Ethical Bargaining

     Perhaps this can be seen as naive, but I aspire to adopt the idealist school of ethical bargaining.  If you believe that lying or deception are wrong in any other social interaction then why should it be okay during a negotiation?  People appreciate candidness, and maintaining honest interactions can help with future negotiations since deception can hurt your reputation as a dealer, business partner, government official, etc. Lies and deception within a negotiation exploit the other party for personal selfish gain and is in turn unethical behavior.  It's okay to try to to achieve the best agreement possible but it shouldn't come at the cost of losing your integrity.  I think back to the negotiation I had about a job offer working at a gym as a recreation assistant.  I told the hiring manager that as a part of the job, I would like to conduct group fitness classes, and he agreed.  I then accepted the position with that knowledge to be told by one of his other managers after accepting the offer that it was a violation of some policy.  It may have been an accident or ignorance on the hiring managers part, but I felt deceived and angry.  I began distrusting my employers which was a large driving factor for why I quit a few months after.  I would not want to put another person in the position I was in which ultimately only harmed the business in the long run.

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