Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Browse All Articles
  • Popular Articles
  • Cold Call Podcasts
  • About Us
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • All Topics...
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Cold Call Podcast
    • HBS Case
    • In Practice
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
    • Working Paper Summaries
  • Browse All
    • COVID-19 Business Impact Center
      COVID-19 Business Impact Center
      Negotiation Processes As Sources of (And Solutions To) Interorganizational Conflict
      12 Jul 2012Working Paper Summaries

      Negotiation Processes As Sources of (And Solutions To) Interorganizational Conflict

      by Elizabeth Long Lingo, Colin Fisher and Kathleen L. McGinn
      Negotiations are often conceptualized as a means of managing or resolving conflict. Yet just as the process of negotiation may be a solution to conflict in some cases, it may be a source of conflict in others. This paper examines how contextual features within organizations affect negotiation processes and outcomes, and how these processes in turn become a source of or solution to interorganizational conflict. The authors argue that principals, agents, and teams face different sets of constraints and opportunities in negotiations. It is thus important to understand the link between unfolding interactions (the subject of considerable negotiation process research) and more macro features of organizations, such as formalization of roles, culture, or party representation. Key concepts include:
      • Relational aspects of negotiation processes and outcomes are very important.
      • Inter-organizational negotiations present choices regarding who will negotiate on behalf of the organization. Despite the critical resources at stake, little is known about the relative pros and cons of negotiating alone for one's own interests, sending an agent, or relying on a team.
      • Constraints and opportunities center on three domains: (a) the knowledge and skills that parties bring to bear on the negotiation; (b) the potential development of cross-party identification, trust, or relational conflict; and (c) coordination and communication.
      LinkedIn
      Email

      Author Abstract

      We investigate how structural features of negotiations can affect interaction processes and how negotiations can be not only a solution to, but also a source of, inter-organizational conflict. Principals, agents, and teams face different sets of constraints and opportunities in negotiations. We develop grounded theory detailing how the micro-interactions comprising a negotiation are shaped by the representation structure (principals, agents, or teams) of the parties. In qualitative and quantitative analyses of negotiations carried out by principals, agents, and teams in a laboratory experiment, we find that negotiators' efforts to manage the constraints and opportunities of their representation structure are reflected in the micro-interactions, the broad improvisations, and the resulting substantive and relational outcomes.

      Paper Information

      • Full Working Paper Text
      • Working Paper Publication Date: June 2012
      • HBS Working Paper Number: 12-107
      • Faculty Unit(s): Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
          Trending
            • 29 Oct 2020
            • Research & Ideas

            The COVID Gender Gap: Why Fewer Women Are Dying

            • 13 Jul 2020
            • Research & Ideas

            Merck CEO Ken Frazier Discusses a COVID Cure, Racism, and Why Leaders Need to Walk the Talk

            • 25 Feb 2019
            • Research & Ideas

            How Gender Stereotypes Kill a Woman’s Self-Confidence

            • 19 Jan 2021
            • In Practice

            Leadership Advice for Biden: Restore a Sense of Calm

            • 01 Nov 2020
            • Research & Ideas

            Good Leadership Is an Act of Kindness

        Kathleen L. McGinn
        Kathleen L. McGinn
        Cahners-Rabb Professor of Business Administration
        Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Strategy and Recruiting
        Contact
        Send an email
        → More Articles
        Find Related Articles
        • Leadership
        • Negotiation

        Sign up for our weekly newsletter

        Interested in improving your business? Learn about fresh research and ideas from Harvard Business School faculty.
        ǁ
        Campus Map
        Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
        Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
        Soldiers Field
        Boston, MA 02163
        Email: Editor-in-Chief
        →Map & Directions
        →More Contact Information
        • Make a Gift
        • Site Map
        • Jobs
        • Harvard University
        • Trademarks
        • Policies
        • Digital Accessibility
        Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College