Negotiation is a process that occurs when two or more parties decide how to allocate scarce resources. Although we commonly think of the outcomes of negotiation in one-shot economic terms, every negotiation in organizations also affects the relationship between negotiators and the way negotiators feel about themselves.

Depending on how much the parties are going to interact with one another, sometimes maintaining the social relationship and behaving ethically will be just as important as achieving an immediate outcome of bargaining. Note that we use the terms negotiation and bargaining interchangeably.