This tactic can take the negotiator by surprise and if silence isn't invoked, the deal that was looking very sweet can suddenly be spoiled.
In Japan, silence has been part of negotiations for centuries; one side makes an offer and the Japanese negotiator says nothing but perhaps makes eye contact or nods his head in a non-committal way. By not speaking, the chances are that you will be able to think clearly about the ramifications of the suddenly blurted out offer. Or if the offer is maybe not blurted out at the last minute but seems to be the very antithesis of what the two parties have been discussing all along, again, silence is power, because the other party will be thrown off of his or her strategy. In fact when a last-minute proposal is thrown into the mix, silence is essential because the proposal could be a psychological entrapment or an emotionally charged concept that is designed to create a stalemate; e.g., the other side feels like they are not getting the deal they want so them use emotion and surprise to attempt to stall the negotiations.
When the negotiation becomes ideological / political, that is a dangerous ingredient and it will threaten to blow discussions out...
When the GOP took over the House of Representatives, for example, they said they wanted to reduce the national deficit by cutting spending. What they did was so a purely ideological strategy by suggesting cutting National Public Radio (perceived as a liberal media) and Medicare. Meanwhile, "sequential decision making" can help resolve conflicts in negotiations because when one small point is agreed upon the momentum from that agreement can and does carry over into the next item on the agenda. In other words, "If we agree on the number of contracts, then it follows that we should be able to agree on the length of those contracts" (used as an example) (Physorg.com).
Works Cited
Carrell, Michael R., and Heavrin, Christina. (2008). Negotiating Essentials: Theory, Skills, and Practices. Old Tappan, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Physorg. (2006). New sequential decision-making model could be key to artificial intelligence.
Retrieved May 20, 2011, from http://www.physorg.com.
Royston. (2009). The Five Intercultural Negotiation Skills. Retrieved May 20, 2011, from http://roymogg.com/2009/12/17/the-five-intercultural-negotiation-skills/.
