3001EHR NEGOTIATION
E-Negotiation
Chapter 3, pp.64-67
Negotiating in a Connected World
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Lecture Overview
1. Distortion in Communication
2. Non-Verbal Communication
3. Practical Activity – Interpreting Body Language
4. Selection of a Communication Channel
5. E-Mail Negotiations and Biases:
 Temporal Synchrony
 Burned Bridge
 Squeaky Wheel
 Sinister Attribution
6. Web Based Negotiations
7. Comparative Analysis –
Telephone and Internet Negotiations
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Communication in Negotiation
Communication processes, both verbal and nonverbal, are critical to achieving negotiation goals
and to resolving conflicts
 Negotiation is a process of interaction
 Negotiation is a context for communication subtleties that
influence processes and outcomes
Channels and Media
 The conduits by which messages are carried from one
party to another
 Messages are subject to distortion from channel noise or
various forms of interference
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Distortion in Communication
Even in face to face negotiations there is distortion
Reception
 The process of comprehension by receiving messages and
decoding them into an understandable form
 It might not be possible to capture fully the other person’s
meaning, tone or words
Interpretation
 Process of ascertaining the meaning and significance of
decoded messages for the situation to go forward
 An important way to avoid problems is by giving the other party
feedback – summarising and reframing are useful practical
techniques
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Communication Skills
Attending Behaviours
Non verbal communication:
 Eye contact
 Body language – posture, facial expressions, tone of voice
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As body language accounts for 80% of all communication,
the ability to read body language is a very powerful skill
worth developing and refining.
Practical Activity
Can you interpret the body language? What
does it tell you?
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Facial Expressions – Everyday People
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Facial Expressions – Celebrities
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Body Language of Politicians
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Communication Skills
Passive Listening: Talkative Partner
 Sometimes it is best to sit and listen, passive listening allows the other
party to keep giving you information. Silence is often golden.
Active Listening / Acknowledgment
 A simple nod of the head, uh-huh, or go on, all indicate understanding
and can help the negotiation continue
 May lead to finding out more about the other parties’ opinions and points
of view, encouraging them to provide more information to you about their
objectives
This non-verbal communication is NOT available when
e-negotiating via e-mail, text messaging, WhatsApp,
Viber, Snap Chat or other on-line methods
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Selection of a Communication Channel
Communication is experienced differently when it
occurs through different channels
People negotiate through a variety of communication media using
various methods
 by phone, in writing and increasingly through electronic channels or
virtual negotiations
Social bandwidth distinguishes one communication channel from
another
 the ability of a channel to carry and convey subtle social cues from
sender to receiver
 receiver may assume things and not ask the correct questions or even
ask questions
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Selection of a Communication Channel
Technologies
 desktop video conferencing
 collaborative software
 internet/intranet systems
 technologies converge to forge the foundation of new workplaces
This new workplace will be unrestrained by geography, time
and organizational boundaries. It will be a virtual workplace,
where productivity, flexibility and collaboration exists.
Virtual teams
 groups of geographically and/or organisationally dispersed co-
workers that are assembled using a combination of
telecommunications and information technologies to accomplish an
organizational task.
 virtual teams will rarely, if ever, meet in a face-to-face setting.
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Selection of a Communication Channel
Increasingly electronic channels such as e-mail and
teleconferencing systems, instant messaging, Skype and
even text messaging are being utilised
However…
 Evidence suggests that negotiation through on-line
written channels is more likely to end in an impasse
than negotiations that are face-to-face or by phone
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E-Mail Negotiations
Thompson and Nadler (2002) identified four
biases that can threaten e-mail negotiations
 Temporal
synchrony bias
 Burned bridge bias
 Squeaky wheel bias
 Sinister attribution bias
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Temporal Synchrony Bias
E-negotiators often believe they can control the rate of message
exchange that occurs within the interaction
 Such control is often possible in face-to-face interactions as people use
the length of their utterances and rate of speech
The advantage of e-mail is that anyone can send a message
whenever he or she wishes to do so
 Problem - there may not be anyone there to listen
 Especially problematic, given that most negotiators have a “tennis
game” mental model of negotiations as they expect the other party to
“volley back”
 In face-to-face interactions, receivers and senders typically engage in a
process of rapid correction of information
E-negotiators must attempt to interpret the other party
 opportunity for brief requests for clarification as the other party is talking
is absent
Therefore, e-negotiators often make assumptions
and making assumptions can be dangerous
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Burned Bridge Bias
Negotiators who build positive rapport are less likely to burn bridges or
create situations that imperil the relationships (Morris et al 2000)
Face-to-face interactions exhibit a variety of non-verbal behaviours
 smiling, nodding, making direct eye contact, verbalizations, “uh-huh,” “OK”
 greater accountability of behaviours serves to strengthen the relationship
Tendency to do risky things during e-mail that would not be used in a face-to-face encounter
 create “tests” for the other party - probability of failure
 “If I don’t hear from you in 1 hr, then I am going to assume that you don’t want to reach
an agreement.”
