Negotiating quartermasters: Preferred negotiation style and the influence of time pressure, uncertainty, trust and the constituency

Keywords: quartermasters, negotiation, dual concern, time pressure, trust

Abstract: Quartermasters (a term derived from military context) are professional managers that bring together parties and make preparations to organise something new. Quartermastering is a unique trade involving negotiation with various parties. To study quartermasters’ negotiation behaviour and the influence of time pressure, the constituency, trust between the negotiators and uncertainty of the situation 58 quartermasters read scenarios based on real quartermastering cases and filled in a ten-item adapted version of the Dutch Test for Conflict Handling about their negotiation behaviour. Quartermasters generally preferred to use integrative negotiation behaviour. High time pressure led to less integrative negotiation. A demanding constituency increased forcing negotiation behaviour. High trust between the negotiating parties resulted in more integrative-, compromising- and yielding- and less forcing negotiation behaviour. In situations with high uncertainty quartermasters compromised more. Participants, via answers to open questions, suggested eighteen additional factors that could influence negotiations, these should be explored in future research.