SOME EFFECTS OF INTERNAL POWER OF BOUNDARY SPANNING PERSONS ON THE OUTCOMES OF INTERORGANIZATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS
Abstract
The effects of boundary spanning persons' (BSPs) power within their own organizations on the outcomes of negotiations were observed in this study. Outcomes observed included: time required to complete the negotiation, number of deadlocks which occurred, amount of resources traded between organizations, and satisfaction with the effectiveness and efficiency of the negotiations. The amount of freedom experienced by the BSPs to conduct the negotiations without the approval of their constituents was also measured as a potential intervening variable. Subjects were 120 undergraduate students in psychology or business classes. The experimental conditions were: a high-power BSP from one organization negotiated with a low-power BSP from another organization, a high-power BSP from one organization negotiated with a high-power BSP from the other organization, and two low-power BSPs negotiated. The negotiations took place in the context of simulated organizations trying to obtain resources needed for a simulated production task, for which incentive pay was awarded. The major findings were: (1) Negotiations between two high-power BSPs, as hypothesized, required significantly less time than those between one high- and one low-power BSP or between two low-power BSPs. (2) No significant main effects were observed for the other negotiation outcomes. (3) The test for the intervening effect of BSP Freedom could be applied only in the case of the dependent variable Time Required. The results of this test did not support the intervening variable hypothesis. (4) No significant differences in outcomes were found for either organization in the negotiation when one was represented by a high-power BSP and the other by a low-power BSP. The implications of these results to theory and practice were discussed. Methodological issues in conducting research on this topic were also discussed.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Social psychology
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