The affect of personal characteristics on negotiation Essay

The affect of personal characteristics on negotiation - Essay Example For instance, Miles, Hatfield and Huseman (1989) identified a spectrum of individuals who have different equity preferences. That's why in negotiations it could be unreasonable to adhere strictly to Adams' 'norm of equity', because bargainers' perception of what if 'fair' may be arbitrary. There exist two approaches to buyer-seller encounters in literature (Bazerman et al., 2000; Barry & Friedman, 1998): cooperative and/or problem-solving approach, and distributive and/or competitive. The first type, known also as integrative approach, presupposes conflict resolution, integration, and information exchange among buyers and sellers (Bazerman et al., 2000; Barry & Friedman, 1998; Pruitt, 1981). The competitive or distributive strategy involves threats and excessive demands, seeks to win concessions at the counterpart's expense (Barry & Friedman, 1998; Perdue & Summers, 1991). Miles, Hatfield and Huseman (1987) stayed that equity sensitivity is an individual difference that influence how individuals react to inequity. Equity sensitivity is a 'person's perception of what is and what is not equity and then uses that information to make predictions about reactions to inequity' (King, Miles and Day 1993, p.135). For example, on the one end of the continuum there are the benevolents, or 'givers' who express high satisfaction in relation to others when their output/input ratios are less than the comparison other; they have higher tolerance for under-reward. Also at mid-range there are the equity sensitives, who most closely adhere to the traditional norm of equity (where inputs and outputs are balanced) (Allen & White, 2002). On the other end of the continuum are 'takers', who are most satisfied when they receive more outcomes than inputs (King, Miles & Day, 1993). According to King, Miles & Day (1993), benevolent negotiators, or 'givers', won't provide more in puts, in comparison to their outputs, to their counterparts. In the negotiations these inputs appear in the form of sharing information, making concessions changes, and discussing preferences among bargaining parties, which are critical elements of the cooperative problem-solving strategy. Entitleds, or 'takers' focus on themselves and the outcomes, and are more likely to take action to rectify any imbalance in the input/output ration when compared to their counterparts (Allen & White, 2002; Miles, Hatfield and Huseman, 1989). In the negotiation process entitleds are likely to be less cooperative than their counterparts. So that, it could be expected the following strategies to take place: H1: Benevolent negotiators will demonstrate more cooperative behaviours than entitled negotiators. Because they are more concerned with the outcomes of the bargaining activity and are more likely to follow the cooperative manner of behaviour, they place higher importance to intristic outcomes such as cooperation (King, Miles & Day, 1993). As a result, a positive connection exists between equity sensitivity and negotiators' perceptions of their cooperative behavi