Remote Negotiations during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Interorganisational Relations of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Abstract

Abstract: Theoretical considerations show that negotiation is a very important element of interorganisational relations. According to the relationship model by P. S. Ring and A. H. van de Ven (1994), which is still valid today, negotiation is, besides the formation of commitments and their implementation, one of the 3 stages in the formation of interorganisational relationships. Efforts at the negotiation stage are often necessary to provide participants with an opportunity to assess the uncertainty involved in the transaction, the nature and substance of each participant's roles, the trust that can be placed in the other party, the rights and responsibilities of the participants in the transaction and the possible efficiency and equality of outcomes. This paper will attempt to answer the question of how the pandemic has changed the way business negotiations and talks are conducted and what impact this has on business relationships. To this end, with reference to the aforementioned business relationship model, research questions were formulated, the core of which was to reveal how remote negotiations affect the trust in the relationship and how the fact that remote negotiations affects the dynamics of the relationship, compared to face2face negotiations. The answers to the questions posed in this way were obtained by conducting a survey of Polish managers who are involved in negotiation on a daily basis and who have shifted their activities to online platforms during the pandemic.