According
to the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation negotiators will often “resort
to threats, extreme demands, and even unethical behavior”(Program on Negotiation, 2018a). In both our personal and professional lives,
each of us are bound to enter into a scenario requiring a keen ability to
negotiate to best assure the outcome of that meeting is best for all parties involved,
while keeping long term self-interests of utmost importance.
One
of the common methods negotiators use to assure their own self-interest is
preserved in a negotiation is by using the art of deception to their favor. This could be as simple as overstating a
skill in a job interview, to cunning as military maneuvers to catch their
opponent off guard. Harvard Law’s Program on Negotiation points
out ethical issues are most obvious to third parties than to the decision makers
in a negotiation (Program on Negotiation, 2018b). Oftentimes our own internal ethical compass
must be reflected upon to assist in deception in negotiation. If we expect others to deceive us during a
negotiation, it is often what causes us to be deceitful. Therefore, the Program on Negotiation suggest
we predetermine our own ethical standard to know which behaviors are
unacceptable of ourselves prior to entering negotiation proceedings (Program on Negotiation, 2018b) and be ready to respond with
strategic yet ethical answers.
Another
tool to use in successful negotiation is to do your homework. Prior to entering into any negotiation
meeting, you must be prepared to have accurate responses to as many moves as
possible(Program on Negotiation, 2018a). The negotiator must perform adequate research
about the topic which is being discussed.
A
third tactic to be used in a successful negotiation is the enhancement of your
own power by investigating alternatives to the currently proposed
solution. Having the ability to change
the game in a negotiation to your favor.
Rarely does anyone like to hear that you have found an alternative to
what they are offering you altogether.
Thinking about alternatives enhances your position by not being rendered
powerless with no options but to accept the offers and demands being
given. This also gives you the ability
to remain ethical in your actions. Even
if your only alternative is to abandon the project, being prepared to do so can
be leveraged to your favor (Program on Negotiation, 2018b).
Finally,
another method which our vulnerability to deception can be reduced is to be
direct with your counterpart (Geiger, 2017). Asking direct rather than indirect questions,
and disclosing factual information rather than deceitful information allows negotiators
to clear the playing field of any rhetoric and falsehoods. The tone that is instituted when asking
direct questions is generally that of an assertive person who is not going to
allow themselves to be taken advantage of.
The statement of fact eliminates any doubt of prior research being
conducted. Both traits give a negotiator
the ability to gain respect and favor in a negotiation.
For reflection on
these tools, I think back to my last car purchase. My wife and I were in the market for a new
Honda Pilot. My wife had her heart set
on buying this particular car after seeing a friend who had this same model and
was extremely pleased with their experience.
Whenever I think about car buying, I cringe because the level of
deception techniques portrayed by media gives potential buyers a distrust of
those whom we are entering these negotiations with. Because of my high level of mistrust and the
desire to leave feeling as if I had won the negotiation, I did an exhaustive
research of this vehicle and its prices and features. One portion of my research I found several
other cars at other dealerships within a two-hour driving radius from our home. When we entered the dealership, I came armed
with my research and I knew how much I was willing to pay for the car this
dealership listed as available on their lot.
One claim I overstated in this negotiation was the fact there was a car
just over 2 hours away being offered for a lower price. I was unwilling to drive there for the car,
but I stated that I would make the drive for the savings. I had prepared myself to walk out of the
negotiation if he refused to meet that price point, but the truth of the matter
was, the car 2 hours away had already sold so there was no other car cheaper to
go to. If that situation had not played
to my favor, I likely would have been sleeping on the couch that night as my
wife wanted to drive off car in hand.
Fortunately, the negotiation played to my favor.
A situation that I
was misled in a negotiation would have to be when I built a storage building on
my property. For this project, I wanted
to get a building to use as a workshop and storage space for me and my
family. During initial meetings with my
potential builder, I discussed the size, and features I wanted to have in my
building. After negotiation of the
price, I felt as though I was happy with the process and a deal was made on a
handshake. My deception was to the
abilities of the builder. The man seemed
to be reputable and capable, however, the finished product turned out to be a
little less than expected and quite a bit over the agreed upon budget. Some of the lessons I learned in this
negotiation process was to get everything in writing and follow up on
references before agreeing to anything.
References
Geiger, I.
(2017). A model of negotiation issue–based tactics in business-to-business
sales negotiations. Industrial Marketing Management, 64, 91-106.
doi:10.1016/j.indmarman.2017.02.003
Program on
Negotiation. (2018a). 10 hard-bargaining tactics & negotiation skills.
Retrieved from https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/batna/10-hardball-tactics-in-negotiation/
Program on
Negotiation. (2018b). Why is sincerity important? how to avoid deception in
negotiation. Retrieved from https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/conflict-resolution/why-we-succumb-to-deception-in-negotiation/
No comments:
Post a Comment