Certified Human Resource Professional (CHRP) Practice Exam

When negotiating a new collective agreement, management offers the union a much lower pay increase than what it is ultimately willing to give. What kind of bargaining tactic is this?

1. An unfair tactic.

2. An integrative tactic.

3. A distributive tactic.

4. An unethical tactic.

The correct answer is: A distributive tactic.

The scenario described involves management initially offering a lower pay increase than what they are actually willing to concede. This approach signifies the use of a distributive bargaining tactic, which is typically characterized by the competitive nature of negotiations focused on dividing a fixed pool of resources—such as salary increases in this context. In distributive bargaining, each party tries to claim the largest possible share of the resources, thereby leading to a zero-sum game where one party's gain is the other party's loss. By starting with a lower offer, management is essentially trying to anchor the negotiations in their favor, expecting that the union will counter with a higher demand. The ultimate aim is to settle at a point that is still more favorable to management than the initial willingness to pay, effectively keeping more of the available resources. This tactic can be perceived as part of standard negotiation practices aimed at maximizing outcomes, distinguishing it from other tactics that may involve collaboration or joint problem-solving efforts, which would not fit into the distributive model. Therefore, this scenario aligns precisely with distributive bargaining tactics, which revolve around competing for limited resources rather than working together to achieve mutual gains.