This section seeks to briefly summarise the above four negotiation settings when
analysed from the two dichotomies of arms length vs strategic partnerships and
distributive vs integrative bargaining strategies. A distributive approach in an
arms length relationship was considered prudent by both parties. Although it was
commented that this type of strategy would lead to manipulative behaviour, this was
considered a too resource demanding task. An integrative strategy in the partnership
dimension would, however, be considered as an inexpedient choice, as it quite
predictably would lead to an immediate exploitation by the other party.
The partnership dimension is a different story in that both parties would see it as
justifiable to choose an integrative approach. This was although normative statements
considering the fact that the buyer would continuously use a distributive approach,
even though the parties were dependent on each other. This specific negotiation
setting revealed some important insight and comparison into one of the few studies
conducted in negotiation theory in the discipline of SCM in particular and in academia
in general.