed to already be at the bargaining table) and actual negotiations (Reif & Brodbeck, 2014;Wheeler, 2004). Initiation involves recognizing an opportunity to negotiate, engaging another party for that purpose, and making a request (Kapoutsis, Volkema, & Nikolopoulos, 2013;Rousseau, 2005;Volkema & Fleck, 2012). ...
Negotiation is an interpersonal process common to everyday personal and professional success. Yet individuals often fail to recognize opportunities for initiating negotiations and the immediate and long-term implications of these oversights for themselves and others. This article describes a simple yet rich negotiation exercise that learners can undertake outside the classroom in a familiar and highly accessible setting, an exercise that offers insights into and reinforcement of principles and theories from the individual (e.g., perception, personality, motivation), interpersonal/group (e.g., communication media, group dynamics, power), and organizational/ environmental (e.g., design/structure, ethics) dimensions of organizational behavior and management. The application of these and other lessons to negotiations across organizational levels are offered, along with specific observations from learners of the parallels to asking one's boss for a raise.
... This resembles the notions of negotiation theorists, who describe the uneasy feeling that actors may experience before or during negotiations as insecurity or anxiety (e.g. Wheeler 2004) and is supported by several conflict studies which demonstrated that (members of) parties embroiled in a conflict have a natural tendency not to show that they have an interest in resolving this together or looking for compromises because there is then a chance that this will be interpreted as a sign of weakness, possibly leading to loss of face and the perception that one's position vis-à-vis the other is weaker (Pruitt and Kim 2003). ...
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to analyze the interaction of police and citizen representatives during critical moments in reconciliation processes through a relational model.
Design/methodology/approach
– Based on 26 in-depth interviews with key actors in three different cases of media-salient police-citizen group conflict, the interactions in the run-up to, during and after five moments that were critical in the transformation from conflict to cooperation, were analyzed. In focussing on the role of the intergroup relationship in conflict interaction, the applicability of relationship-value, compatibility and security in defining this relationship were explored.
Findings
– Although interactions during critical moments differed along the specific conflict contexts, three chronological stages could be deduced. In the first stage, interactions were tensed and emotional. During the second stage, repressing this insecurity through the exchange of value and compatibility signals was important. In the third stage, the transformation toward friendlier, cooperative dialogue and a less tensed atmosphere was made. Emotional expression, information sharing and emphasizing compatibility seemed particularly important in (re)defining and negotiating police-citizen relationships.
Research limitations/implications
– In analysis, the authors had to rely on limited and retrospective accounts of interactions and attitudes and its indivertible errors.
Originality/value
– This is one of very few studies that analyses police-involved post conflict interactions with a relational model. With regard to the importance of strong police-citizen relationships, the results should be of value to any operational police worker and specifically those who are involved in operational or strategic conflict-management and communication.
... In the broadest sense, negotiation is a process of communicating back-and-forth to discuss the issues to reach an agreement that is satisfactory to the parties involved (Gulbro and Herbig 1994;Foroughi 1998). Negotiation is a kind of social interaction with the goal of reaching an agreement between two or more parties, usually with different objectives or interests that they think are important (Fraser and Zarkada-Fraser 2002;Manning and Robertson 2003;Wheeler 2004a). Each negotiator's individual culture determines his or her epistemology, values, norms and behaviors (Simintiras and Thomas 1998;Hung 1998;Woo and Pru'homme 1999;Chang 2003). ...
Globalization and economic openness have contributed to increased international negotiations in the 21 st century. Despite the enthusiasm for increased global interaction and economic exchange, many people have found that cultural differences have hindered their ability to efficiently conduct business or negotiations due to their lack of understanding of the cultural differences in different countries. This paper explores the impact of religious culture on negotiations. Specifically, we compare and contrast the effects of religious orientation on the negotiating styles of Greater China (Taiwan, Hong Kong and China). The research aims to investigate the role of religious culture as a factor in shaping the negotiation styles of people with different religious beliefs. Casse and Deols' model of four negotiation styles was utilized in the research. The research found that there are different negotiation styles among the three countries which vary to significant degrees based upon the religious cultures within Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. These differences have imbued each country with a specific set of values and attitudes relating to their cultures. This study may help people develop more successful negotiation skills by giving them insight into the nuances of negotiations, and by identifying implications for negotiations and areas for future scholarly inquiry.
