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Negotiating in Professional Relationship

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View more figures from Wilfrid Laurier University

View the page of Tatiana Astray

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Tatiana Astray provides a theoretical model with two mediators, Integrative Bargaining Behaviours and Integrity Trust, and a serial mediating method through Psychological Safety.

Image courtesy of interviewee. February 8, 2024

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This video video discusses the insights gained from research on negotiating in professional relationships, emphasizing the importance of relationship quality over purely economic models of negotiation. It references Greenall's 1987 research that revealed rather counterintuitive behaviors where individuals maintained relationships during economic hardships instead of switching to cheaper alternatives, demonstrating a deep understanding of long-term relational value.

The speaker's own research involved interviews with lawyers to study how negotiation strategies varied across different career stages, revealing that seasoned lawyers tend to focus on relationship management and trust rather than aggressive negotiation tactics. The research identifies two aspects of relationship quality: "relationship capacity" (the ability to handle difficult conversations) and "relationship experience" (perception of mutual regard).

Additionally, the study highlights the significance of subjective value outcomes—how satisfied individuals feel with the negotiation process—as a predictor of future economic outcomes. The speaker conducted quantitative studies to further explore the relationship between quality and negotiation success, finding that high-quality relationships foster integrative bargaining behaviors and allow for open communication, ultimately leading to better negotiation outcomes.

The research underscores practical implications, such as the need to differentiate between relationship capacity and subjective experience when forming business relationships, suggesting strategies tailored to the relational context, whether new or established. The findings advocate for a shift in perspective, viewing negotiations as opportunities to build cooperative relationships rather than merely competitive encounters. This video video approach not only leads to richer professional experiences but also fosters a positive work environment where individuals enjoy their interactions.

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X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

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Negotiating in,

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professional relationships came actually,

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from two parts.

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One is really old research from Greenall in 1987,

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and what he noticed was that in professional relationships,

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people did things that were very counterintuitive from an

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economic, model.

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For example, when there were bad economic forces,

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you would expect, individuals to switch suppliers

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to kind of cheaper relationships

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and really take advantage of individuals.

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But what he found was

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that actually people didn't do these switches

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that they held onto the relationships.

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And from an economic model, this was seen

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as kind of irrational.

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Why wouldn't you leverage the opportunities in the market?

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Um, but what he dig dug deeper, what he noticed, what was

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that people actually cared about their relationships.

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And what was happening in these times is

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that they were preserving the, the business relationships

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that they had, so that later when there was an economic

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hardship and maybe they were on the other end of that,

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equation, their relationships protected them.

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So this was a really deep insight.

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'cause what it said was that individuals weren't irrational.

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They just weren't, behaving under an economic model.

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They were doing something that was socially rational.

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So my research was kind of built on this idea

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that people are not, as I said, irrational.

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They actually have very deep rationalities

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for why they maintain relationships

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and how it impacts their professional relationships.

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But actually, these are long term views.

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People are trying to maximize the most out

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of their relationship, which means

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that any individual negotiation is kind

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of in the wash over the long term.

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Um, later, what I did was I actually negotiated all the top

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lawyers in Toronto.

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So we have our Bay Street, and I went around

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and I, interviewed early

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and late career stage negotiators,

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where lawyers are doing this in their

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profession every single day.

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And what I found was that all the late stage lawyers had

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very different insights

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and very different negotiation

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strategies than the young lawyers.

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So the young lawyers were actually a little bit more brash.

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They didn't realize, that they would be negotiating

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with their counterparts all the time.

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But these late stage lawyers realized

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that their bar was really small.

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And so they had to do these relationship based tactics

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where they had to manage the relationship.

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They had to think about how one individual negotiation was

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gonna impact a future client.

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And they were always managing the idea of trust, right?

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One thing, one lawyer told me,

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you know, you killed them with kindness.

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So you lay this very solid foundation

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of being very trustworthy,

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but to your benefit in the long term.

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And this was really counterintuitive, to

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how we looked at negotiations.

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So I became really interested in this idea of like, how do,

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how does relationship quality actually

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impact the negotiation?

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And in the literature we look at relationship types.

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So are we friends with them? Are there our partners?

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Is it just a professional relationship?

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But we didn't really look at the variation of

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that relationship quality, which impacts a lot

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what happens in the negotiation, process.

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So the actual negotiation behaviors and in the outcomes.

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So let me chat a little bit about,

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how we define relationship quality

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and then its impact on negotiations.

