MSLD 632 Module 4 - Deception in Negotiations

Deception in Negotiations

Deception in negotiation is a common practice, as according to Hoch (2001), people, in general, are more comfortable with the lies of omission. When it brings more benefits than costs, negotiators become more likely to lie, and with that parameter in consideration, we cannot deny the negative outcomes of deception.

While reflecting in ways I can reduce my vulnerability to deception, I need to think through two point of views: how to reduce my deception in negotiations and how to reduce the chances I am a victim of deception.

One way to reduce my vulnerability deception is to return my principles and ideals. Lying was un unacceptable rule at home while being raised. I believe the corporation environment, involuntarily, keeps trying to get this value from employees, along with the news, with the bitter reality of the world as soon as you start socializing. When I catch myself thinking of lying to take advantage in a negotiation, I ask myself, “if my parents were watching me, would they be proud of it?”. In my conjugal relationship, this is a subject me and my husband bring to the “table” constantly. While talking and thinking of solutions for problems, if one mention about any type of lie to achieve its goal, the other reminds that lying is not an option. I am fortunate that my husband’s background is even more strict in this subject, so my value from childhood is maintained with less effort. I have read Hoch (2001) statement about a cost-benefit calculation of lying, but for me I prefer to only look at the cost, as I do not see the benefit as truly benefic.

Another way to reduce my vulnerability, but this time to guard myself against deception is being alert for the cues, using the 5^th rule of negotiation listed by Alan McCarthy in a video published in 2011: listen more and talk less. When McCarthy mentioned “listen” he includes visual observations as well. This rule speaks out loud to me as I am talkative and uncomfortable with silence. Julian Treasure (2011) lists five ways to a person to listen better, which are exercises I practice sometimes to improve my capability for listening. Increasing my awareness through silence and pure observation skills is one valuable way to guard me from deception.

Hoch (2001) presents a table (11.1) adapted from Fiedler and Walka (1993) with cues to detect lies. Keeping in mind these vocabulary, visual, vocal and verbal cues, along with my increase of silence and awareness methodology can be a powerful tool to guard myself.

The forth way I can think of decreasing my vulnerability to deception is never make a quick deal, which brinks me back to McCarthy’s 9^th rule and to my most recent experience in negotiations, where I was misled and overstated a claim (on the same experience)

I am looking for apartment to rent, and by the first week looking on line and personally visiting them, I found an apparent good deal (furnished, good price, low agency commission, community fee included and low deposit cheque value). Without hesitating I called the agent to make a deal. (I didn’t place an offer, or made questions, I haven’t even met personally the agent yet). To my “benefit” it was weekend and I could not complete the process with the government, so the rental process was postponed. In the meantime, I looked for scam information, as they happen often where I live, and I found that some payment requests by the agency were illegal by law, even though the answer of the agent made sense when I asked. I was almost misled to a possible scam, due to deception from the agent and my rush to close a deal. In the same negotiation, when I saw some details in the draft contract, I firmly asked for more detail in the contract. By the way I communicated with the realtor, sound as I overstated a claim, deception my knowledge in real state. I have done few searches online regarding to real state in the country, and I sounded as an expert just to get what I wanted. I didn’t go too far to leverage my position, as the agent finally agreed with my requests for the contract, when I mentioned I would not close a deal, but to be honest I do not think I would go too far to close the deal, as it was a good deal for me, even though it could present some traps.

References

Hoch, S., Gunther, R., Kunreuther, H. (2001). Wharton on Making Decisions. New York, NY: Wiley.

McCarthy, A. (2011). The 10 Rules of Negotiation. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy0MD2nsZVs&t=600s, on Febaruary 2^nd, 2019.

Treasure, J. (2011). 5 ways to listen better. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_5_ways_to_listen_better, on December 14^th, 2019.