Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior - Soltanieh ...

526 M. S USAN T AYLOR AND A SHLEY FIELBIG
could be inspired by intense anger or latent hostility, drug or alcohol abuse, psychosis, or
constraints placed on the party by their constituents. An example of negotiating with an
irrational party is provided in the case illustration below and the sequel that follows. In a
similar vein, when negotiators hold different principles about what constitutes fairness in
negotiation procedures and outcomes, prior negotiation recommendations made in this
chapter are unlikely to result in agreements. Such differences may result from past negotiation
experiences that were quite distributive, i.e. win – lose of differences in equity sensitivity.
In any event, when differences in definitions of fairness vary between parties, they often
become hostile and rigid, and are unwilling to concede any option that is acceptable to the
other; thus no agreement is reached and a stalemate generally occurs as well as a decrease
in the quality of the relationship (Pruitt, Pierce, Zubeck, McGillicuddy, and Welton, 1991 ).
In the case of the manager as mediator, it is important to realize that most types of
mediation behavior tend to be more effective under moderate levels of confl ict, rather
than extremely high or low levels. At very high or very low levels of conflict, the probability
that either contextual or substantive mediation interventions will lead to an agreement
diminishes rapidly (Kressel and Pruitt, 1985 ). Similarly, very low levels of confl ict
also tend to weaken the positive settlement effects of mediation interventions. Mediation
is likely to result in cooperation and agreement by the involved parties only when they are
motivated by sufficiently high levels of conflict to bargain and resolve their confl ict (Wall
and Blum, 1990). Finally, employees are likely to react more positively to managers ’ mediation
attempts when they are first allowed some time to resolve the conflict on their own.
Quick intervention by a manager attempting mediation is likely to violate the employees’
sense of due process and their perceptions of fairness. Subsequently, it is also likely to
affect the longevity and effectiveness of any agreement reached (Conlon and Fasolo,
1990 ). Having examined some possible exceptions or boundary conditions to mediation
we further illustrate the application of the concepts through the use of a case study and its
sequel several years later.
CASE EXAMPLES
Negotiating with irrational folks: the case of Jay Leno ’s agent
An excellent illustration of what happens when rational managers attempt to nego tiate
conflicts with irrational parties is provided in the book The Late Show. The Late Show
discusses the David Letterman and Jay Leno battle for late night TV. According to the
author, Bill Carter ( 1994 ), this negotiation was highly influenced by the persona of Leno ’s
long - time agent, Helen Kushnick. It was Helen who helped Jay, not initially liked or
favored by NBC Tonight Show host Johnny Carson, attain an edge over Carson’s preferred
choice, David Letterman. Realizing that NBC affiliate stations would have considerable
influence in any decision about a new host for the Tonight Show, Kushnick convinced Jay
to conduct several cross - country tours where he appeared live on many NBC affi liates
and devoted considerable time to building rapport with their owners and managers. The
support of the NBC affiliates, as well NBC executives ’ belief that Jay ’s personality and
style of comedy were better suited to a long - term run on NBC ’s Tonight Show than were
David Letterman’s, ultimately clinched the deal for him. On May 16, 1991, Leno signed