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Politics In Religion

Fighting Fair, Ethics in Conflict Negotiation

Over the years I’ve held several leadership jobs, attended many hours of conflict negotiation courses and mastered the use of my femininity as a last resort tool in achieving my objective when challenged with negotiating a tough sale. Looking back on my life’s lessons, I guess I would say that motherhood and being a wife has taught me my most valuable lesson in conflict resolution and that is having enough ethics to negotiate a fair fight. Dr. Chester L. Karrass said, “Negotiating is more than a discussion of issues or a signed agreement. Negotiating is an unwritten judgment on the quality and character of the participants. In reaching that judgment, integrity is the key element. Integrity makes the deal work. There is no substitute for it.” In reading in the class text, I started to get the felling that in business or in any other situation, ethics in negotiating is a rare occurrence. Last year I wanted to purchase a new car, in the process of shopping, I searched store after store looking for a car that met the needs of my family. As I negotiated with the salesmen, it seemed only natural to use whatever tactic I could to broker the best possible deal, sadly enough I somehow felt the salesman was doing the same. That’s when I realized that maybe the saying, all is fair in love and war, also applies to negotiations. Think about it, my objective was to get the most for my family out of the situation, this was also the same objective the dealership had. So why should I worry about being fair in the process. In 2004, Menkel-Meadow, and Wheeler published, What is Fair: Ethics for Negotiators. In this book, the authors address personal and organizational ethics, and whether or not there is a standard of fairness in the war of gaining ground with the opposition. One...