Summary
In this chapter, has focused factors that negotiators consider when they decide whether particular tactics are deceptive and unethical. It approached the study of ethically ambiguous tactics from a decision-making framework, examining the ethical overtones of the choices that negotiators make. It began by drawing on a set of hypothetical scenarios to discuss how ethical questions are inherent in the process of negotiation, and the presented four fundamental approaches to ethical reasoning that might be used to make decisions about what is ethically appropriate. It proposed that a negotiator’s decisions to use ethically ambiguous (or flatly unethical) tactics typically grows out of a desire to increase one’s negotiating power by manipulating the landscape of (presumably accurate) information in the negotiation. And it also discussed the different forms that ethically ambiguous tactics take, and it analyzed the motives for and consequences of engaging in unethical negotiation behavior. Finally, it addressed how negotiators can respond to another party that may be using tactics of deception or subterfuge.
In closing, it suggested that negotiators who are considering the use of deceptive tactics ask themselves the following questions
-Will they really enhance my power and help me achieve my objective?
-How will the use of these tactics affect the quality of my relationship with the other party in the future?
-How will the use of these tactics affect my reputation as a negotiator?
Negotiators frequently overlook the fact that, although unethical or expedient tactics may get them what they want in the short run, these same tactics typically lead to tarnished reputations and diminished effectiveness in the long run.