A lack of rapport encourages feelings of anonymity and social distance
 can lead people to think of relationship as more temporary and fleeting.
E-Negotiation often occurs in a vacuum
 short of people explicitly inviting others, such as colleagues or third parties, to witness
the interaction, the nature of the interaction is oblivious to others.
SO – should an accountability mechanism be devised into e-negotiation
 such as copying each message to a designated third party who has social ties to both
parties
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Squeaky Wheel Bias
Tendency to use a negative emotional style - rude, impulsive behaviour
eg “Where did you get that dumb idea?”
 People are eight times more likely to become inflamed in e-discussion
than in face-to-face discussion (Dubrovsky, Kiesler, & Sethna 1991)
 Negotiators are likely to use a squeaky wheel approach when they
believe intimidation will be effective (Rothbart & Hallmark 1988)
 The squeaky wheel approach is most likely to emerge in an e-mail
context
 E-mail negotiators for whom group norms are not salient
 strangers who have not had the opportunity to schmooze before
negotiating find that conflict escalates more often and more quickly
 this process of conflict escalation frequently serves as a roadblock to
the process of information exchange often required for integrative
outcomes
 But when e-discussion members are part of a cohesive group
 over time, anonymity and lack of physical contact of electronic
communication increases group norms and usually increases
conformity to communication norms (Postmes, Spears, & Lea,
2000; Postmes et al 2001; Spears et al 1990)
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Sinister Attribution Bias
Overlooking the role of situational factors
 Social identity theory suggests that the more similar we perceive
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others to be, the more cooperative and trusting we are likely to
behave
 if someone is perceived as an out-group member, the less likely
people are to show trust and co-operation (Tajfel & Turner 1986)
The mere absence of social cues leads to feelings of social distance
Suspicion and distrust of the other party can hinder the kind of
information exchange necessary to engage in mutually profitable
trade-offs
Moore et al (1999) found the likelihood of impasse was reduced to
nearly zero when e-negotiators perceived that their counterpart was
a member of their in-group
Postmes et al (2001); Spears et al (1990) demonstrated that, when
negotiators have social identity and in-group status, the anonymity of
electronic communication causes e-group members to increase their
group allegiance and normative behaviour.
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E-Mail Negotiations
Some evidence that e-mail negotiators can and do reach
agreements that are more equal than face-to-face
negotiators
Postmes et al (2001) and Spears et al (1990) found that, when
negotiators create social identity and in-group status, the
anonymity of electronic communication causes e-group
members to increase their group allegiance and normative
behaviour.
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Web Based Negotiations
Are negotiators consistent or adaptive?
 Many negotiators prefer sticking with the familiar
rather than venturing into improvisation
Cross-cultural negotiations
 Study of across many different countries and
people of social settings, cultural differences
 Processes and outcomes
 Records of negotiation automatically generated
 Still in experimental stages
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Points to Note –
What does the research say?
 Face to face negotiations and on-line negotiations have
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fundamental differences – challenges and advantages
The inability to see the other party has some adverse
effects – negotiators are less trusting and generally more
competitive (Citera, Beauregard & Mitsuya 2005)
Potential for internet negotiations to be more rational
and less prone to emotional outbursts which can arise in
face to face negotiations (Griessmair and Koeszegi 2009)
Tendency for e-mail negotiations to use harder tactics
than in face to face negotiations (Galin, Gross & Gosalker
2007)
Internet negotiations provide a record of the discussion
which can be reviewed – good and bad (Bulow 2011)
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Negotiating over the phone
Negotiating over the internet
 Phone is not a leveller, one
 Internet is a leveller, nobody can
party can still dominate
 Tendency to overdo our strategy
and be repetitive because we do
not have benefit of visual cues
(body language)
 Negotiators with a strong case
do better over the phone
 Tendency to sound and be more
competitive
Adapted from Fells (2016)
Table A31, p.66
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easily dominate
Length of communication is not
constrained
Fewer social protocols therefore rapport building is
more challenging
Interactions interpreted more
competitively
Often e-mails not read properly
due to immediacy and delays in
response increase frustrations
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Summary
Due to the drive to become more efficient and reduce
costs, business will increasingly move away from traditional
styles of negotiations through the adoption of new
technologies
 Recruitment and selection is now often completed utilising on-
line methods
 Videoconferencing, Teleconferencing and the use of Skype
has been readily adopted by many organisations for meetings
 Web based negotiations are still in the experimental stage
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Next Lecture
Lecture Topic:
Mediation
Essential Reading:
Fells, Chapter 10, Managing a negotiation: a mediation
perspective, pp. 208-229
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