Strategic adaptability in negotiation: a framework to distinguish strategic adaptable behaviours
Henrike Heunis, Niels Pulles, Ellen Giebels, Bas Kollöffel and Aldis G. Sigurdardottir
About the main author
Henrike Heunis is a PhD candidate at the University of Twente, specialising in negotiations and teaching negotiation courses. Her research focuses on the conceptualisation of strategic adaptability in business negotiations and the testing of teaching methods. Her research interests primarily centre on negotiation strategy, processes, individual factors, and skills education. Henrike collaborates with the departments of High-tech Business and Entrepreneurship, Psychology of Conflict, Risk & Safety, and Professional Learning & Technology. She has shared her research findings at international conferences and is a Negotiation Academic Society board member.
Short abstract
Are you aware of your negotiation strategies and how they might change during the negotiation process? Research shows that some negotiators stay within their preferred default strategy while others are strategically adaptable. This study analysed negotiation strategies to propose and evaluate a strategic adaptability framework. The authors defined strategic adaptability as a reaction to a cue on the context, process, content, or opponent level that leads to shifts between collaborative and competitive strategies. The study revealed that negotiation strategies vary with the negotiation phase (i.e., beginning, middle, and end), and negotiation outcome seems to benefit more from the constellation than the frequency of adaptations. Interestingly, negotiators with lower scores were more inclined to adapt to the opponent's strategy rather than initiate changes themselves. While there is no recipe for the best amount of strategic adaptability, understanding your and your opponents' strategic behaviour may help improve your negotiation outcome and the benefits you reap.
Extended abstract
Imagine you are in a business negotiation, and your negotiation partner is very competitive by making unrealistic offers, substantiating the position instead of asking questions to understand your interests or using false statements. At the same time, you are trying to collaborate, build a relationship, and draft a deal that both of you profit from. If one of you is not adapting the strategy, the deal has the risk of ending suboptimal for at least one of you. At the same time, ending up in a competitive "tit-for-tat" spiral won't add much value either. Thus, it is imperative to understand your and the other sides' negotiation strategies and to know how to respond to them to steer the negotiation in the desired direction.
In this article, the authors explore the concept of "strategic adaptability" in negotiation and identify seven distinct types of strategic adaptations. Using two studies, the authors found consistent patterns of strategic adaptations and proposed a framework that informs negotiators about how to initiate and respond to changes in strategy. Strategic adaptability is the ability to react to a context, process, content, and/or opponent cue that requires a change in strategy.
The seven types of strategic adaptations (cues) that are observed in negotiations are as follows:
1.Adaptation to an external factor
3.Adaptation to the priority of issues under discussion
4.Adaptation to new information on the issue
5.Follow the adaptation by the opponent
6.Delayed adaptation to the opponent
7.Adaptation to understand the opponent
The authors provide insights into when negotiators adapt their strategies by dividing the negotiation into three phases. While negotiators appear to adapt to new information during the first two phases, most other adaptations were more frequent in the final phase of the negotiation, and higher-scoring negotiators used fewer adaptations compared to lower-scoring dyads. Furthermore, some adaptations primarily involve transitioning from competitive to collaborative strategies, such as adapting to a deadlock, adapting to understand the opponent, and adapting to new information on the issue. Thus, specific cues can strategically influence the negotiation process and shift the overall strategic approach.
Moreover, combining collaborative and competitive strategies can facilitate joint outcomes. The findings showed that moderate amounts of adaptations can lead to higher joint outcomes, while frequent adaptations may lead to instability and lower outcomes for at least one party.
Overall, the authors create awareness of strategic adaptability and explain when you can apply different negotiation behaviours throughout the negotiation process, highlighting the importance of flexibility and situational awareness. Understanding the different types of strategic adaptations and how to tailor the negotiation strategy to different situations can help you become more effective in achieving your desired outcome in the next negotiation.
Additional/further reading
· Link to the article (open access): https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJCMA-02-2023-0028/full/html
· LinkedIn: Click this link
· Website: https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/el-ips/