Winning a Negotiation: Do Tourism Entrepreneurs Need Political Skill?

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of political skill among tourism entrepreneurs towards a winning
negotiation outcome. Although previous studies have focused on the objective measurement, this study
utterly depicts the subjective value of negotiation outcome which benefits a favorable and lasting
relationship among the parties involved. A total sample of 123 tourism owners/managers in Malaysia
participated in the questionnaire study and the sample was derived from the SME Corporation list of
directories. The study applies the partial least square approach in testing the hypothesis and revealed the
dimensions of political skill which are networking ability, social astuteness, and apparent sincerity
positively affect the entrepreneurs’ negotiation outcome. The only interpersonal influence was found not
to have any effect towards such skill.