“Paying a price: Culture, trust, and negotiation consequences”, a paper co-authored by the ISB’s Professors Dishan Kamdar, Amit Nandkeolyar, Brian Gunia (Johns Hopkins University) and Jeanne Brett (Kellogg School of Management) published in the July 2011 issue of Journal of Applied Psychology has been awarded the “Outstanding Published Journal Award” at the 2013 Annual Conference of The International Association for Conflict Management (IACM) held at Tacoma, Washington. The awarding committee commended the paper as an outstanding published journal article that has made a significant and lasting contribution to the study of social conflict over the previous two years.

The paper presented three studies contrasting Indian and American negotiators in light of the hypotheses derived from theory proposing why there are cultural differences in trust and how cultural differences in trust influence negotiation strategy. Study one (a survey) documented that Indian negotiators trust their counterparts less than American negotiators. Study two (a negotiation simulation) linked American and Indian negotiators’ self-reported trust and strategy to their insight and joint gains. Study three replicated and extended study two using independently-coded negotiation strategy data, allowing for stronger causal inference. Overall, the strategy associated with Indian negotiators’ reluctance to extend interpersonal (as opposed to institutional) trust produced relatively poor outcomes. The paper supports an expanded theoretical model of negotiation, linking culture to trust, strategies, and outcomes.

The International Association for Conflict Management was founded to encourage scholars and practitioners to develop and disseminate theory, research, and experience that are useful for understanding and improving conflict management in family, organisational, societal, and international settings. IACM annually recognises meritorious contributions to the study of social conflict that epitomise the goals and purposes of the association.