Ann is Chicago-based Designer and Creative Strategist.
Ann admits that she tells little white lies to her colleagues and co-workers.
For example, on several occasions, Anne has told her coworkers,
I actually don't know how to use Excel, sorry, I went to art school.
Can I send you a Google Doc, and you can put it in Excel for me?
This way, Anne can free up her own time and
put the work burden on her more skilled colleagues.
The truth is, Anne knows how to use Excel and
also admits to making similar claims about using Word.
She claims that as an artist she never learned how to use it, again,
a false statement.
According to Ann, by engaging in these white lies she doesn't waste her own time.
So how do we feel about Ann and her little white lies?
Most people have a problem with Anne and would not want to be on a team with her.
However, on the ethics continuum,
Anne seems a far cry from a financial trader who fudges the numbers, or
a home seller who lies about structural integrity of the house.
By claiming for example, to not have asbestos, but actually does.
According to Robinson, Lewicki and Donahue, there are at least five types of
ethically questionable behavior in negotiations.
Competitive bargaining refers to, well being a hard ass.
When negotiators use this behavior, they make outrageous demands,
or convey an impression that they are in no hurry when actually they are.
Attacking an opponents network, this negotiator
may attempt to get their opponent fired or appear foolish in front of their boss.
Attempting to undermine someone's credibility or
reputation is another example, making false promises.
This negotiator makes verbal agreements that they know dang good and
well they cannot honor, misrepresentation.
This negotiator, like Anne, makes false statements.
They misrepresent information in order to serve their own interests.
Inappropriate information gathering.
This negotiator attempts to gain information
about an opponent through illegal or inappropriate means.
I worked with a large pharmaceutical company
who was negotiating with a key supplier in a hotel suite.
What they did not know at the time was the hotel suite was wired with microphones.
And the counter part was eavesdropping on their private
offline conversations to gain advantage.
What does the research say about ethics in negotiation?
Most people do not regard traditional competitive bargaining to be unethical.
People do regard the four other types of behavior, false promises,
misrepresentation, inappropriate information gathering, and
undermining the opponent to be unethical.
Finally, most people regard themselves to be more ethical than others.
For example, in my course, I routinely ask students at the end of a term,
what percentage of the time others lied to them, deceived them, or
otherwise behave unethically.
The statistics, most negotiators feel that others behaved
less than ethically, about 40% of the time.
When I turn this question on its head and ask these same students what percentage of
the time, they behaved unethically, the statistic drops to about 20%.
This of course reveals a double standard.
Namely, we judge others harshly and we look at ourselves generously.
It is very important to put our own self-serving perceptions aside,
and manage our reputation in negotiation.
Glick and Croson discovered that negotiators earn one of
four reputations in negotiation communities.
Liar-manipulators will do anything to gain advantage.
Tough-but-honest negotiators are tough but they don't lie.
Nice-and-reasonable negotiators make concessions in a quid pro quo fashion.
Cream-puffs make a great
deal of concessions regardless of what the other party does.
Can you guess what kind of reputation is ideal
in terms leveraging your own interests?
The tough and nice negotiators are more likely to
engender win-win strategies from their opponent.
In contrast, people act very defensively with manipulators, and
people take advantage of cream puffs.
Let's put this all in perspective.
First, in the age of the Internet and
iPhone, managing your reputation is monumentally important.
Second, you have a more favorable view of yourself than anyone,
so it is important to seek unbiased feedback.
Finally, you need to be proactive when at the negotiation table.
Ask questions, ask for evidence, and
suggest contingencies when the information you need is not available.
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