NCJ Number
191929
Journal
Negotiation Journal Volume: 17 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2001 Pages: 155-174
Date Published
April 2001
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This essay presents some of the research and teaching notes the author has developed in using the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI), one of the more popular bargaining style assessment tools, in his various programs, including a "Wharton-TKI Bargaining Styles Grid," which records in percentile form the frequency with which business executives in both executive and executive MBA programs at Wharton have reported various TKI scores.
Abstract
Many negotiation courses and executive training programs address the subject of bargaining styles. The TKI is a commonly used psychological assessment tool that helps students and teachers probe this topic. The TKI measures the five conflict management facets proposed by the Dual Concerns Model: competing, collaborating, compromising, accommodating, and avoiding. The author has used the TKI extensively in teaching executives about bargaining styles. He recommends the TKI as an especially useful tool for probing bargaining styles in a classroom setting. Its positive attributes are ease of administration; relative freedom from social-desirability biases in the way statements are presented; conflict styles that match with strategy concepts widely used in the negotiation literature; and significant congruence between the TKI styles students report and their perceptions of their own behavior across a set of simulations. This essay concludes with answers to some questions people frequently ask about the TKI. 7 notes and 19 references