Principles of negotiation

In business as in life, you don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.

Take a look at the video and learn more about this minor.

Negotiation training requires intellectual training and developing skills. Main assumptions of this course:

• negotiating is a process that can be understood
• negotiating is a skill that can be taught and can be learned.

Core questions in this course:

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of various strategies?
• What do these strategies require for success?
• When would these strategies be most appropriate?

The course is a combination of reading & understanding theory (through the assigned book and academic articles) as well as applying the theory in simulated negotiation role-plays and a research project. The minor consists primarily of pre-recorded video material, and plenary lectures based on required theoretical literature. In each lecture students are applying the respective theories via interactive role plays. In parallel students prepare and execute a research project (e.g. field experiment, survey-based study) where they actively apply insights from the theory while focusing on a topic of their choice.

The main contents covered in this course are:

• The theory of negotiation, including behavioral decision making & decision analytic perspectives to negotiations,
• Conceptual frameworks to analyze conflict situations in personal and business-related settings and to design negotiation strategies to successfully resolve them.
• Negotiation techniques and their underlying theoretical explanations.
• Multi-party and intercultural negotiations.
• The role of power, influence and persuasion in negotiations.
• The role of emotions in negotiation situations.
• Online negotiations using software agents.
• The role of gender and personality style in negotiations
• The role of non-verbal communications and lie detection in negotiations
• How to manage difficult negotiations/people and the role of negotiation ethics.

• Learn various negotiation theories.
• Analyze conflict situations and design negotiation strategies to successfully resolve them.
• Identify negotiation techniques and their underlying theoretical explanations.
• Understand multi-party and intercultural negotiations.
• Comprehend the role of power, influence and persuasion in negotiations
• Identify the role of emotions in negotiation situations.
• Gain insights on the role of gender and personality in negotiations
• Understand non-verbal communication and detect non-verbal cues in negotiations
• Investigate the role of negotiation ethics.

The acquired skills from this minor are:

• Reflect and learn from your experience in handling conflict situations
• Acquire new skills by “stretching your comfort zone”
• Improve your ability to persuade others and understand their tactics in conflict situations
• Become capable of evaluating the outcomes of a negotiation

This course is designed for students from various backgrounds. The required skills for the course are: good knowledge of English. Basic knowledge of statistics would be helpful for the group research project. All RSM minors have mandatory attendance.

Teaching methods
The course is a combination of understanding theory and applying it in practice. The first part consists primarily of lectures based on theoretical literature. The second part includes participation in role plays, as well as participation in a group research project. The main deliverables consist of written reports (for the role-plays and the research paper) and class presentation (of research project).

Teaching materials

1. The book that will be used for this course is:

3. Roy J. Lewicki, Bruce Barry, David M. Saunders, “Negotiation”

4. Additional required readings:

5. Academic and business articles from various sources (e.g. Harvard Business Review, Negotiation Briefings, Negotiation Journal)

6. Book: Roger Fisher, William L. Ury, Bruce Patton, “Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In”

7. Book: Leigh Thompson, “The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator”

8. Instructions about the role-plays

Method of examination
The course is a combination of understanding theory and applying it in practice. The first part consists primarily of lectures based on theoretical literature. The second part includes participation in role plays, as well as participation in a group research project. The main deliverables consist of written reports (for the role-plays and the research paper) and class presentation (of research project).

There will be no individual final written test. The assessment for the minor consists of the following components:
1: Individual Reflection Journal

• Analyze the process and outcome of negotiation exercises and relate to relevant behaviour & tactics used.
• Identify & explain concepts from the course that may shed light on what happened during the negotiation.

2: Research Paper written report

• In a group you conduct a research project in the field of negotiations.

3: Research Paper Presentation

• The groups present their research project findings during the last week.

4: Additional Individual Assignments

Composition final grade

• Individual Reflection Journal (individual Assignment) (40%)
• Individual Assignments (individual Assignment) (20%)
• Research Paper written report (group assignment) (30%)
• Research paper in-class presentation (group assignment) (10%)