MGMT-566_01-FA20-NEGOTIATION IN THE WORKPLACE

MGMT-566_01-FA20-NEGOTIATION IN THE WORKPLACE

Course Description

Negotiation occurs in our daily lives and is the art and science of securing agreements between two or more interdependent parties. This course will examine the fundamentals of negotiating within today’s business world. Topics include both distributive and integrative bargaining. Additionally, time will be spent on facilitating the best practices for communication.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, students will:

CLG1:  Learn how to effectively negotiate and communicate with others.

CLG2:  Understand the cross-cultural differences involved in negotiations.

CLG3:  Understand when and why misconceptions occur.

CLG4:  Learn how to behave ethically while negotiating.

Course Materials

Textbook: Thompson, L.L. (2014). The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator (6^th Ed.), Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Cases and Exercises: Exercises from Dispute Resolution Research Center (DRRC) at Northwestern University and two cases from Harvard Business Publishing will be required. Instruction for purchase of the cases will be available on Canvas.

Note: Because of the interactive nature of this class, you MUST have the exercises in hand before each class. If you don’t have the cases and exercises, you will have to drop the class.

Evaluation and Grading

Your grade will be made up of:

• In-Video Quiz 5%
• Quiz on Fundamental Concepts 10%
• Negotiation Planning Document 20%
• Reflection 20%
• Case Studies 10%
• Attendance, Surveys and Participation  15%
• Final Reflection Paper 20%

Grades will be determined as indicated below.

Attendance, Surveys and Participation (15%)

Because negotiation exercises are critical to the learning process in this course, attendance will be mandatory. Your absence will negatively affect not only your performance but also your negotiation partner’s performance. If you are not able to make it to a particular class, please let me know ASAP.

Your participation in class discussion will be evaluated on the quality of your contributions and insights. After each negotiation exercise, a debriefing session will include sharing information about results, sharing information about strategies attempted, and sharing reactions to the process. Quality comments possess one or more of the following properties:

• Offer a different, unique, but relevant, perspective based on analysis and theory.
• Contribute to moving the discussion and analysis forward.
• Build upon the comments of your classmates.
• Transcend the ― “I feel” syndrome; that is, include some evidence or logic.
• Link relevant concepts to current events or past class discussions.

You will also be required to complete several online surveys inside or outside of class. The survey will ask about topics relevant to negotiations and many of the topics we will discuss in class. Results of these surveys will help you complete your project.

In-Video Quiz (5%). Simple quiz questions are integrated in video lectures to test whether students have watched the videos. These quizzes are based on the content the video lectures and could be taken multiple times.

Quiz on Fundamental Concepts (10%). Adequate preparation is crucial for deep learning and insightful discussion with your peers. This assignment tests how well you have learned the fundamental concepts in each module. Therefore, you need read the assigned chapters and readings before you take the quiz. The quizzes are online and open book. No make-up quiz will be given if you miss the deadline.

Negotiation Planning Documents (20%). Preparation for a negotiation is a critical step in negotiations and an important part of your learning process. The planning documents serve to help you structure your negotiation experience, understand the nature of the particular negotiation exercise, and develop strategies that will maximize your outcomes.  Specifically, the planning documents will help you be well prepared for the role you will play in each negotiation exercise.

Reflection (20%). This assignment will allow you to reflect on your in-class negotiation exercises. It helps you identify both successful and failed strategies and allows you to better prepare for future negotiations. In the analysis, you will describe your perceptions and significant insights gained from negotiation exercises. The discussion should focus on analysis and insights rather than narrative (i.e. what happened). Discuss questions will be given for each exercise; when discussion questions are not given, here are a few examples of the type of issues that you could address:

• Who controlled the negotiation and how did they do it?
• What were the critical factors that affected the negotiation situation and outcomes and what can you say about these factors in general?
• How did the negotiation context differ from other exercises, and what new factors did this context highlight?
• What did you learn about yourself from this experience?
• What did you learn about the behavior of others?
• What did you learn about bargaining and conflict from this situation?
• What would you do the same or differently in the future, or how would you like to behave in order to perform more effectively?

For each reflection, you are also required to comment or discuss others’ posts 3 times per module. Your reflection will be graded upon not only the number of your post, but also the depth of your insights and reflections and the relevance to the course material. For each reflection assignment, you need post your own original post before you could be able to respond to your peers. Your original post is due at the end day of Thursday.

Case Study (10%). The “case method” is an approach to learning that encourages students to extract useful lessons from the experiences of others (“cases”). Students study accounts of specific events in order to discover general principles that they can apply in other situations. Case study has been shown to be an effective learning tool for MBA students. In this course, you will use two cases from Harvard Business Publishing.

Final Reflection Paper (20%). This assignment requires you carry out and analyze a real-world negotiation, which encourages you to think about the many everyday situations in which you can negotiate, and challenges you to improve your negotiating skills. For this negotiation you should negotiate something of personal value to you. You should report on your plan, your strategy, and the negotiation results. You can negotiate for anything you would like—a good or service from a merchant, a salary from a potential employer, etc. This paper should be approximately 5 double-spaced pages. At the end, please review the most important lessons that you learned in this course (including insights from the readings), your key strengths as a negotiator, and how you hope to improve moving forward. The rules are as follows:

• Do not reveal the assignment: You are not allowed to resort to a plea of “Please help me out, this is for a class….” You may not disclose this information until the negotiation is completed.
• No purchase necessary: You do not have to buy anything to complete this assignment. You may choose to be the seller or enter a negotiation that does not involve financial terms or a purchase.
• Boundaries: You cannot use negotiation tactics that may be considered unethical, illegal, or potentially harmful to yourself or others.
• Not required to settle: You do not need to succeed in the negotiation in order to complete the assignment. The purpose of this exercise is to facilitate your learning. Often, we learn as much or more from negotiations that fail as from those that succeed. However, if you do fail, please seek feedback from your counterpart on how you could have negotiated more effectively, and write about what you learned from the feedback.

The paper should be no more than 5 pages in length (double spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, 1” margins). The final reflection paper is graded upon:

• Depth of analysis: Have you correctly employed key concepts to analyze the negotiation? How well have you applied your learning from the course to your analysis of this case?
• Introspection: Have you linked your experiences with your goals for the course and your strengths and weaknesses? What have you learned about your negotiating style and skills from this negotiation experience? What would you do differently in the future?
• Creativity: How unique was the context? How inventive was your strategy? How did you meet expected and unexpected challenges?
• Quality of writing: Have you included the relevant details? Is it interesting and well written?

MGMT 566-01 Fall 2020 Tentative Schedule*

* The schedule is tentative and subject to change.