3. Accommodating style (Lose-Win)
Accommodating in negotiations is the opposite of competing. This means that unlike in competitive negotiations in which parties involved are only concerned with winning, in accommodative negotiations, relationship building is more important than winning. This is a style mostly used by the Brazilians. Pearson and Stephan (1998) examined differences between Brazilians and Americans in preferences for the styles of negotiation, and the results were that the Brazilians prefer a style of negotiation that reflects a high concern for the other over styles that reflect a low concern for the other.
Thomas (2010: 3) emphasizes that:
“When accommodating, a person may neglect his or her considerations to satisfy the considerations of the opposite person; there's a component of cooperation during this style. Accommodating would possibly take the shape of altruistic, generosity of charity, obeying another person’s order once you would favor to not, or yielding to another’s point of view”.
In other situations, especially in terms of conflicts, an accommodator or person who uses accommodating style, views conflicts as social problems that need to be dealt with sensitivity (Thomas, 2010). Such people normally follow the Golden Rule “Do unto
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Lewicki and Hiam (1999:190-191) provide a list of reasons or circumstances a negotiator might decide to be accommodative. These include trust, respect, good feeling, and peace, to name but a few. The issue of trust is the foremost important objective for choosing accommodating negotiation style. All parties may want to build some level of trust between each other or not to destroy trust by pressing too much on one’s own outcome concerns. Second, a negotiator may also want to maintain or show some degree of respect to the other party’s skills as well as their contribution to