... Anxiety is also an important emotion in social decision making (e.g., Small, Gelfand, Babcock, & Gettman, 2007;Wheeler, 2004;Brooks & Schweitzer, 2011). It arises in response to situational uncertainty. ...
Despite decades of research on the subject, negotiation theory has proven unable to explain vital negotiation mistakes and complex contracting in reality. The existing behavioral negotiation model lacks proper forms of uncertainty and cannot well address the issue of contingent contracts. Recent negotiation research has started examining the psychological foundation of contingent contracting, but little is known regarding the impact of emotions on contingent contracting. Under uncertainty, economic behavior is largely driven by emotions. This dissertation systematically reviews the negotiation literature and empirically examines the impacts of anxiety and joy on contingent contracting decisions and social predictions in negotiations. By reformulating the way negotiations are being studied and examining the role of emotions in contingent contracting, I integrate negotiation theory with contract theory and provide important implications for such an integration.
... 15 In addition to reflecting on and dealing with all disputants' emotions, mediators must also deal with their own emotions. Michael Wheeler and Kimberlyn Leary have used Gerald Zaltman's patented Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) method to elicit the imagery and metaphors underlying negotiators' thoughts and feelings as they anticipate negotiation (Leary and Wheeler 2002;Wheeler 2004;Zaltman 2003). They found that performance anxiety prior to negotiation is universal. ...
A close analysis of the film Chocolat discloses a new metaphor for the mediator - the mediator as cook. The use of this metaphor throughout the film suggests new insights about mediator style and practice. Specifically, the mediator–protagonist in Chocolat demonstrates that: (1) mediations need not be voluntary to be sound, (2) non-neutral,directive, evaluative mediators can be effective if they individualize their approaches to each disputant and dispute, and (3) effective approaches to mediation celebrate emotion and pleasure, contrary to many conflict resolution theorists who write about the importance of emotions, but do not privilege them in practice.
... The alternative dispute resolution literature is full of stories that illustrate how conflicts can escalate when what one party sees as irrelevant and marginal, the other considers of utmost importance and vice versa. In this story of the champagne toast, we can see that none of the parties were able to shift their frame, that " meta-communication " (communicating about communication ) does not mean only " telling something openly " (which I did when I communicated the teacher's unhappiness to the hostess) and that none of us was ready for the drastic personal and relational " displacement " that might have helped us to handle this situation more successfully (Wheeler 2004), which I believe using humor might have enabled us to do. Developing a sensitivity for " punch lines " as a building block of good stories ...
In this article, I draw on the theories of three scholars whose works have not typically been part of the negotiation and conflict resolution canon (Arthur Koestler, Edward T. Hall, and Gregory Bateson) to develop the beginnings of a new model for creative and constructive conflict transformation that features playfulness and humor as its key components. I explore the connections between Koestler's theory of bisociation in the act of creation, Hall's ideas about the cultural construction of emotional responses, and Bateson's theories about the role of play and humor in human communication. All three authors focused particularly on body language and on the cognitive impact of emotions. Drawing on their theories and the connections between them, I suggest the theoretical underpinnings of a model for approaching conflict in which displacements and surprises, playfulness, humor, and “punch lines” can serve to reframe issues and open up new avenues for consensus building and resolution.
Research shows that cultural differences affect negotiation processes and outcomes in many different ways. In this paper, we examine the interactions between communication processes, language, and cultural differences in dyadic e-negotiations. We use textual analysis methods to measure the language sentiment (also referred to as tone) of the messages. We make use of 9,703 messages (and offers with messages) in 1,147 negotiations conducted with the web-based negotiation support system Inspire. We find evidence that the more positive a message’s sentiment, the more positive the sentiment of the next message. Our results indicate that this effect is less pronounced in intercultural negotiations. Furthermore, we observe higher payoffs for the party who initiates the conversation. Initiation reduces the risk of obtaining only a low payoff. Some cultural groups, such as German-speaking Western Europeans, emerge as particularly likely to initiate a negotiation.
Purpose
This paper aims to present a review of articles on business negotiation published between 1995 and 2015.
Design/methodology/approach
This literature review is based on 490 articles on business negotiation.
Findings
When analyzing the conceptual underpinnings of this field, two paradigms emerge as dominant. The most prominent paradigm is a cognitive, psychological approach, typically relying on experiments and statistical testing of findings. The second dominating paradigm is a behavioral one, largely concerned with mathematical modeling and game-theoretical models.
Practical implications
Besides offering a description of the characteristics adhered to the business negotiation field, this paper will also suggest recommendations for further research and specify areas in which the research field needs further conceptual and empirical development.
