Deception in Negotiations

A632.4.4.RB

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.

According to the Business Dictionary (n.d.), negotiation is the “Bargaining (give and take) process between two or more parties (each with its own aims, needs, and viewpoints) seeking to discover a common ground and reach an agreement to settle a matter of mutual concern or resolve a conflict.” The act of negotiating is done, to some degree, on a daily basis. While this process may be common, so too is the deception that is associated with it. According to Maurice Schweitzer (2005), “During the course of negotiations, people often misrepresent information to gain at least a temporary advantage,” he continues by noting that, “Deception of some kind is an inherent part of human interaction” (p. 188).

Holding a temporary advantage in the negotiation process can lead to some people altering the truth of their intentions/position or outright fabricating their situation entirely. This deception typically occurs in the form of telling lies of omission or lies of commission. Schweitzer (2005) highlights,

One study found that 28 percent of negotiators lied about a common interest issue during negotiations, while another study found that 100 percent of negotiators either failed to reveal a problem or actively lied about it during negotiations if they were not directly asked about the issue (p. 188).

So how can we safeguard ourselves and the organizations we represent? The truth is that detecting lies can be extremely difficult. This is especially true when dealing with charismatic and seasoned negotiators. According to Leslie John (2016), “Humans are particularly inept at recognizing lies that are cloaked in flattery… We’re wired to readily accept information that conforms to our preexisting assumptions or hopes.” Yet the good news is that there some ways to evaluate the information during the negotiation process.

These four steps include:

Establish trust: This step is important in establishing a foundation of mutual trust before the negotiation process. “This tactic will reduce the possibility that others will employ defensive justification” (Schweitzer, 2005, p. 196).

Ask direct questions: Going into a negotiation situation, there will be certain information that is generally known and some information that may be assumptions or likely to be known. In either case, one method I like to exercise is to ask a direct question about something that we both know to be true or certain and note their response. Furthermore, I will also ask a direct question about something that I may not necessary know or they are under the impression that I do not know and compare this response with the “known” information response. This leads into the next two steps.

Listen carefully: As a designated negotiator, they (& you) are privy to certain information such as: bottom line factors, willing to sacrifice, and intentions. After entering the dialog phase, it is important to listen to what your counterpart is saying, how they are saying it (frame), and what they continuously highlight or work towards. When listening carefully, one may be able to pick-up on possible dodging or avoidance in responses.

Pay attention to nonverbal cues: Nonverbal cues are the body’s natural responses to certain stressors that occur very subtlety. In fact, as a former law enforcement professional, training in body language (nonverbal cues) is an essential survival skill. For someone who is not well versed in identifying and deciphering many of the bodies telltales, one may never even know they have occurred. Thus, when negotiating, it is important to know some of the most common nonverbal cues, such as: breaking eye contact (western culture), crossed arms/legs, clearing throat, deep breath, grooming gesture, Illustrators, shifting in chair, early response, and delayed response (Reid Technique, 2008).

After reflecting on recent negotiation where I have been misled, I found it difficult to come up with a suitable example for two reasons. The first, I have been out of the workforce as a result of retirement from military service for the better part of two years; the second, I have not purchased anything significant recently that would require a true negotiation situation as described above. In lesser more common negotiations, if I was misled, I was surely unaware of it. However, I am currently in the process of having significant repairs to my rv, to the point where an insurance adjustor has been actively assisting me repairing the damage. While discussing the needed work with the company that is repairing the rv, I have negotiated the installation of new or upgraded equipment into the rv that I purchased on my own, but under the agreed upon reinstallation rate established by the insurance company. For example, one of the repairs on the rv includes a roof replacement. To do this, everything on the roof needs to be removed and reinstalled. One such items to be removed and reinstalled is the old and outdated tv antenna. Thus, since the existing repair contract includes this work to be done, I have paid for a new antenna system (own funds) to replace the existing one. After discussing this with the repair company, they were more than willing to accommodate for two reasons; first, the repair to be done is a very profitable contract, second, they were going to reinstall a tv antenna regardless, which one made little difference to them. In this situation, it was a win-win scenario.

References

Hoch, S. J., & Kunreuther, H. C. (2005). Wharton on making decisions. (1^st edition.). Kindle Edition.

John, L. (2016). How to Negotiate with a Liar. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/07/how-to-negotiate-with-a-liar.

Negotiation. (n.d.). Business Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/negotiation.html.

Subject Interview Sheet. (2008). The Reid Technique of Behavior Analysis Interview Questions. John E. Reid & Associates.