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Before I get into, some of the research that I did,

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so negotiation,

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relationships can be broken down into two types,

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or two subcategories.

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One is the type, so the degree of interdependence.

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And in the work context, we have no,

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recourse into who our professional partners are.

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So that part is solidified,

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but relationship quality, which is the perception of

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that interdependence being positive

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or negative,

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is a little bit more varied in the professional context

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and actually has an impact on

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who we decide to do business with.

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Um, do we decide to trust them?

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Do we decide to share information?

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And that variation actually does have an impact on the

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process, the beliefs and the outcomes.

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Um, so we know from early research that yes,

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relationships impact the norms,

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the negotiation behaviors

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and the outcomes in terms of economic outcomes

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and subjective value out outcomes.

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So subjective value outcomes is really like

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how satisfied are you with the process, the relationship,

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and the outcome, the economic outcome itself.

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Um, and, let me,

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let me break down a little bit about why the subjective

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component outcome is important to negotiations

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and why it's specifically tied to relationship quality.

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So early on when we started studying negotiations, the,

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the economic outcome is something

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that people were really interested in.

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Of course, we wanna maximize negotiations at any point.

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Um, but what was interesting is when we, again, take

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that long-term view of relationships, we actually found

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that, economic outcome wasn't always the best predictor

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of future economic outcome.

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And early work by Hillary, Hillary anger,

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I, my God, I always mess up red iPhone by Hillary anger,

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iPhone, by, yeah.

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She basically did this really important research to show

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that the subjective value outcome had the biggest impact on

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economic outcome in the future.

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And that's because it's not ju when we negotiate,

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we don't just care about maximizing outcome.

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We actually are always answering the question of,

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do I wanna work with you again?

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Do I wanna negotiate with you again?

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Can I trust you in a future negotiation?

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Um, and her work was interesting

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'cause she, interviewed MBAs,

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following their job offer.

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And this job offer negotiation predicted,

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a long-term turnover satisfaction with the job, more so than

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that economic outcome.

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And in future work, she actually tied the subjective

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component to future economic outcomes.

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So it, it teaches us that

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that subjective component is really important,

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really looking to establish how,

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relationship quality impacts negotiations.

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We don't actually have any real world studies.

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So my dissertation was looking at when proving that concept

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and then bringing it into the lab.

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Um, so the first study was, I actually sent out,

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surveys to people, working whether

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or not there were lawyers, business individuals.

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Um, and I was just looking to establish that basic link,

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high quality relationships

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or low quality relationships, impact negotiation processes

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and that subjective component.

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The second study, I brought it into a lab

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and I put, I,

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I actually assessed the people's relationship

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and then I created high and low relationship quality groups

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and then put these groups, a few weeks

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after into a negotiation simulation.

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I measured the outcomes and then I measured their

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relationship quality again a few weeks out.

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And that allowed me to track whether

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or not relationship quality actually had an impact in this

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naturalistic setting beyond what people reported.

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So first, let me speak to relationship quality.

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'cause I, I think intuitively we think we know

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what it means, but when you break it down,

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it actually means something else.

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Relationship quality is made up of two sub components.

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One is relationship capacity,

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and then the relationship experience.

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So the relationship capacity is that part

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that people don't often think about.

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It's the capacity of the relationship

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to handle difficult conversations

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and to engage in the processes needed to problem solve.

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So the sub components would be emotional caring capacity.

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So can you handle more difficult emotions, the ility,

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which means after you handle the difficult emotions,

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can you kind of come back to a good base?

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And the connectivity,

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like is there a we in the relationship?

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Then the subjective component is more intuitive.

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The positive regard

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and the mutuality are we both reciprocal in our exchanges?

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And both these things are very important,

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especially in a professional context,

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because you might like a person,

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but if you can't actually do the negotiation properly,

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you're gonna get a worse outcome.

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You might love a person,

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but if you can't work with them,

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it's a dysfunctional relationship in the work context.

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Um, so that variability is very important.

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And specifically that factor,

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that capacity for negotiations.

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So in the first, survey, I asked individuals first,

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identify a good

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or a bad situation that you had just

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to cue that relationship.

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Um, and I randomized whether

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or not people were answering on,

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like a good relationship or positive.

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And then afterwards I assessed the mediator's psychological

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safety or integrity.

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And I asked them what happened in that last interaction?

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Did you engage in integrative or distributive behaviors?

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And then kind of what was your outcome?