Originality/value
This literature review serves to be the first representation of the characteristics adhered to the budding research field of business negotiation.
This paper focuses on the role of the negotiators' training variable during the initial stage of negotiations, which is part of the business negotiation process. This role is studied through three variables: the negotiators' wish for coordinated training in the negotiations field, the negotiators' perception of the importance of training during the initial stage of the negotiation, and, finally, the strategy planning that each "negotiator" thinks that they do at the beginning of negotiations for every negotiation process. The results obtained by using software indicate the contribution of each particular variable to the initial stage of the negotiation.
Attachment theory has received scant consideration in the negotiation literature. We examined the effects of attachment anxiety and avoidance on negotiation propensity and performance in two studies. In terms of negotiation propensity (Study 1), attachment anxiety had significant, deleterious effects, though contrary to our predictions, attachment avoidance did not have significant effects. However, there was an interaction such that individuals high on attachment avoidance had a greater propensity to negotiate with an insecurely attached counterpart compared to a secure counterpart. In addition, attachment orientation influenced negotiation performance and information sharing (Study 2), but the effects depended upon role in the negotiation, with stronger effects for attachment avoidance as opposed to attachment anxiety. Theoretical and practical implications for research on negotiation and attachment theory are discussed.
Essential reading for students and professionals in the fields of business, law and management, Effective Negotiation offers a realistic and practical understanding of negotiation and the skills required in order to reach an agreement. In this book Ray Fells draws on his extensive experience as a teacher and researcher to examine key issues such as trust, power and information exchange, ethics and strategy. Recognising the complexity of the negotiation process, he gives advice on how to improve as a negotiator by turning the research on negotiation into practical recommendations. It covers: • How to negotiate strategically • Negotiating on behalf of others • Cultural differences in negotiation The principles and skills outlined here focus on the business context but also apply to interpersonal and sales-based negotiations, and when resolving legal, environmental and social issues. Effective Negotiation also features a companion website with lecturer resources.
p>Este artículo busca analizar la literatura existente sobre el impacto de la capacitación en negociación en el desempeño de profesionales. Se recolectaron artículos de las bases de datos de Web of Science y se analizaron para identificar los aspectos donde una investigación podría contribuir al conocimiento actual del tema.
Analysis of the impact of training in negotiation on its practical application in management
This artícle analyzes the existing literature on the impact of training in professional development. Articles from the Web of Science database were analyzed to identify aspects where additional research would contributed to current knowledge on the subject.</p
This research examines two landmark negotiations between the United States and Mexico. The first involves the conflict over the shared hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico. The second analyzes the dispute over the shared waters of the Colorado River. For over seventy years, pursuing unilateral development, the U.S. and Mexico alternated between deadlock and confrontation in both cases. However, they were able to buck this trend in 2012, reaching two agreements. For the first time, the two sides have established a binational framework through which to co-develop and jointly manage these transboundary natural resources, as partners. This research explores how the negotiators shaped these agreements, and in what ways they contributed to the resolution of these long-standing disputes. With interviews with over 70 negotiators in the U.S. and Mexico, including every one of the chief negotiators who had decision-making authority at the negotiating table, the dissertation argues that a critical factor in breaking the cycle of disputes to reach agreement was that both sides were able to shift from solely allocating costs to also allocating benefits. The two countries reinterpreted the broader political and economic circumstances surrounding the shared water and energy resources, influenced in part by drastic natural disasters and resource shortages. These events, in turn, modified the countries' alternatives, drew stakeholders to the negotiations with revised mandates, fostered new back table coalitions, and led to a reframing of beneficial trades that had not been obvious earlier. Changes in political leadership, especially in regard to the interpretation of and response to transboundary challenges, were additional enabling factors making this shift possible. By focusing on the negotiation process and the tension between creating and claiming value, the dissertation attempts to draw prescriptive negotiation and leadership advice that may be useful in other international resource management disputes, particularly between developing and developed countries. As such, it aims to highlight how stakeholders can move beyond hard-bargaining tactics and avoid the ultimatums that accompany the presumption that there are not enough resources to go around, and that one side must win and the other must inevitably lose.
