Can negotiations occur without trust

In this book, trust is defined as “one’s willingness to be vulnerable to another based on the confidence that the other is benevolent, honest, open, reliable, and competent.” (page xiii) The author recognizes that trust is complex and dynamic. She views trust as the “lubricant” that greases the machinery of the organization. Trust is particularly important where parties are interdependent, or the “interests of one party cannot be achieve without reliance upon another.” In schools “teachers and principals are

The concept of trust is an idea everyone toys with in their lives at one point. One may think that trust is based of moral values between a trusting relationship. But it can be more complex than many may think. Trust by definition is the “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something”(1.). To many, it is the bases of a relationship. People trust one another because they teach one another or they love one another. Whatever the case, trust is an essential piece to a relationship. But it’s Implied that both parties don’t take advantage of that trust. This idea is discussed in literature such as in the novel Indian Horse. Throughout Saul’s Journey in the novel Indian Horse he learns about trust by experiencing it as reality then as an illusion and finally as a choice he must make.

Trust has to be earned by everyone. Trust is a very serious word, because it can mean so much to one person. It's usually pretty hard to gain trust and if you break the trust it’s really hard to gain it back. There’s people out there that you can never trust. These people do anything to help themselves out and only care about themselves.

Negotiation is a fundamental form of dispute resolution involving two or more parties (Michelle, M.2003). Negotiations can also take place in order to avoid any future disputes. It can be either an interpersonal or inter-group process. Negotiations can occur at international or corporate level and also at a personal level. Negotiations often involve give and take acknowledging that there is interdependence between the disputants to some extent to achieve the goal. This means that negotiations only arise when the goals cannot be achieved independently (Lewicki and Saunders et al., 1997). Interdependence means the both parties can influence the outcome for the other party and vice versa. The negotiations can be win-lose or win-win in nature.

As learned in the article, “Risky Business: Trust in Negotiations,” establishing trust is crucial in negotiation. It opens the door for exchanging information. In this week’s group negotiation, it became more difficult to establish trust as the number of people involved increases.

Cahn and Abigail (2014) define negotiation as “a particular type of conflict management—one characterized by an exchange of proposals and counter proposals as a means of reaching a satisfactory settlement” (p. 229). Negotiation is a fact of life. Subsequently, we spend a substantial amount of time negotiating for something every day. The fact of the matter is that life is full of conflict situations. Whether in our personal or professional lives and whether or not we are aware of it, we are often engaged in conflict situations that require tapping into our conflict negotiation skills. From deciding what movie to see, where to eat, to asking one’s boss for a raise, we are all engaged in some type of negotiation. These real-life

“Successful negotiation is not about getting to ‘yes’; it’s about mastering ‘no’ and understanding the path to an agreement is” (Christopher Voss). During the negotiation process, there are a lot of moving parts and personalities. In addition, hurt feelings can all too often get in the way. The bottom line of any negotiation is to reach a settlement that will mutually benefit both parties. It’s a challenging situation by which compromise or agreement is reached while attempting to avoid arguments and disputes.

Dawson (1995) has highlighted three critical factors to every negotiation4: 1) understanding of power, 2) information factor and 3) time element. But according to Brooks and Odiorne (1984, pp. 45 - 46), strategic planning, power skill and timing, constitute the agenda in successful negotiations5; in which, strategic planning is the key factor in shapes the dimensions, form and context of the negotiations. On the other hand, Mills (1990, pp. 177 - 179) and Scott (1981, pp. 89 - 90) has provides sixteen and eight different elements that contribute to negotiation success6 and enable two parties to negotiate towards agreement to theirs joint advantage7. As a whole, these conclude that in any negotiations, it is important to remember that both parties are working toward mutual satisfaction.

What exactly is trust and why does it matter? “Trust is one’s willingness to be vulnerable to another based on the confidence that the other is benevolent, honest, open, reliable, and competent” (Tschannen-Moran, 2004, pg. 17). Trust is a word that has numerous definitions based on the word being so difficult to define. I think the author does a great job of helping define what trust is because of the word vulnerable. You have to be willing to be vulnerable to someone if you want to

“In cultures in which business is based on trust, the personal relationship must be established before any business discussions begin” (MacEwan, 2015, p. 156). Building trust in a relationship at the very beginning is important because it sets the framework for the relationships entirety. When both parties trust one another and take each other’s best interests into consideration, the relationship is far more likely to end positively and be successful.

Although, I am not that strong in leading a negotiation towards it’s ultimate goal. In order to increase the probability of a successful negotiation, for me as an individual, first I should identify the required steps and the order they should be taken in the course of a negotiation and try not to skip any step. The second item in my action plan is to improve my ability to construct trust-based negotiation. If trust is the basis of a negotiation, then both involved parties can think of a long relationship rather than one time transaction and it is what matters.

Consequently, negotiation is a process that can be approached in many ways. No matter what strategy we choose, success lies in how well we prepared. The key to negotiating a beneficial outcome is the negotiators’ ability to consider all the elements of the situation carefully and to identify and think through the options. At the same time, negotiators must be able to keep events in perspective and be as fair and honest as circumstance allows. Because a common ground or interest has brought the parties to the negotiating table, a negotiator can benefit by trying to capitalize on this common

An effective negotiator is a strategic negotiator, who is able to switch back and forth between different phases of a negotiation without losing the goal in mind. An effective negotiator takes time to process what is happening during the negotiation and ensures that the right problem is being resolved while taking into consideration other party’s intrests to finding a common ground. Concequently those type of actions facilitate in the process of a negotiation by creating a cooperative environment and enhance the furture relationship between the parties (Fells 2012; Sebenius 2001). An effective negotiator aknowledges that no party is the same and as every negotiation, every negotiator is different from one another. These variations explain the DNA of negotiation that requires an effective negotiator to take into considerations the strands of the DNA, such as “reciprocity, trust, power, information exchange, ethics, and outcome” that vary from person to person (Fells 2012, pg 8).

In today’s competitive scenario, achieving successful results through negotiations has become more important. But often negotiations face either complete failures or achieve far less than its actual potential. Also, such unsuccessful negotiations may perennially damage the reputation and relationships amongst the counterparties involved.

Negotiation is all about a strategy. The end result is usually to end a problem that someone is having, whether it is personally or