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And let me just break that down a little bit more.

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Psychological safety is the salience of,

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a relationship being difficult

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or risky to express ourselves.

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But integrative trust is one of the core aspects of trust,

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that we've seen over many studies

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that actually impact negotiation.

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Outcome and integrity just basically means, do you say

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what you're going to say?

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Do you follow a moral code? Do you follow up?

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And in the workplace, this factor is very important for,

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maximizing outcomes

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because of course, if we negotiate with people

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who don't think they're gonna follow through,

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we're not gonna wanna secure our deals with them,

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and we're not gonna wanna share information, both

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of which are very important factors to,

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maximize those outcomes, those negotiation processes,

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the integrative and the bargaining behaviors.

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Um, distributed bargaining

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and behaviors are really important.

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So integrative behaviors, basically is related

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to assessing how much value there is in a negotiation table.

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It's what we could say is expanding the pie.

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So sharing information, exchanging preferences,

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and then distributive bargaining behaviors is

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how we cut the pie.

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And it has to be very sequential.

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We have to first expand

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and then we have to claim value for ourselves,

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and it has to be done in a very specific way

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so we don't ruin the relationship.

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Because if you're asking all these nice questions

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and then you're really rude afterwards

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as you're claiming value for yourself,

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the person's actually gonna not wanna negotiate with you.

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The implementation deal is gonna follow through.

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So that ability

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to engage in both behaviors are very

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important to securing those outcomes.

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Um, so in that first study, what I basically found was yes,

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relationship quality had a direct

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and, unique effect on bargaining behaviors specifically.

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So having a really good relationship

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with someone allowed you

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to engage in those information sharing, behaviors

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that then had the possibility to expand economic outcomes.

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But at a very practical level, that subjective component,

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it had, an interesting, a negative effect on that.

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But if the person engaged in high quality relationships

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had an overall positive effect on subjective value, outcome,

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and relationship quality specifically interestingly,

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had a negative effect, which then becomes positive.

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If you take into account the integrative trust,

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which basically means if trust is there,

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it's gonna have a positive outcome,

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but in itself it can have a bit of a negative outcome.

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So if you like someone, but they're kind of untrustworthy,

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it's not actually gonna lead to a good work outcome.

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And in the subsequent study, we do find a little bit

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of the same findings.

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So in the second study, we got individuals,

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to negotiate based on whether they had that positive

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or, sorry, low or high, quality dyad.

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And we took more objective measures of,

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the negotiation behavior.

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So counterpart had to actually report on

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their counterparts behavior.

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So it's not just what you said you thought you did,

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it's actually what the other person perceived you

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doing, which is very important.

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And then what's great is we had,

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how much they actually achieved.

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And again, that subjective value component.

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And what I found was that, again,

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high quality relationships specifically impact

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that integrated bargaining behavior.

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Um, it can decrease though distributive behaviors,

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but that's okay because in the long term, if

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that relationship can engage in both,

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it will maximize outcomes.

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We're just capturing it in one go.

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So what we're looking for is really those integrated

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behaviors that are gonna solidify the relationship.

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And then in this context,

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while we did not find a direct effect on economic outcomes,

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it did enhance the subjective value outcomes.

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So what we are expecting is over the long term,

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if these individuals kept negotiating,

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they're actually gonna maximize

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that business potential over the course

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of their relationship.

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Um, high quality relationships had

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that direct effect on subjective value outcome,

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and that was mediated fully by the integrative behaviors

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and serially me mediated

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by psychological safety and integrative outcomes.

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And what's that saying? What that's what that is saying,

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sorry, is that high quality relationships,

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allow people to engage in the behaviors needed

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to expand the pie, which then lets them,

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capture it better.

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But more importantly, it's doing it in a way

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where people feel safe

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and they're bu building that integrity, that,

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that concept of trust.

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And over time, this will allow them to,

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capture more economic value.

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So when we take both studies together, it does a few things.

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First of all, it establishes that high quality relationships

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and that variability is very important

13:17.015 --> 13:18.275
for professional relationships,

13:18.925 --> 13:22.195
especially when we consider the ability to capture

13:22.715 --> 13:24.235
economic outcomes over the long term.

13:24.775 --> 13:28.075
We also identify these novel mechanisms in this context,

13:28.555 --> 13:30.675
specifically the integrative bargaining behaviors

13:30.815 --> 13:32.555
and integrative trust.

