Negotiation Styles & Behavioral Profiles Flashcards

Which negotiation style is characterized by high assertiveness and low cooperativeness, pursuing one's own goals at the expense of the other party's interests?

Answer: Competing

The competing style (also called distributive or win-lose) prioritizes achieving personal goals regardless of the impact on the relationship or the counterpart's outcome. It is high in assertiveness and low in cooperativeness, appropriate when the issue is critical and the relationship is less important.

The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument identifies five negotiation/conflict styles. Which style involves low assertiveness AND low cooperativeness?

Answer: Avoiding

Avoiding is characterized by withdrawing from or postponing the negotiation, reflecting low concern for both personal goals and the relationship. It is appropriate when the issue is trivial, timing is wrong, or when cooling down is needed before re-engaging.

A counterpart consistently makes large concessions quickly, prioritizes harmony, and rarely pushes back on demands. They are MOST likely exhibiting which negotiation style?

Answer: Accommodating

The accommodating style is high in cooperativeness and low in assertiveness. These negotiators place relationship preservation above their own substantive goals, often conceding quickly to avoid conflict. While valuable for maintaining trust, over-accommodation can result in unfavorable outcomes.

When you identify that a counterpart is using a competing style, the MOST effective adaptive response in an ongoing business relationship is typically to:

Answer: Shift toward collaboration by surfacing underlying interests and proposing mutual-gain options

Mirroring a competing style escalates positional conflict. In an ongoing relationship, the most productive counter is to acknowledge the competitive dynamic and redirect toward interest-based exploration, often revealing options that satisfy both parties better than a positional battle would.

Compromising as a negotiation style is BEST characterized as:

Answer: Moderate assertiveness and moderate cooperativeness — each party gives up something to reach a middle ground

Compromising sits in the middle of the assertiveness-cooperativeness grid. Both parties trade concessions to split the difference. It is faster than collaborating but may leave value on the table because underlying interests are not fully explored.

Which negotiation style is MOST likely to produce creative, durable agreements that fully meet both parties' underlying interests?

Answer: Collaborating

The collaborating style (high assertiveness + high cooperativeness) involves joint problem-solving to find solutions that genuinely satisfy both parties' needs. It requires the most time and trust but produces integrative outcomes that are more durable because both parties feel their interests were met.