Amber,
Good job on your post this week! Negotiation is a pervasive feature of business life. Success in business typically requires successful negotiations. In a competitive and morally imperfect world, business people are often faced with serious ethical challenges. Ethics are broadly applied social standards for what is right and wrong in particular situation, or a process for setting those standards. And ethics grow out of a particular philosophy which defines the nature of the world in which we live and prescribe rules for living together.
Some believe that success at the negotiation table is heightened by the skillful use of deception. “The critical difference between those who are successful negotiators and those who are not lies in this capacity both to mislead and not to be misled. The efficiency of a negotiation, the maximization of value, and the likelihood of a mutually beneficial agreement are all products of positive working relationships that in turn rest on trust earned through behavior. Trust produces cooperation, sharing information, and seeking mutually satisfying solutions to problems. Trust has been called social capital, facilitating positive interactions, collaboration and a sense of satisfaction” (Jacobs-May, 2012, p. 2).
As Holley, Jennings & Wolters (2012) list “some common characteristics of an effective negotiator and they are as follows:
• Able to say no effectively
• Integrity and the ability to inspire confidence in his or her judgment ability
• Able to plan effectively and conduct research necessary to become thoroughly knowledgeable about bargaining issues and trends
• Able to discern the bottom line interests of other parties
• Even-tempered and able to tolerate conflict and ambiguity
• An excellent communicator (i.e., able to speak, write, and listen effectively)
• Self-confident and pragmatic (able to establish realistic bargaining expectations and accurately assess the benefits, costs, and risks of insisting on specific set- tlement terms)
• Good physical and mental stamina
• Able to understand the short- and