Abstract
The personality of a negotiator shall affect his choice of tactics. Moreover, mixed predictions of the personality-tactic relationship have been derived from prior studies. One possible explanation is the influence of other intervening factors. In this regard, this study examines the role of withdrawal, as an intervening variable, in the negotiator personality-tactic relationship. State of withdrawal refers to the level of interest to continue with a negotiation. In a state of complete withdrawal, the interest to continue no longer exists and breakdown of the negotiation is inevitable. With the participation of practicing professionals, an experiment was used to collect data for the study. It was found that competitors are prone to withdraw and use more distributive tactics. However, this pattern changes with the composition of the dyad. If the negotiating counterpart is a cooperator, a competitor will adopt a more integrative approach. This finding reminds the importance of the personality factor in selecting members of a negotiating team.
Highlights
Construction contracting environment is inherently dispute-laden and most of the construction disputes are settled through negotiation (Cheung, Yiu 2006)
The findings further suggested that (H1) competitors are more likely to withdraw than cooperators; (H2) increasing withdrawal leads to more frequent use of distributive and less frequent use of integrative tactics and (H4) competitors use more distributive tactics
Mixed predictions of the personalitytactic relationship have been derived from prior studies, suggesting the possibility of other intervening factors
Summary
Construction contracting environment is inherently dispute-laden and most of the construction disputes are settled through negotiation (Cheung, Yiu 2006). It is thought provoking that some negotiations fail even when mutually acceptable settlement options are notable (O’Connor, Gladstone 2015; Olekalns, Smith 2013) This phenomenon does not fit well with the rational school that assumes negotiators are maximisers. O’Connor, Gladstone (2015) proposed that competitors use more integrative tactics to achieve their self-interest goal and cooperators use more distributive tactics to protect themselves from being exploited It is, plausible that there may be some intervening variables between personality and tactic. The study aims to offer an explanation to the intriguing observation that some negotiations fails to capitalize on the available mutually beneficial settlement options by examining the relationship among personality, tactic and withdrawal. The paper ends with the discussion on theoretical contributions, managerial implications, and limitations
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
