A quick word first1
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Conflicting obligations
In April, I posted a scenario about fairness in negotiation. Jazz readers were split on whether they’d feel obliged, as a potential buyer of a vacation cottage, to tell its elderly owner that the price was too low.
In May, the moral scenario was about honesty. Specifically, if you owned that vacation property and were ready to sell it, would you inform an eager prospect that a noisy motorcycle track was about to open up nearby? Again, readers’ opinions were sharply divided.
Now this month we’ll complete the trilogy. The scenario is about reconciling competing obligations. I think it raises the toughest issues yet.
The setting is different here. Now you’re at work. You’ve been assigned to sell some property that your company owns. After some discussion, a buyer made an attractive offer that you orally accepted and shook hands on. Your boss is pleased with the terms as they stand, but he’s a hard bargainer. He instructs you to tell the buyer that they have to increase their offer to get the deal approved. “No harm in asking,” your boss said.
Which of the following responses comes closest to what you would do?
A. Tell your boss that you’ve already given your word to the buyer and that you’re not comfortable going back on it.
B. Do exactly what your boss says. It’s a common bargaining tactic, after all.
C. Meet with the buyer and ask if he or she can raise the offer, while making it clear that this isn’t a deal breaker.
Submitting your response
Here’s a link to a survey where you can enter your choice and comments, anonymously if you like. Please submit your responses by Sunday midnight, June 27. I’m looking forward to discussing the issues in the follow-up article next Tuesday, June 29.
Housekeeping
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Photo by Lukas Leitner on Unsplash.
Which one do you choose, professor? i choose C.