Top Three Negotiation Tactics. Does Gender or Workplace Influence the Preference for Negotiation Tactics?

Abstract

Most of the people assume that prices, conditions, and offers are firm and final. But that’s not necessarily true. In fact, many are actually flexible. Negotiating can be a way to come to agreements in a variety of areas: to reduce debts, to lower the sale price of a house, to improve the conditions of a contract, or to get a better deal on a car. “Reaching an agreement through negotiation is not just a matter of applying a repertoire of tactics and techniques, regardless of the nature of the conflict.… Negotiation is more like a trip - you can’t predict the outcome before you make the trip”.

This paper uses findings from research journals and a statistical study, and it is performed mainly through a survey which identified which are the top three most used tactics amongst negotiators in the Cluj County and examined the way in which these tactics are used depending on two criteria, the workplace and the gender of negotiators.

The main stages of the negotiation process were first analysed. The purpose of this part is to highlight the importance of organizing and preparing each stage of the negotiation process. The second part of the research identifies and describes the top three negotiation tactics and explores a potential correlation of two variables, gender, and workplace, with the usage and preference for the negotiation tactics.

The results showed that the Specific Argumentation Tactic, followed by the Alternatives Tactic and the Common Points Tactic are the top three most used negotiation tactics. Overall, there was a slight discrepancy between the percentage of women and men who used these negotiation tactics. In all three cases, the percentage of men exceeded the percentage of women. As regards the influence of the workplace on the usage of negotiation tactics, a significant relationship between the field of activity and the predilection for using the negotiation tactics was validated.

Although only one of the two variables (i.e. workplace) has been confirmed as significantly correlated with the usage of the negotiation tactics, both the gender and workplace may partly influence the way in which the negotiation tactics are used. Other factors such as education history or personality may play a more significant role in using the negotiation tactics more frequently.