discussion board
RECIPROCITY
- Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School - http://www.pon.harvard.edu -
Be sure to give at the office
Posted By Lisa Witzler On October 14, 2009 @ 1:40 pm In Business Negotiations , Daily ,
Reciprocation tactics are tried and true. Politicians “logroll” votes on pet projects, companies
offer free product samples to consumers, and charitable organizations include small gifts when
soliciting donations. According to the norm of [1] reciprocity , if you’re nice to me, I’ll be nice in
return, and vice versa.
In the realm of negotiation, you can gain many benefits from including reciprocation strategies in
your toolbox. Reciprocity can be much simpler and cheaper than formal contract reinforcement
mechanisms such as [2] litigation . In many situations, negotiators learn to trust each other
through reciprocity, which obligates trustworthine ss in return.
But not everyone feels comfortable asking for or receiving favors, and it’s hard to know whether
an invitation to reciprocate will be accepted or rejected. And what if your counterpart interprets
your generosity as a sign of weakness and take s advantage of you?
By following these three steps, you can make an invitation to reciprocate that the other side will
value and return in kind.
1. Make sure your behavior cannot be attributed to ignorance or chance. The best
invitations to reciprocate are intentional acts of true generosity that unambiguously signal
kindness. Therefore, when preparing to invite reciprocation, research your potential offer
thoroughly before you meet at the [3] bargain ing table. Let your counterpart know that you are
well informed and that your offer is intentional.
If you decide to make a generous offer to a potential employee in a [4] salary negotiation , make
sure that she understands your reasons for doing so. You may want your generosity to signal how
much you value her skills and to invite above -average effort in return. Clearly, you do not want
her to attribute your generosity to lack of knowledge of the market.
2. Make your counterpart feel indebted. To signal your willingness to cooperate, consider
making a relatively significant gift or concession in the early stages of talks -but don’t budge if
your counterpart fails to return the favor. Instead, co ntinue with a reasonable request that exceeds
your true goal, adjusting downward gradually. The ideal concession causes you little harm but
provides the other side with valuable benefits.
3. Make your invitations to reciprocate attractive. To ensure that y our counterpart will
comply with the reciprocity norm, you’ll need to make your offer enticing -materially,
psychologically, and socially. Be sure to make the generosity of your offer publicly known, and engage in repeated interactions where reciprocal kind ness is also in your counterpart’s long -term
interest.
Adapted from “Did You Give at the Office? Leveraging the Power of Reciprocity” by [5] Iris
Bohnet , Professor, [6] Harvard Kennedy School of Government.