13:32.655 --> 13:35.915
And also that serial mediation, which is specifically

13:35.915 --> 13:40.075
that psychological safety informs and benefits trust.

13:40.535 --> 13:42.835
And this is important because actually trust takes a really

13:42.945 --> 13:45.795
long time to build trust is not something that comes easily

13:46.145 --> 13:47.235
because it's,

13:47.425 --> 13:50.635
it's built in risky situations when we can attribute the

13:50.635 --> 13:53.595
person's behavior to them, not to the situation.

13:53.975 --> 13:56.715
So psychological trust becomes the hack in which we

13:56.715 --> 13:58.395
understand specific behaviors needed

13:58.695 --> 14:00.235
to lay the foundation for trust.

14:01.295 --> 14:05.485
Um, when we think about the practical implications,

14:05.505 --> 14:08.085
and there are many, because this is very much a behavioral

14:08.255 --> 14:11.405
study, it tells us that we actually need to monitor

14:11.965 --> 14:15.565
relationship variance, but separate it out by capacity

14:15.705 --> 14:17.085
and subjective experience.

14:17.085 --> 14:18.165
So the capacity is,

14:18.475 --> 14:20.605
does this relationship have the actual tools

14:20.785 --> 14:22.525
to engage in difficult conversations

14:22.585 --> 14:25.245
and the strategies to problem solve

14:25.265 --> 14:26.845
and to reach good negotiation outcomes?

14:27.345 --> 14:28.365
Or do we have that?

14:28.365 --> 14:30.925
But we're missing the subjective experience, which is,

14:31.465 --> 14:32.565
do we feel happy?

14:32.635 --> 14:34.365
Have we laid the behavioral cues

14:34.365 --> 14:36.805
to suggest there's reciprocity that we, that we

14:37.515 --> 14:38.885
care about the person, right?

14:39.105 --> 14:42.205
And so we can really create very different organizational

14:42.295 --> 14:45.045
strategies when we think about a client not working.

14:45.945 --> 14:48.965
Um, and then we can also develop very nuanced negotiation

14:49.365 --> 14:51.645
strategy based on where the relationship is at.

14:51.745 --> 14:53.365
So for very new relationships,

14:53.465 --> 14:56.885
you wanna focus on exhibiting those integrated bargaining

14:57.085 --> 15:00.245
behaviors so that you are establishing subjective,

15:00.555 --> 15:02.925
good subjective experiences with the negotiation so

15:02.925 --> 15:05.285
that you can maximize negotiation outcomes in the future.

15:05.985 --> 15:08.885
And also starting to lay the foundations of trust,

15:08.945 --> 15:10.445
but it's not gonna come right away.

15:10.465 --> 15:12.525
So laying the foundations of trust is making sure

15:12.525 --> 15:13.885
that when you say you're gonna do something,

15:13.885 --> 15:16.445
you deliver making sure if you email

15:16.905 --> 15:19.165
and say, look, I'm gonna have this report in two weeks.

15:19.185 --> 15:20.485
You better have it in two weeks.

15:20.765 --> 15:22.365
'cause it's, it's the ability to say

15:22.365 --> 15:25.445
what we do is gonna be followed up with actual act outcomes,

15:26.425 --> 15:29.445
but for established relationships when once we have a client

15:29.505 --> 15:31.445
or once we have someone we're working really well,

15:31.875 --> 15:35.245
what we wanna do is really, enhance

15:35.245 --> 15:36.565
that integrity trust.

15:36.625 --> 15:40.965
So really focus on acting fair again, reinforcing

15:40.965 --> 15:42.405
that we're someone that's very stable,

15:42.505 --> 15:44.285
that's gonna follow through on our actions.

15:45.065 --> 15:48.285
Um, and so the strategy is slightly different

15:48.285 --> 15:51.365
for organizations, in future work.

15:51.525 --> 15:53.045
I did also look at,

15:53.305 --> 15:56.965
how emotional expressions help negotiators start

15:56.965 --> 15:58.165
to lay the foundations of trust.

15:58.185 --> 15:59.725
So for example, in early relationships,

15:59.725 --> 16:03.325
what are the most important relate, emotional cues?

16:04.105 --> 16:07.285
And in that study, we had individuals negotiate

16:07.285 --> 16:08.725
where they didn't know each other that well,

16:09.065 --> 16:12.765
and we coded, the emotional cues.

16:12.765 --> 16:14.885
So we didn't tell them that this is happy,

16:14.955 --> 16:16.765
this is contentious, this is excited.

