Power, Status and Negotiations

2-3 Credit Hours

This course introduces participants to social exchange theory and its application to negotiations. We first work to understand how structures of networks and resource dependence influence outcomes of negotiated and reciprocal exchange. To do this, we study four principle components of social exchange theory: resources, power, brokerage and status. We evaluate questions like, when are actors more or less likely to resort to coercive power? When are they more likely to resort to reward power? Which is more effective? How does status impact outcomes? When is it better or worse for an actor's alternatives to exchange to have many or few alternatives to exchange? When is it good for an actor for her alternatives to exchange to know each other? We then study how negotiation processes may be informed by structure in influencing outcomes of exchange. Here we evaluate when and how actors may influence outcomes in their negotiations using information about network structures and resource dependence models. For instance, how could you talk your way out of a parking ticket? Is it ever a good idea to start an argument in a negotiation? When, if ever, is it a good idea to apologize in a negotiation? Is Facebook a good place to find love, a job, or both? How can job applicants signal that they are high status, and avoid signaling that they are low status actors?