Ethics and Negotiation Essay

?Negotiation is a pervasive features of business life. Success in business typically requires successful dialogues. In a competitive and morally imperfect world, business people argon often faced with serious ethical challenges. Herboting suspicious abut the ethics of others, many feel justified in engaging in less-than-ideal conduct to protect their own interests. The most sophisticated moral arguments be un in all probability to counteract this deportment. We believe that this morally defensive behaviour responsible, in large part, for much undesir adequate to(p) deception in negotiation. Drawing on recent work in the literature of negotiations, we present some hardheaded guidance on how negotiators might build trust, establish common interests, and secure credibility for their statements thereby promoting honesty.We must make the world honest before we lowlife honestly say to our children that honesty is the best policy George Bernard SHAWWhat do we mean by ethics?Ethics a re broadly applied social standards for what is obligation and wrong in a particular situation, or a process for setting those standards. And ethics grow out of a particular philosophies which define the reputation of the world in which we live and prescribe rules for living to requireher.Why do people choose wrong behaviour?The first answer that normally occurs to us is that people are corrupt, degenerate, or immoral. In fact these answers are to simplistics moreover, they do not help us take in and control our own behaviour, or successfully influence and predict the behaviour of others in a bargaining environment.Here were three primary factors motivational factors which lead negotiators to consider using wrong play the pursuit of profit, the desire to beat an opponent in a competitive environment, and the need to insure or restore some standard of justice that has been violated. troika major categories of ethical conduct were used to describe the broad range of questionable negotiating strategies and evasive fulfils means/ends, truth-telling, and relativism.The more e is committed to abide by certain rules and procedures, the more one believes that following the rules will eventually lead to the desired ends. The second group of tactics, relativistic vs. absolute, forces us to deal with questions of whether there are truly absolute rules and principles of right and wrong, or whether questions of ethics must be answered by each individual in his own personalized, subjective view of the world. many an(prenominal) authors mother suggested that bluffing, misrepresentation or factual distortion is sometimes necessary in order to effectively negotiate such behaviour, however, may well be seen by others as unethical and in take into account.We believe that the negotiation process raises a host of ethical issues, more so than most other interpersonal transactions. overmuch of what has been written on negotiating behaviour has been strongly normative abu t ethics, and prescribed dos and donts. We do not believe that this approach facilitates the understanding of how negotiators genuinely decide to act unethically. We believe this process can best be understood by a simple decision-making model.We proposed that a negotiator who chooses to use an unethical tactic usually decides to do so in order to increase his negotiating power. Power is gained by manipulating the perceived base of accurate information (lying), getting damp information about n opponents plan, or undermining an opponents ability to achieve his objectives. Using these tactics leads to two kinds of consequences first, actual accomplishment or non-attainment of these goals he was seeking and second, evaluation and criticism of the tactics by the negotiator himself, by his opponent and by observers. Negotiators usually feel compelled to justify their actions i.e., they notice they pretend done something wrong and need to establish a good creatorWe suggested that th e decision to use ethical or unethical tactics may be influenced in varying degrees by differences in individual backgrounds, reputation, rewards or punishments associated with ethical or unethical actions, and the social and cultural norms that dictate what is appropriate or inappropriate in a given environment. We have made a number of assumptions about ways to judge and evaluate human conduct in the realm of ethics. We have intentionally avoided taking a strong normative stance, and have not tried to emphasize our own biases about what kinds of conduct are ethical or unethical. Instead, we have proposed some(prenominal) conclusions that can be drawn from research, experience and common sense1 Individuals will often disagree as to what kinds of negotiating tactics are ethical or unethical, and in which situations it is appropriate or inappropriate to use them.2 The decision to use an unethical tactic can be probably best be understood as a quasirational decision making process i n which a variety of personality and situational variables are likely to affect that decision.3 In deciding to use an unethical tactic, a negotiator is likely to be most heavily influenced by what he believes the consequences will be for his choice will it help him accomplish his objectives, and what kind of feed back is he likely to receive from others?4 Negotiators who have used unethical tactics in the past, or might be considering their use in the future, should strongly consider three possible consequences of using unethical tactics a Will they really help achieve objectives?b How will they affect the quality of the relationship with this opponent in the future? c How will they affect their reputation?Negotiators frequently overlook the fact that while unethical or expedient tactics may get them what they want in the short run, these same tactics typically lead to long-term problems and to diminished effectiveness.Rules of the back upAn assumption every negotiation situation i nvolves questions of ethics. What are the understood rules of the game?What is fair?What is just?What is legal?What is appropriate and delightful?What is expected?Is ethical behaviour .What is practical?What is expedient?What is efficient?What serves ones interests or a clients interests?What is necessary to win?Like the poker player, a negotiator hopes that his opponent will overestimate the value of his hand. Like the poker player, in a variety of ways he must facilitate his opponents inaccurate assessment. 