By 2039, the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) are expected to become wealthier than the current major economic countries. Despite the enthusiasm for increased global interaction and economic exchange with BRIC, many people have found that cultural differences hinder their ability to efficiently conduct business or negotiations given a lack of cultural understanding. This approach used the model by Casse and Deols and individualism as dependent and independent variables. Data were collected from sales and purchasing managers of public companies using an online survey and the snowball sampling method. Structural equation modeling (SEM), the preferable technique for measuring hypothesized models and research hypotheses, was selected. The findings indicated that an individualist attitude directly affected negotiation style, wherein, nationality is a moderated variant of an individualist attitude and negotiation style, and that BRIC negotiators preferred different negotiation styles. Limitations and future studies are discussed.
This paper focuses on the role of the negotiators’ training variable during the initial stage of negotiations, which is part of the business negotiation process. This role is studied through three variables: the negotiators’ wish for coordinated training in the negotiations field, the negotiators’ perception of the importance of training during the initial stage of the negotiation, and, finally, the strategy planning that each “negotiator” thinks that they do at the beginning of negotiations for every negotiation process. The results obtained by using software indicate the contribution of each particular variable to the initial stage of the negotiation.
Purpose
– This paper seeks to introduce a model of the initiation process in negotiations, and to describe a study of the effects of culture and personality on propensity to initiate and assertiveness in negotiations.
Design/methodology/approach
– Using a survey research approach and hierarchical regression analyses, initiation propensity and assertiveness were regressed against two country cultures diverse with respect to perceived appropriateness of initiation (Brazil and the USA) and four measures of personality (self‐efficacy, locus of control, risk propensity, Machiavellianism).
Findings
– Regression analyses found three personality factors (risk propensity, self‐efficacy, Machiavellianism) to be most significantly associated with initiation propensity/assertiveness, along with an interaction effect involving country culture and risk propensity.
Research limitations/implications
– Future studies might benefit from a broader, more diverse subject pool (beyond the two countries studied). This would allow for separate analyses of cultural dimensions, rather than treating culture as a composite measure. In addition, future research might include measures of actual initiation behavior.
Practical implications
– Initiation is a manageable process. Self‐efficacy, for example, can be improved by observing others skilled in the initiation process, and through practicing initiation under more favorable conditions. Furthermore, an individual can follow a graduated approach to gain initiation confidence, beginning with simply engaging (without asking) and progressing to asking and optimizing.
Originality/value
– This paper offers a model for understanding the dynamics of the initiation process in negotiations, which generally has been overlooked by negotiation researchers. The study examines two sets of factors that can influence initiation behavior that have not been investigated in total – culture and personality.
Attachment theory has received scant consideration in the negotiation literature. We examined the effects of attachment anxiety and avoidance on negotiation propensity and performance in two studies. In terms of negotiation propensity (Study 1), attachment anxiety had significant, deleterious effects, though contrary to our predictions, attachment avoidance did not have significant effects. However, there was an interaction such that individuals high on attachment avoidance had a greater propensity to negotiate with an insecurely attached counterpart compared to a secure counterpart. In addition, attachment orientation influenced negotiation performance and information sharing (Study 2), but the effects depended upon role in the negotiation, with stronger effects for attachment avoidance as opposed to attachment anxiety. Theoretical and practical implications for research on negotiation and attachment theory are discussed.
Negotiation is an interactive process that is important to all aspects of organizational success, a process that begins with communicating one's wants or needs. For many individuals, engaging others and asking for what one wants (i.e., initiating a negotiation) is a challenging task, made more difficult in an international context. Yet due to the integration of world markets, this is exactly the type of environment that many organizational representatives are facing with increasing regularity. This article offers an overview of the personal characteristics and situational factors that influence an individual initiating a negotiation (engaging a counterpart, making a request, and optimizing that request), with specific attention to seven cultural factors that must be understood to be most effective in international settings. The ways in which these cultural factors are likely to affect one's decision to engage a counterpart and style of delivery are illustrated for three countries: the United States, China, and Brazil. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Negotiation teachers have many goals. Improving a student's skills of observation, analysis, and diagnosis, and building his or her capacity to translate theory to practice are often among the most important of these. The Critical Decisions in Negotiation video project seeks to advance these goals. The video features four sets of professionals negotiating a simulation, and then debriefing key parts of the negotiation afterward with Professor Robert Bordone to reveal the thought processes that motivated particular behavioral moves. Bordone provides commentary after each sequence to connect theory to practice. The video project is organized around three broad themes — openings and process, dealing with difficult tactics, and active listening and effective assertion. Key features include a detailed teaching note, unscripted professionals in action, and unvarnished reviews by the negotiators themselves after the fact. The method employed by the Critical Decisions in Negotiation video represents a valuable new pedagogical tool for negotiation instructors and students alike.
