Negotiating Fairly

Fairness is an important characteristic in negotiations. Negotiators need to believe that the negotiation process and its outcomes are fair, otherwise they may choose to end the negotiations without coming to an agreement, or fail to put the agreement into action.

Ensuring fairness

There are several categories of fairness that contribute to successful negotiations. Distributive fairness relates to the distribution of outcomes (the splitting of the pie). Negotiators use three different principles of distributive fairness:

In addition, a negotiator’s level of satisfaction and willingness to follow through with an agreement are determined by their perception of the fairness of the procedure (procedural fairness), and also the way they feel they have been treated by the other party (interactional fairness).

Fairness is a subjective issue. When negotiating, if you first define what you consider to be fair, you can then use this “fairness frame” as a bargaining strategy in your discussions with the other party. Alternatively, if you state the importance of fairness at the beginning of the negotiation process, it may encourage the other party to be fair.

• Equality: this states that fairness is achieved by splitting the pie equally.

• Equity: this states that the outcome should relate to the contribution made by each party.

• Needs: this states that, regardless of their contribution, each party should get what they need.

Ways to ensure that the pie is sliced fairly

• Simplicity

  Ensure that all negotiating parties can understand and describe the pie-slicing procedures you use to guarantee smooth implementation.

• Consensus

  Confirm that all parties in the negotiation are in complete agreement on the method of slicing the pie.

• Consistency

  Make sure that you apply the fairness principles (equality, equity, or needs) in the same manner throughout the negotiation process.

• Satisfaction

  Make sure that all parties are happy with the results—they are then more likely to follow through with the agreement.

• Justifiability

  Make sure that all parties are able to explain why you are slicing the pie this way to somebody else.

• Clarity

  Be certain that the final decision is clear, without any potential misinterpretations.