Ethics in Negotiation

Consider the scenario presented on page 171 of your textbook: You are a vice president of human resources, negotiating with a union representative for a new labor contract.

The union refuses to sign a new contract unless the company agrees to raise the number of paid holidays from six to seven. Management estimates it will cost approximately $220,000 for each paid holiday, and argues that the company cannot afford to meet the demand.

However, you know that, in reality, money is not the issue – the company simply doesn’t think the unions demand is justified. To convince the union leaders that they should withdraw their demand, you have been considering these alternatives:

(a) tell the union that the company simply can’t afford it, without further explanation;

(b) prepare erroneous financial statements that show that it will cost about $300,000 per paid holiday, which you simply can’t afford; and

(c) offer union leaders an all-expenses-paid “working” trip to a Florida resort if they will simply drop the demand. Employing one of the four approaches to ethical reasoning presented in the text, justify or criticize each of the three alternatives.

Lewicki, R. J., Saunders, D. M., & Barry, B. (2011). Essentials of Negotiation (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill ISBN: 0073530360

• Chapter 6

1. A firm’s external environment is divided into various subcategories that include

2. When managers consider the general availability of credit, the level of disposable income, and the propensity of people to spend, they are considering what factors?

3. This factor considers or provides creative adaptations that can suggest possibilities for new products or for improvements in existing products or in manufacturing and marketing techniques.

4. The quasi-science of anticipating environmental and competitive changes and estimating their importance to an organizations operation refers to

5. This term refers to the relationships among human beings and other living things and the air, soil, and water that supports them.

6. Economies of scale in an industry

7. This term refers to descriptive characteristics that can be used to differentiate groups of present or potential customers.

8. This information is used to explain or predict some aspect of customer behavior with regard to a product or service. Information such as usage rate, benefits sought, and brand loyalty can provide significant aid in the design of more accurate and profitable strategies.

9. Because the quantity, quality, price, and accessibility of financial, human, and material resources are rarely ideal, assessment of suppliers and creditors is critical to an accurate evaluation of which of the firm’s external environments?

10. What Human Resource component within its operating environment is a major element of a firm’s ability to satisfy its personnel needs?

11. A firm’s access to needed personnel is affected primarily by four factors that include

12. This element of employment or labor represents the workers in their negotiations with employers through the process of collective bargaining.

13. The environment that is typically subject to much influence by the firm is

14. Which of these is a determinant of entry, according to Porter?

15. Which threat of entry creates a barrier by forcing entrants to spend heavily to overcome customer loyalty?

16. This group is considered powerful if it is not obliged to contend with other products for sale to the industry.

17. This is considered a collection of firms that offer similar products or services that customers perceive to be substitutable for one another.

18. This environment in the strategic planning process comprises factors in the competitive situation that affect a firm’s success in acquiring needed resources or in profitably marketing its goods and services.