This article reports on a study of the effects of recognition of negotiable opportunities (ability) and self-efficacy (motivation) on initiation behavior in negotiations, an often overlooked stage of the negotiation process. Three phases of the initiation process are examined—engaging, requesting, and optimizing—through three negotiation scenarios offering corresponding forced-choice behavioral options. Results suggest that, overall, the recognition of negotiable opportunities and the interaction of recognition and self-efficacy best predict initiation intentionality. More specifically, recognition and the interaction of recognition and self-efficacy were significantly associated with the likelihood of making a request, whereas the interaction of recognition and self-efficacy was significantly associated with the likelihood of optimizing that request. The implications of these findings for practitioners and future research are discussed.
While many individuals speak of China as a single trading partner, in reality Greater China consists of at least three regional subcultures - the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. These regions differ in terms of their historical development, values, and traditions, which have implications for what to expect in negotiations. This article examines the cultural differences found in these three regions of Greater China, with particular attention to an often overlooked yet critical stage of the negotiation process - the initiation stage. Using data from the GLOBE Study on cultural practices and values, propensity to initiate a negotiation (engage a counterpart, make a request or demand, and optimize that request) is estimated for each regional subculture. The implications of these findings for practitioners and future research are discussed.
This study investigates, through descriptive examples taken from actual mediation cases, mediators' opening statements in one victim offender mediation/dialogue program involving crimes of severe violence. Three distinctive elements of the mediators' opening statements are illustrated, and implications for the continued study of mediator communication are discussed.
Having “a sense of humor” when negotiations get tough has very little to do with being funny. Enacting rather than claiming, performing rather than arguing, mediators’ humor reveals multiple meanings and uncertainties, multiple perspectives and their limits, and parties’ needs while generating opportunities to learn. Humor can go wrong, and mediators stress a sine qua non: it must be respectful, never used at the expense of a negotiating party. At critical moments in negotiations, humor can be an important tool, if improvised with regard to tone, timing, affect, and respect. Mediators use humor to deconstruct and reconstruct parties’ presumptions of mediators’ authority; to recognize vulnerability, create moments of intimacy, and suggest possible community; to acknowledge painful histories and enable difficult conversations; to provide safety, release, and new collaborative openings. Mediators’ use of humor can signal possibility and hope and, not least of all, level power to encourage autonomy and build capacity — thus creating deliberative space and encouraging deliberative practice as well.
Teaching negotiation is easy because teachers and students find the topic fun, interesting, and relevant, which makes most negotiation courses well received. At the same time, teachers may underestimate the challenges in getting their students to think and behave differently in negotiation, which can make it difficult to teach it well. The author examines three teaching challenges in particular: dealing with ethical issues, addressing power imbalances (including those implicated by gender and racial differences), and putting theory into practice in the form of real-world behavior change. This piece is an adaptation of the keynote address that the author delivered on November 14, 2005 at the PON-IRENE conference, New Trends in Negotiation Teaching: Toward a Transatlantic Network, in Cergy, France.
Negotiation is an essential skill for personal well-being and professional success, a skill that begins with identifying and acting on one's wants and needs. Many individuals, however, lack the confidence, motivation, or training to simply ask for what they want in certain situations; for example, when negotiating with an important client. Still others are reluctant to initiate requests in general. This article discusses the personal characteristics and situational factors that influence an individual's likelihood of engaging another party in a negotiation, making a request, and optimizing that request. Herein, specific suggestions are offered for managing this critical phase of the negotiation process via three steps: mental preparation prior to the engagement; positioning prior to, and at the point of, the engagement; and verbal craftsmanship during the delivery of one's request.
This paper explores the role that first impressions play in two different relational contexts: psychodynamic treatment and negotiation. Although the goals of therapy and negotiation are very different, both endeavors rest on the capacity of the participants to engage in a process of constructive dialogue, and “to get things done” via a relationship. We argue for the utility of an interdisciplinary conversation between psychoanalysis and negotiation, and specifically suggest that exploring these similarities and differences about first steps in building a working relationship may be instructive for practitioners in both professions. Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44640/1/10810_2004_Article_453869.pdf
Stereotype threat is being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group. Studies 1 and 2 varied the stereotype vulnerability of Black participants taking a difficult verbal test by varying whether or not their performance was ostensibly diagnostic of ability, and thus, whether or not they were at risk of fulfilling the racial stereotype about their intellectual ability. Reflecting the pressure of this vulnerability, Blacks underperformed in relation to Whites in the ability-diagnostic condition but not in the nondiagnostic condition (with Scholastic Aptitude Tests controlled). Study 3 validated that ability-diagnosticity cognitively activated the racial stereotype in these participants and motivated them not to conform to it, or to be judged by it. Study 4 showed that mere salience of the stereotype could impair Blacks' performance even when the test was not ability diagnostic. The role of stereotype vulnerability in the standardized test performance of ability-stigmatized groups is discussed.
