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.