16:17.025 --> 16:18.805
We gave them just the behavioral cues

16:18.805 --> 16:20.285
because of course when we see labels,

16:20.745 --> 16:22.405
we don't objectively assess what's

16:22.405 --> 16:23.685
happening in the relationship.

16:24.465 --> 16:27.405
And we had individuals, code their counterpart

16:27.585 --> 16:28.965
and their counterpart's important.

16:29.205 --> 16:31.645
'cause the perception of these cues is what's gonna impact

16:31.645 --> 16:34.805
the negotiation outcome and future relationship.

16:35.505 --> 16:38.285
And here what I found is the strongest, way

16:38.285 --> 16:41.125
to start establishing a good relationship is actually the

16:41.235 --> 16:42.365
cues for excitement.

16:42.985 --> 16:46.285
So literally at the very beginning showing

16:46.285 --> 16:48.565
that positive regard, being really excited,

16:48.875 --> 16:52.165
literally saying, Hey, I'm really excited to be working

16:52.235 --> 16:56.845
with you, starts a behavioral dynamic that creates

16:57.235 --> 16:59.525
that ability to then for people to open up

16:59.545 --> 17:01.725
and engage in those integrative behaviors,

17:01.725 --> 17:04.125
which is sharing the information that you need

17:04.425 --> 17:06.965
to then be able to achieve better outcomes.

17:07.705 --> 17:10.645
And I personally, I love that study,

17:10.875 --> 17:13.925
because it gives you very practical advice about what to do.

17:14.345 --> 17:16.605
For me, it's a massive hack anytime I start relationships.

17:16.865 --> 17:19.405
So when I think about the implications of my dissertation,

17:19.705 --> 17:21.845
one thing it highlights to me is that relationships matter.

17:22.875 --> 17:24.365
Even though we're in a professional setting

17:24.465 --> 17:26.525
and we think business is business, it's not,

17:26.535 --> 17:28.605
we're social creatures engaging in some sort

17:28.605 --> 17:29.725
of cooperative experience.

17:29.785 --> 17:33.245
And so actually relationship is the foundation in which

17:33.765 --> 17:35.365
business is allowed to flourish or not.

17:36.775 --> 17:38.995
And so it, I I think it's beautiful

17:38.995 --> 17:41.755
because when we think about, let's say salespeople

17:41.755 --> 17:43.675
and I talk to salespeople and I train 'em all the time,

17:43.735 --> 17:45.155
and sometimes they'll say things like,

17:45.255 --> 17:47.275
I'm really scared about being disingenuous.

17:47.895 --> 17:49.075
But actually negotiations

17:49.305 --> 17:50.645
Is not about disingenuous.

17:50.715 --> 17:54.365
It's about being very much yourself, being open, allowing

17:54.465 --> 17:56.485
for the possibility to have difficult conversations

17:56.505 --> 17:59.365
and come through the other side and help your counterpart.

17:59.705 --> 18:00.805
And it's very freeing.

18:00.805 --> 18:03.365
It frames the entire, context

18:03.465 --> 18:06.205
of negotiations from being one where you're competitive,

18:06.205 --> 18:07.285
where you're trying to take advantage

18:07.545 --> 18:09.085
to actually being a process of

18:09.625 --> 18:12.125
how do we create the best business relationship

18:12.185 --> 18:13.645
so we get the most out of it,

18:13.705 --> 18:15.565
and what does that look like, right?

18:15.585 --> 18:17.405
And it's very exciting when we say, Hey,

18:17.575 --> 18:19.285
we're building positive,

18:19.355 --> 18:20.885
like high quality relationships.

18:21.305 --> 18:24.725
And now work isn't just about like these mundane tasks,

18:24.955 --> 18:27.485
it's actually about enjoying the process of working

18:27.485 --> 18:30.085
with the people that we, do business with.

18:30.085 --> 18:32.845
Because that capacity to have difficult conversations is,

18:33.025 --> 18:36.245
is there, but also that positive regard is there.

18:36.265 --> 18:38.165
We actually enjoy our interactions.

18:38.265 --> 18:40.005
And I don't know, I think it's,

18:40.125 --> 18:41.165
I think it's very liberating.

18:41.165 --> 18:43.085
I think it it brings a very different framework,

18:43.625 --> 18:44.805
mindset to work.

18:44.865 --> 18:46.805
And it's one that I find very empowering

18:46.865 --> 18:48.445
and just personally very enjoyable.

