Once Low Power, Always Low Outcomes? Analyzing Negotiations in Different Business Relationship Types Over Time

Keywords: Negotiations, Busniess Relationships, Power

Abstract: Negotiations between companies often take place in business relationships as greater benefits for both parties are expected, compared to outcomes in discrete transactions. Besides economic payoffs, the reason is seen in increasing relational attributes like trust and cooperation. So far, research did not distinguish between different business relationships types – although business relationships often differ in power and dependences in practice. As different power constellations lead to different negotiation behavior and outcomes in discrete transactions, the same can be assumed for relationships. We aim at addressing this research gap by conducting two studies to analyze (1) how these relational attributes and outcomes are characterized in different power based relationship types and (2) how relational attributes and outcomes develop over time. As results show different characteristics developing unexpectedly different within relationship types, we discuss the importance of our findings for research and practice.