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.
Negotiations are a part of everyday life. When I
think about my daily routine, I can’t even count how many times I actually may
be negotiating my place. First thing in the morning I am already making
negotiations with my husband and vice versa. I’ll changer her diaper, if you
give her a bath.” I will rinse the dishes if you put them in the dish washer.”
Even more I count how many times I try and negotiate with my 7 month daughter
who probably has no idea what I am saying most of the time. “Mommy will give
you some ice cream if you can just say Mama, say Mama” or “Mommy’s so tired
hunny, if you go to bed we can all take a nice fun loooong nap together.”
Negotiations are constantly made at work as well. My boss always says he is
scared when I get up from my chair to walk in his office because he knows I
will have something for him to do. “So I was wondering if there was a way to
better our communication with the Registrar’s department in regards to the HEOM
prospects. If we can come up with something to better initiate the application
process, I promise to take the project head on myself.”
The truth about negotiations is that it happens
constantly but during the process of negotiating it is also very common to know
that many times people may be misrepresenting themselves or their information.
While lies of omission and lies of commission are both committed, it is
important for us to understand that the information provided to us may not
always be accurate. “In addition to distinguishing between lies of omission and
lies of commission, lies can also be classified according to the type of
information represented. (Wharton 2001)” Therefore, it is imperative that
individuals take the time to listen, negotiate their own terms if possible and
then make decisions that they feel would benefit them best based off of what
they know and not what they are being
told.
Examples of the classification of lies include a
negotiator’s misrepresentation of their
reservation prices, interests, intentions, and material facts. While this list
is important to consider when negotiating, it is also important to remember
that lies are also categorized according to the object of the lie. “Lies can be
told about oneself, about the target, about another person, or about an object
or event. Finally, we can distinguish between lies according to whether the
primary motivation of the lie is to promote one’s own interests, or to promote
someone else’s interests. (Wharton 2001).”
In order to evaluate information during negotiations
we should try a number of tactics in order to ensure that the information we
are receiving is valuable, correct and beneficial to the decision we are
looking to make. Before negotiating, individuals should prepare a variety of
questions that they would like to ask. A good tactic is to ask the question in
different forms or to ask similar questions multiple times. They should also
evaluate the motivations of their negotiators by checking to see what their
goals and incentives are. Considering the setting of the negotiator is also key
in verifying whether or not they are more or less likely to misrepresent
themselves. Checking for nonverbal cues, and different media for interaction
such as video conferencing, email, and phone can also detect whether or not
negotiators are more likely to use deception.
In order to ensure that the negotiation will move forward
the way it should, negotiators should establish trust, ask direct questions and
listen carefully to the information being provided. Paying attention to non verbal
cues and keeping record of things in writing is also a great way to ensure that
the information being provided does not change as plans to go through with the
negotiation come to a close. After negotiations have been completed, it is vital
that the previous steps listed are followed again. Letting your guard down is
one way for negotiators to take advantage of future business with you.
Therefore, build a questionable trust, where the process above is completed in
a thorough manner to ensure the likelihood of deception is low.
One example of a situation where I have been misled
was when an old co worker of mine was hired. The co worker had informed my
bosses and team that he had previous knowledge of the University, systems we
used, and was well versed in our SOC (Service Members Opportunity Colleges contract.
I immediately knew there was an issue with the new hire the minute I started to
train him. He was having extreme difficulty with how to move through the
systems and was asking questions in retrospect he should have known already.
Due to his military and background his “experience” with SOC, he should have
been able to jump onto the team and put his efforts into the military members who
fell under this contract. Instead, our prospects and SOC students were not
being assisted and falling through the loop.
My team and I were frustrated. For three months we
were left with extra work and agitated students. When our co worker came to us
the fourth month he was there and informed us he would be leaving to another
department, I have to admit my team and I were not the least bit surprised or
disappointed. It was almost a relief for us to be losing a team member as he had
brought so many issues to our team. Upon his departure, the team started to
rebuild and we actually worked best without him. We created a flow that would
work for a team of three and found that a team of three wasn’t so bad after
all. This experience taught us all about the importance of recognizing the
effects misrepresentation can have on our team and department as a whole.
A time when I overstated a claim was when I told my husband
that I “kind of” messed up his computer. I was working on my husband’s computer
one day and after a long while on Pinterest and a few of my other girly
favorite sites, I opened a link and the computer had crashed. I thought to fix
it I would need to shut the computer down and then re start it and that would
be it. I was wrong. I could not get the computer to start at all. I called my
husband and said. I think I “kind of” messed up your computer knowing full well
that it wasn’t working at all. My husband said okay and that he would come home
and fix it. When he got home he tried everything to get the computer to work.
Nothing worked. As savvy as he was with technology he could not figure out what
the issue was. He hoped it was not the hard drive as his warranty was up. He
took it to IT the next day and of course the hard drive had crashed.
I could tell my husband was upset and tried his best
not to say anything to me. He had to send his computer out and pay a fairly
large fee for the computer to be fixed. On top of that they had found a crack
on the screen from when I had accidentally pressed to hard on the screen from trying
to fix the computer myself. He was hit with another fee and the computer was
sent on its way. My husband did not say much the whole drive home. Not only
were we out a few hundred bucks but he didn’t understand why I would use his
computer instead of my own. He had all his schoolwork and software systems on
that computer and now he would be behind for the next few days or up late
having to go to the lab at school.
I apologized to him over and over and said how sorry
I was. He said it was fine but I could tell how upset he really was. I had told
him over the phone that it was nothing to worry about knowing the computer had
crashed and may not have been fixable. The reason I had told him it wasn’t as
bad as it was, was because I didn’t want him to be upset, however I should have
been a bit more honest from the beginning and told him that I had messed his
computer up and it may cost him time and money to get it working again.
In the long run my husband’s computer had crashed
and was not recoverable. In the next three months the hard drive continued to
crash. In order to make it up to him I bought him a whole new computer that he
had been looking into. He was surprised and ecstatic to have a new computer and
to be done with the headache of the old one. His last negotiation with me, was
that unless I was completing schoolwork of some sort on his computer that I
would use my own for entertainment purposes. I agreed to his negotiation and he
has not had any issues since.
It is amazing how many negotiations we all may make
in a day without intentionally meaning to. When I think of it now, my whole life
is full of negotiations. However it is with these negotiations that our lives
are made possible. Negotiations allow for us to view our options and make deals
on what may work best for us either in the moment or in the long run. Without
negotiating skills it can be easy for one to succumb to the lies of those who
do not have our best interest at heart and who are trying to purposely cause
deceit. Therefore it is important for each of us to practice our own
negotiating skills and challenge the skills of others.
References
Hoch,
S. J., & Kunreuther, H. C. (2005). Wharton on making decisions. (1st
edition.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc
Cassandra
R.
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