Decision Models in Engineering and Management by Patricia Guarnieri

Author:Patricia Guarnieri
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

5.2 Trust in the Negotiation Phase

In the next phase of the proposed model, negotiation, the execution of what was planned in the previous phase begins. The dimensions of trust that stand out are concern, competence, openness and credibility.

The demonstration of concern for the interests and welfare of the other party provides a climate of trust, and negotiators can come to consider it in their reviews, offers and concessions. Their own interests are balanced with those of the other party (Tzafrir et al. 2011). The positive perception of an action taken for the welfare of others is indicative of benevolence and can contribute to the building of trust (Lewicki 2006).

Moreover, concern is also perceived in terms of justice and fairness. Negotiators who are concerned with the creation and maintenance of a fair relationship can induce a party not to feel cheated and taken advantage of, increasing the perception of trust. Thus, the use of common standards of justice and fairness, identified in the pre-negotiation, if employed in the evaluations made during the negotiations towards building a fair relationship, contributes to the increase in trust between parties.

The competence dimension focuses on the skills and abilities of the other party (Das and Teng 2001). In assessing whether the other party has the ability to do what is proposed, negotiators are led to trust, saving time and energy in efforts to draft the agreement (Lewicki 2006), which strongly contributes to value creation and the elaboration of simpler contracts without going into great details and the need for stipulated controls. This trust is considered not only easy to establish but also easy to break. For some, this trust may be regarded as a calculus based on the costs or benefits that the parties incur by keeping commitments (Thompson et al. 2010).

The competence dimension, in the negotiation, can be identified from positive data regarding the quality of the products or services offered; data on the existence of qualified professionals in the partner company; data on quality certifications for the products or processes used; data on partnerships with research institutes, universities and funding agencies or data on partnerships with other organizations. Although these aspects of the competence dimension have been cited with respect to the pre-negotiation phase, it is at this stage they will become clearer and hold greater evidence because of the development of the surveys carried out in the previous phase. Trust, here, is not the initial trust that was perceived during the planning of the partnership. Rather, it is an enlarged trust borne of the information that has been exchanged.

The dimensions of openness and credibility can also be checked in the negotiation phase through the reciprocal exchange of information and the assessment of commitments made ​​to the partnership.

Negotiators demonstrate the fulfilment of commitments through their reputation and the information shared between the parties. They contribute to increased trust by promoting the formulation of offers and arguments for value creation and risk taking at this stage of the negotiation. Thompson (2009), based on the work

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