Understanding Relationships in Professional Negotiations

00:00:00 - Negotiating in, professional relationships came actually, from two parts. One is really old research from Greenall in 1987, and what he noticed was that in professional relationships, people did things that were very counterintuitive from an economic, model. For example, when there were bad economic forces, you would expect, individuals to switch suppliers to kind of cheaper relationships and really take advantage of individuals. But what he found was that actually people didn't do these switches that they held onto the relationships.
00:00:33 - as kind of irrational. Why wouldn't you leverage the opportunities in the market? but what he dig dug deeper, what he noticed, what was that people actually cared about their relationships. And what was happening in these times is that they were preserving the, the business relationships that they had, so that later when there was an economic hardship and maybe they were on the other end of that, equation, their relationships protected them. So this was a really deep insight.
00:01:06 - They just weren't, behaving under an economic model. They were doing something that was socially rational. So my research was kind of built on this idea that people are not, as I said, irrational. They actually have very deep rationalities for why they maintain relationships and how it impacts their professional relationships. But actually, these are long term views. People are trying to maximize the most out of their relationship, which means that any individual negotiation is kind of in the wash over the long term.
00:01:37 - lawyers in Toronto. So we have our Bay Street, and I went around and I, interviewed early and late career stage negotiators, where lawyers are doing this in their profession every single day. And what I found was that all the late stage lawyers had very different insights and very different negotiation strategies than the young lawyers. So the young lawyers were actually a little bit more brash. They didn't realize, that they would be negotiating
00:02:07 - But these late stage lawyers realized that their bar was really small. And so they had to do these relationship based tactics where they had to manage the relationship. They had to think about how one individual negotiation was gonna impact a future client. And they were always managing the idea of trust, right? One thing, one lawyer told me, you know, you killed them with kindness. So you lay this very solid foundation of being very trustworthy, but to your benefit in the long term. And this was really counterintuitive, to how we looked at negotiations.
00:02:40 - how does relationship quality actually impact the negotiation? And in the literature we look at relationship types. So are we friends with them? Are there our partners? Is it just a professional relationship? But we didn't really look at the variation of that relationship quality, which impacts a lot what happens in the negotiation, process. So the actual negotiation behaviors and in the outcomes. So let me chat a little bit about, how we define relationship quality

Impact of Relationship Quality on Negotiations

00:03:10 - Before I get into, some of the research that I did, so negotiation, relationships can be broken down into two types, or two subcategories. One is the type, so the degree of interdependence. And in the work context, we have no, recourse into who our professional partners are. So that part is solidified, but relationship quality, which is the perception of that interdependence being positive or negative, is a little bit more varied in the professional context
00:03:40 - who we decide to do business with. do we decide to trust them? Do we decide to share information? And that variation actually does have an impact on the process, the beliefs and the outcomes. so we know from early research that yes, relationships impact the norms, the negotiation behaviors and the outcomes in terms of economic outcomes and subjective value out outcomes. So subjective value outcomes is really like how satisfied are you with the process, the relationship,
00:04:15 - and, let me, let me break down a little bit about why the subjective component outcome is important to negotiations and why it's specifically tied to relationship quality. So early on when we started studying negotiations, the, the economic outcome is something that people were really interested in. Of course, we wanna maximize negotiations at any point. but what was interesting is when we, again, take that long-term view of relationships, we actually found
00:04:46 - of future economic outcome. And early work by Hillary, Hillary anger, I, my God, I always mess up red iPhone by Hillary anger, iPhone, by, yeah. She basically did this really important research to show that the subjective value outcome had the biggest impact on economic outcome in the future. And that's because it's not ju when we negotiate, we don't just care about maximizing outcome.
00:05:15 - do I wanna work with you again? Do I wanna negotiate with you again? Can I trust you in a future negotiation? and her work was interesting 'cause she, interviewed MBAs, following their job offer. And this job offer negotiation predicted, a long-term turnover satisfaction with the job, more so than that economic outcome. And in future work, she actually tied the subjective component to future economic outcomes. So it, it teaches us that
00:05:47 - really looking to establish how, relationship quality impacts negotiations. We don't actually have any real world studies. So my dissertation was looking at when proving that concept and then bringing it into the lab. so the first study was, I actually sent out, surveys to people, working whether or not there were lawyers, business individuals. and I was just looking to establish that basic link, high quality relationships