Emotions have ubiquitous effects in human affairs. Vivian Gornick, in Fierce Attachments,^ recounts a typ-ical exchange with her mother. Gor-nick always begins these encounters with high hopes. "Somehow," de-spite her best intentions, the conver-sations always spiral downward: Today is promising, tremendously prom-ising I go to meet my mother. I'm flying. Flying! I want to give her some of this shiningness bursting in me, siphon into her my immense happiness at being alive. Just because she is my oldest inti-mate and at this moment I love every-body, even her. "Oh, Ma! What a day I've had," I say. "Tell me," she says. "Do you have the rent this month?" "Ma, listen ..." I say. "That review you wrote for the Times," she says. "Ifs for sure they'll pay you?" "Ma, stop it. Let me tell you what I've been feeling," I say. "Why aren't you wearing something warmer?" she cries. "It's nearly winter." The space inside begins to shimmer. The walls collapse inward. I feel breath-less. Swallow slowly, I say to myself, slowly. To my mother I say, "You do know how to say the right thing at the right time. Ifs remarkable, this gift of yours. It quite takes my breath away." But she doesn't get it. She doesn't loiow I'm being ironic. Nor does she Elaine Hatfield is a Professor of Psychology and Richard L. Rapson is a Professor of History at the Uni-versity of Hawaii. John T. Ca-cioppo is a Professor of Psychology at the Ohio State University. Ad-dress correspondence to Elaine Hatfield, 2430 Campus Rd., Honolulu, HI 96822; BITNET: psych@uhunix; INTERNET: psych@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu. know she's wiping me out. She doesn't know I take her anxiety personally, feel annihilated by her depression. How can she know this? She doesn't even know I'm there. Were I to tell her that it's death to me, her not knowing I'm there, she would stare at me out of her eyes crowd-ing up with puzzled desolation, this young girl of seventy-seven, and she would cry angrily, "You don't under-stand! You have never understood!" (pp. 103-104)
This article juxtaposes two orientations to psychoanalytic theory and clinical action—the prescriptive, embodied in the metaphor of classical theater, and the improvisational, embodied in the metaphor of improvisational theater. The metaphor of classical theater is analogous to how the theoretical predilections of each school of psychoanalysis has its own set of prescriptions (“sets,” “roles,” and “scripts”) for how an analyst influences mutative moments of change with a patient. In contrast, the metaphor of improvisational theater refers to actions that arise on the spur of the moment, without preparation. These improvisational moments ineluctably communicate to the patient a special instance of authenticity, which may well be antidotal to the crushing reality of the patient's life of pervasive inauthenticity. They also enable analysts to more readily engage disparate, often dissociatively disconnected parts of the patient through imaginative intersubjective engagement with each. This may take the form of reverie within the analyst—from which his own mental state of play informs his interpretation. Still, at other times, it may involve a form of spontaneous engagement that conveys not only a moment of deep recognition but also the purest state of authentic engagement—that is, one that cannot arise with comparable impact when reflection precedes the analyst's action. In sum, the capacity for engaging in improvisation may well be one of the most defining capacities for the development of a genuine psychoanalysis.
A meta-analysis was conducted on the accuracy of predictions of various objective outcomes in the areas of clinical and social psychology from short observations of expressive behavior (under 5 min). The overall effect size for the accuracy of predictions for 38 different results was .39. Studies using longer periods of behavioral observation did not yield greater predictive accuracy; predictions based on observations under 0.5 min in length did not differ significantly from predictions based on 4- and 5-min observations. The type of behavioral channel (such as the face, speech, the body, tone of voice) on which the ratings were based was not related to the accuracy of predictions. Accuracy did not vary significantly between behaviors manipulated in a laboratory and more naturally occurring behavior. Last, effect sizes did not differ significantly for predictions in the areas of clinical psychology, social psychology, and the accuracy of detecting deception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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