Negotiation Ethics: Truth, Deception, and Emotional Manipulation

This assignment explores the ethical implications of lying and deception in negotiation, addressing questions about the effectiveness and morality of bending the truth. The student reflects on personal experiences with negotiation, including a situation where the truth was bent to achieve a desired outcome, and discusses the consequences. The assignment analyzes the concept of "paltering," as described in a Forbes article, and evaluates its ethical standing. Additionally, it examines the use of emotions in negotiation, distinguishing between emotional intelligence and manipulative tactics. The conclusion emphasizes the inherent conflict between lying and ethical behavior, while acknowledging that situational factors might influence the perception of ethical boundaries. The student commits to countering deception with facts, rather than resorting to dishonesty.

Running head: LYING IN NEGOTIATION
Lying In Negotiation
Name of the student :
Name of the university
Authors note :

1LYING IN NEGOTIATION
Section one
Negotiation can be termed as the discussion, which is aimed at reaching the agreement. If
the technical definition is to go by, it is not considered as a viable option to do so. A lie is said to
occur when a negotiator makes a misinterpretation of the fact and the material fact (Lewicki,
Barry, and Saunders 2016). In most of the context, lying is considered as one worst thing. In
terms of the business context, however, people should learn with the strength and benefit but
should not misinterpret facts in the long run (Altes 2014). During one of my negotiations with
the classmate about a project, I have bent the truth to involve him for involving him in the
project and negotiate a deal with him to get my area of interest for the project, and the
consequence was I got my area of interest. However, people involved in bending the truth in
negotiations must be aware that transparency is one of the most important criteria, and if the lie
is found on, later on, the organization may lose the opportunity.
Section Two
The Forbes article has used the term paltering to show how to bend the truth. The article
claims it is distinct from deception, and it simply means active use of the truthfulness in order to
influence the belief of the target audience by giving a false and distorted impression about the
same (Forbes 2020). The article further states that this is not only the work of the business
people, but famous politicians have also done this. Paltering is common when the negotiator gets
e better deal in doing so. However, the party at the end of the table feels that they are scammed. I
think I will not resort to paltering when I am dealing with the customer because I think because I
do not identify with the concept of paltering, I rather believe that this is the most unethical thing
to do as it is like deceiving the target proactively. The salesperson, in this case, will feel mislead,
and it is as unethical as lying.

2LYING IN NEGOTIATION
Section Three
Emotions of all types alter the thought behavior and the underlying biology. In the negotiation,
there are cases where it is observed that using emotions I the negotiation affects the outcome,
and it is well documented in that case. It is good to have emotional intelligence and apply it in
the negotiation; however, emotional manipulation is not good in the situation (Džamić 2015).
This is very unethical to do in the situation because emotionally exploiting somebody is not good
playing with the sentiment with the other person is not applicable. The work may be negotiated
on the situation; however, in the long run, it would prove to be unethical in the long run and may
create a wrong impression in the situation.
Section Four
There cannot be a situation where lying can be considered as ethical because lying and ethics are
both contradicting situations (Yadav, Kohli, and Kumar 2016). however, in a certain situation,
the other party can manipulate a situation to get a better deal in the situation. For example during
a negotiation if one of then negotiator declare that this is the last deal and the other party agrees
to it it would be considered ethical however during a situation when one of the party manipulate
and dodge facts and lies just to take advantage of the situation then that would be considered as
unethical. During one of the interactions, if I find out that there is a deviation like this and find
out that the other party is lying and I would not resort to lying instead, I will be by countering
the person with true facts.

3LYING IN NEGOTIATION
References
Altes, L.K., 2014. Ethos and Narrative Interpretation: The Negotiation of Values in Fiction. U of
Nebraska Press.
Džamić, V., 2015. The impact of demographic factors on negotiation ethics. In Synthesis 2015-
International Scientific Conference of IT and Business-Related Research (pp. 336-338).
Singidunum University.
Forbes, 2020. How To Deceive Others With Truthful Statements (It's Called 'Paltering,' And It's
Risky). [online] Forbes. Available at:
<https://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2016/12/05/how-to-deceive-others-with-
truthful-statements-its-called-paltering-and-its-risky/#16502a5a577a> [Accessed 26 March
2020].
Lewicki, R.J., Barry, B. and Saunders, D.M., 2016. Essentials of negotiation. McGraw-Hill
Education.
Yadav, S., Kohli, N. and Kumar, V., 2016. Spiritual intelligence and ethics in
negotiation. Journal of Psychosocial Research, 11(1), p.43.