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.Four major approaches to ethical reasoning1 End-result ethics (results lens)The rightness of an action is determined by evaluating its consequences. Here the question is what will be the result?2 Duty ethics ( reputation lens)The rightness of an action is determined by ones obligation to adhere to consistent principles, laws and social standards that define what is rightand wrong. Here the question is what will others think?3 Social conduct ethics ( relationship lens)The rightness of an action is based o the customs and norms of a particular society or community. The question here is how will this pertain others?4 Personalistic ethics (rights lens)The rightness of the action is based on ones own conscience and moral standards the question here is what should I do?So when in an ethical quandary we answer the following questionsWhat will be the result?What will others think?How will this impact others?What should I do?THE IMPORTANCE OF NEGOTIATION ETHICHSCommonly held assumptions reflect negatively on the ethics of the negotiation tactics of car salespeople, lawyers, horse traders, and other people who have a reputation of trying to influence folks into reaching agreements by misrepresenting facts. This kind of stereotyping has attached itself to people from different countries, ethic groups, or even as ref lected in the expression from the 60s Dont trust anyone over 30.Negotiation is about many things one of its central elements is convincing others to accept the accuracy or reality of information that will influence their decision. Most negotiators know that it is, indeed, possible to influence people by lying to them. But good negotiators also tell apart that when other parties find out they have been on the receiving end of lies, the lying negotiators credibility goes down to tubes.There is an old expression If you invention me once, shame on you. If you cheat me twice, shame on me. People who have been taken in by dishonestly resentit if they are able, they try to get out of deals where theres been misrepresentation.In general, a general negotiator must make positive misstatement to be held liable fraud. First, when the negotiator makes a partial disclosure that is or becomes, misleading. Second, where the negotiator acts as a fiduciary. Third, when the negotiator has important information about the transaction not accessible to the other side. Fourth, where required by statue.On the other side we can say that negotiation is not a competitive sport. In competitive sports, the object is to end up good-natured the game, the race, or the event. Negotiators who focus on treating other parties as opponents run the risk of ending up with reluctant counterparties to whatever agreements may be reached. Unless all the parties are fully committed to their agreement, it may well fall apart in those circumstances the negotiation has failed.The ethics of negotiation should be based on several understandingsReluctant partners make undependable partners so treating negotiation partners with respect and honesty simply makes common sense.Negotiators need to recognize up front that the only reason to use negotiation to resolve a conflict, agree on a project, or conclude a sale because other parties may be able to add value an individual or a single company cannot do actin g alone.Transparency in the negotiation process is more likely to bring about buy-in than hidden agendas or tricky maneuvers.Other parties have feelings.Last understanding is the Golden Rule of treating others as you would wish to be hardened has the bottom line value of increasing other parties enthusiasm about negotiating with you as well as their enthusiasm about the ultimateagreement.Good negotiation ethics honesty, transparency, respect for others are all genuinely pragmatic approaches to use. A negotiators reputation is not unlike that of a restaurant if you have bad meal, you are not likely to return. And a negotiator with whom others dont want to deal is effectively out of business.Negotiator also should understand four major approaches to ethical reasoning end-result ethics, or the principals of act utilitarianism rule ethics, or the principle of rule utilitarianism social contract ethics, or the principles of community-based socially acceptable behaviour and personalistic ethics, or the principles of determining what is right buy turning to ones conscience. Each of these approaches may be used by negotiators to evaluate appropriate strategies and tactics.Consequently we can say that negotiation ethics is more important for negotiator thats why negotiator should recognize ethics carefully. Also unethical behaviours are most important to the negotiator. Because when he or she faced with unethical behaviour he or she should find the reasons for unethical behaviour.