Impact of Relationship Quality on Negotiation Outcomes

00:06:18 - and that subjective component. The second study, I brought it into a lab and I put, I, I actually assessed the people's relationship and then I created high and low relationship quality groups and then put these groups, a few weeks after into a negotiation simulation. I measured the outcomes and then I measured their relationship quality again a few weeks out. And that allowed me to track whether or not relationship quality actually had an impact in this naturalistic setting beyond what people reported.
00:06:49 - 'cause I, I think intuitively we think we know what it means, but when you break it down, it actually means something else. Relationship quality is made up of two sub components. One is relationship capacity, and then the relationship experience. So the relationship capacity is that part that people don't often think about. It's the capacity of the relationship to handle difficult conversations and to engage in the processes needed to problem solve. So the sub components would be emotional caring capacity.
00:07:21 - which means after you handle the difficult emotions, can you kind of come back to a good base? And the connectivity, like is there a we in the relationship? Then the subjective component is more intuitive. The positive regard and the mutuality are we both reciprocal in our exchanges? And both these things are very important, especially in a professional context, because you might like a person, but if you can't actually do the negotiation properly, you're gonna get a worse outcome.
00:07:50 - but if you can't work with them, it's a dysfunctional relationship in the work context. so that variability is very important. And specifically that factor, that capacity for negotiations. So in the first, survey, I asked individuals first, identify a good or a bad situation that you had just to cue that relationship. and I randomized whether or not people were answering on, like a good relationship or positive.
00:08:21 - safety or integrity. And I asked them what happened in that last interaction? Did you engage in integrative or distributive behaviors? And then kind of what was your outcome? And let me just break that down a little bit more. Psychological safety is the salience of, a relationship being difficult or risky to express ourselves. But integrative trust is one of the core aspects of trust, that we've seen over many studies
00:08:51 - Outcome and integrity just basically means, do you say what you're going to say? Do you follow a moral code? Do you follow up? And in the workplace, this factor is very important for, maximizing outcomes because of course, if we negotiate with people who don't think they're gonna follow through, we're not gonna wanna secure our deals with them, and we're not gonna wanna share information, both of which are very important factors to, maximize those outcomes, those negotiation processes, the integrative and the bargaining behaviors. distributed bargaining

Integrative Behaviors in Negotiation Dynamics

00:09:21 - So integrative behaviors, basically is related to assessing how much value there is in a negotiation table. It's what we could say is expanding the pie. So sharing information, exchanging preferences, and then distributive bargaining behaviors is how we cut the pie. And it has to be very sequential. We have to first expand and then we have to claim value for ourselves, and it has to be done in a very specific way so we don't ruin the relationship. Because if you're asking all these nice questions
00:09:53 - as you're claiming value for yourself, the person's actually gonna not wanna negotiate with you. The implementation deal is gonna follow through. So that ability to engage in both behaviors are very important to securing those outcomes. so in that first study, what I basically found was yes, relationship quality had a direct and, unique effect on bargaining behaviors specifically. So having a really good relationship with someone allowed you to engage in those information sharing, behaviors that then had the possibility to expand economic outcomes.
00:10:29 - it had, an interesting, a negative effect on that. But if the person engaged in high quality relationships had an overall positive effect on subjective value, outcome, and relationship quality specifically interestingly, had a negative effect, which then becomes positive. If you take into account the integrative trust, which basically means if trust is there, it's gonna have a positive outcome,
00:11:00 - So if you like someone, but they're kind of untrustworthy, it's not actually gonna lead to a good work outcome. And in the subsequent study, we do find a little bit of the same findings. So in the second study, we got individuals, to negotiate based on whether they had that positive or, sorry, low or high, quality dyad. And we took more objective measures of,
00:11:29 - So counterpart had to actually report on their counterparts behavior. So it's not just what you said you thought you did, it's actually what the other person perceived you doing, which is very important. And then what's great is we had, how much they actually achieved. And again, that subjective value component. And what I found was that, again, high quality relationships specifically impact that integrated bargaining behavior. it can decrease though distributive behaviors, but that's okay because in the long term, if
00:12:02 - it will maximize outcomes. We're just capturing it in one go. So what we're looking for is really those integrated behaviors that are gonna solidify the relationship. And then in this context, while we did not find a direct effect on economic outcomes, it did enhance the subjective value outcomes. So what we are expecting is over the long term, if these individuals kept negotiating, they're actually gonna maximize that business potential over the course of their relationship. high quality relationships had

