N9-Relationship in negotiation

One major way that context affects negotiation is that people are in relationships that have a past, present, and future. In this chapter, we focused on the ways these past and future relationships impact present negotiations. Our treatment of relationships will come in two major sections. First, we examined how a past, ongoing, or future relationship between negotiators affects the negotiation process. This discussion considers general assumptions that have been made about the theory and practice of negotiation – assumptions that have not taken into account any relationship between the parties – and provides a critical evaluation of the adequacy of negotiation theory for understanding and managing negotiations within relationships. We present a taxonomy of different kinds of relationships and the negotiations that are likely to occur within them. We also broadly described research studies that have examined negotiation processes within exiting relationships. Second, we looked at three major themes – reputations, trust and justice – that are particularly critical to effective negotiations within a relationship.