Deceptive Negotiating Tactics, Research Paper Example

Negotiating is a part of everyday life both personally and professionally. Negotiation is a way for two or more parties, with different needs, to work together to come to an agreement that is acceptable to everybody. However, sometimes negotiations may leave one party deceived because the other party used deceptive negotiation tactics to get the advantage in their favor.

Last Name(s) of authors of “Essentials” (Date) refer to six categories of marginally ethical (deceptive) negotiating tactics, one of which is Emotional Manipulation. This deceptive negotiating tactic involves faking anger, fear, disappointment, elation or satisfaction in order to control someone’s decision in a negotiation. For example, a situation in which one can use emotional manipulation in a negotiation is signing up someone to become a multilevel marketing representative. I have been a victim of being manipulated into joining a multilevel marking organization more than once, based on emotional manipulation. Multilevel marketing representative recruiters are masters at inflating the benefits of joining their organizations by faking elation. The hyped up, pep rally type atmosphere seen at multilevel marketing recruiting meetings are designed to appeal to a person’s emotions by persuading them to make the decision to join the group because they see other people “happy” and “elated” at the meetings.

People are not always ethical when dealing with negotiations. Lakhani (2010) states that honest negotiations are often not easy due to human nature and that different people have different views on honesty and deception. Additionally it is noted that just because codes of ethics may be in place as guides to honest negotiation practices, does not mean they solely influence positive negotiations.

Deceptive negotiating tactics are intended to cause a person to lose control in the decision-making process, by causing the person to become emotional, and this makes the person less able to negotiate constructively. Deceptive negotiators are always finding ways to deceive the other party and twist the party’s decision in favor of a win for them.

Works Cited

Lakhani, A. “Deception in Negotiation: A Study of the Views and Perceptions of Practioners.” Rutgers Conflict Resolution Law Journal, 7(2). Retrieved from http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~rcrlj/articlespdf/lakhanisp10.pdf.