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An Ethical Fitness Quiz for Negotiators
Shady dealings at the negotiating table may work in the short term, but in the end, you’ll undermine trust and tarnish your reputation, warns HBS professor Michael A. Wheeler in the March issue of Negotiation, a newsletter from HBS Publishing. “It’s important to calibrate your values before you sit down to craft a deal or settle a dispute,” says Wheeler. “Your character is one thing you shouldn’t make up as you go along.”
Wheeler presents three cases that test ethical negotiating behavior. The “steal deal” scenario involves an elderly couple offering their house for sale at under market value. The “something like the truth” scenario involves one party not being totally candid about facts that could negatively affect the outcome of a deal. The “doing the devil’s bidding” scenario pits one’s personal values against the expectations of an employer.
To see your way through such difficult negotiating situations, Wheeler cautions against making ethical choices on the fly. He advises asking yourself in advance five important questions that can help illuminate the boundaries between right and wrong at the bargaining table. In the process, you’ll discover your own ethical standards:
- Reciprocity: Would I want others to treat me, or someone close to me, this way?
- Publicity: Would I be comfortable if my actions were fully and fairly described in the newspaper?
- Trusted friend: Would I be comfortable telling my best friend, spouse, or children what I am doing?
- Universality: Would I advise anyone else in my situation to act this way?
- Legacy: Does this action reflect how I want to be known and remembered?
Concludes Wheeler: “Doing the right thing sometimes means that we must accept a known cost. But in the long run, doing the wrong thing may be even more costly.”
For information on Negotiation, visit HBSP Newsletters.
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