Building Trust for Better Negotiation Outcomes

00:12:35 - and that was mediated fully by the integrative behaviors and serially me mediated by psychological safety and integrative outcomes. And what's that saying? What that's what that is saying, sorry, is that high quality relationships, allow people to engage in the behaviors needed to expand the pie, which then lets them, capture it better. But more importantly, it's doing it in a way where people feel safe and they're bu building that integrity, that, that concept of trust.
00:13:06 - capture more economic value. So when we take both studies together, it does a few things. First of all, it establishes that high quality relationships and that variability is very important for professional relationships, especially when we consider the ability to capture economic outcomes over the long term. We also identify these novel mechanisms in this context, specifically the integrative bargaining behaviors and integrative trust. And also that serial mediation, which is specifically
00:13:40 - And this is important because actually trust takes a really long time to build trust is not something that comes easily because it's, it's built in risky situations when we can attribute the person's behavior to them, not to the situation. So psychological trust becomes the hack in which we understand specific behaviors needed to lay the foundation for trust. when we think about the practical implications, and there are many, because this is very much a behavioral
00:14:11 - relationship variance, but separate it out by capacity and subjective experience. So the capacity is, does this relationship have the actual tools to engage in difficult conversations and the strategies to problem solve and to reach good negotiation outcomes? Or do we have that? But we're missing the subjective experience, which is, do we feel happy? Have we laid the behavioral cues to suggest there's reciprocity that we, that we care about the person, right?
00:14:42 - strategies when we think about a client not working. and then we can also develop very nuanced negotiation strategy based on where the relationship is at. So for very new relationships, you wanna focus on exhibiting those integrated bargaining behaviors so that you are establishing subjective, good subjective experiences with the negotiation so that you can maximize negotiation outcomes in the future. And also starting to lay the foundations of trust, but it's not gonna come right away.
00:15:12 - that when you say you're gonna do something, you deliver making sure if you email and say, look, I'm gonna have this report in two weeks. You better have it in two weeks. 'cause it's, it's the ability to say what we do is gonna be followed up with actual act outcomes, but for established relationships when once we have a client or once we have someone we're working really well, what we wanna do is really, enhance that integrity trust. So really focus on acting fair again, reinforcing

Building Trust Through Emotional Expressions in Negotiation

00:15:42 - that's gonna follow through on our actions. and so the strategy is slightly different for organizations, in future work. I did also look at, how emotional expressions help negotiators start to lay the foundations of trust. So for example, in early relationships, what are the most important relate, emotional cues? And in that study, we had individuals negotiate where they didn't know each other that well, and we coded, the emotional cues.
00:16:14 - this is contentious, this is excited. We gave them just the behavioral cues because of course when we see labels, we don't objectively assess what's happening in the relationship. And we had individuals, code their counterpart and their counterpart's important. 'cause the perception of these cues is what's gonna impact the negotiation outcome and future relationship. And here what I found is the strongest, way to start establishing a good relationship is actually the cues for excitement.
00:16:46 - that positive regard, being really excited, literally saying, Hey, I'm really excited to be working with you, starts a behavioral dynamic that creates that ability to then for people to open up and engage in those integrative behaviors, which is sharing the information that you need to then be able to achieve better outcomes. And I personally, I love that study, because it gives you very practical advice about what to do.
00:17:16 - So when I think about the implications of my dissertation, one thing it highlights to me is that relationships matter. Even though we're in a professional setting and we think business is business, it's not, we're social creatures engaging in some sort of cooperative experience. And so actually relationship is the foundation in which business is allowed to flourish or not. And so it, I I think it's beautiful because when we think about, let's say salespeople and I talk to salespeople and I train 'em all the time, and sometimes they'll say things like,
00:17:47 - But actually negotiations Is not about disingenuous. It's about being very much yourself, being open, allowing for the possibility to have difficult conversations and come through the other side and help your counterpart. And it's very freeing. It frames the entire, context of negotiations from being one where you're competitive, where you're trying to take advantage to actually being a process of how do we create the best business relationship so we get the most out of it, and what does that look like, right?
00:18:17 - we're building positive, like high quality relationships. And now work isn't just about like these mundane tasks, it's actually about enjoying the process of working with the people that we, do business with. Because that capacity to have difficult conversations is, is there, but also that positive regard is there. We actually enjoy our interactions. And I don't know, I think it's, I think it's very liberating. I think it it brings a very different framework, mindset to work. And it's one that I find very empowering