Article Review

Communication Quality in Business Negotiations

Introduction

This week we were tasked with the assignment of researching an article with regards to the importance of communication in the negotiation process. Thus, I have chosen to review Communication Quality in Business Negotiations by Mareike Schoop, Frank Kohne, and Katja Ostertag.

Business Negotiation & Communication

Negotiation in its simplest form is parties attempting to reach an agreement. Each participant enters the negotiation with a preference as to the outcome. It is these preferences that drive the behaviors of the participants thus locking them into a process of adapting said behaviors according to those of other participants. Behaviors, in the negotiation process, are exchanging offers or strategizing and communicative actions (silence, words, gestures, etc.). Thus, with regards to negotiation as a process, the authors state: “We argue that the communicative and strategic actions and interactions of the negotiators determine the efficiency of the process as well as the effectiveness of the joint outcome” (Schoop, Kohne, & Ostertag, p. 194) Moreover, the authors note that good communication is indicative of when senders of communicative messages and their recipients seek alternatives in the event of a breakdown when exchanging said messages.

The authors note business negotiation as involving companies whose aim is “coordinating their actions, exchanging information, and communicating about contract details in order to reach a business agreement…” (Schoop, Kohne, & Ostertag, p. 195). Like participants in any negotiation, those of business negotiations can be prone to following their own agenda and/or acting rationally and implementing problem solving-techniques so as to reach a mutually beneficial agreement. These tendencies are indicative of the two types of negotiation strategies we have learned about thus far: distributive and integrative respectively. Interestingly, the authors...