COMM 412 - Negotiation

The purpose of this course is to understand the theory and processes of negotiation as it is practiced in a variety of settings. It is designed to be relevant to the broad spectrum of negotiation problems that are faced by managers and professionals. The course will provide participants with an opportunity to develop negotiation skills experientially and to understand negotiation in useful analytic frameworks. Considerable emphasis will be placed on simulations, role-plays, and cases. Negotiation is the art and science of securing agreements between two or more interdependent parties. The central issues of this course deal with understanding the behaviour of individuals, groups, and organizations in the context of competitive situations.

Learning objectives

The objectives of the course are:

• to think about the nature of negotiation. This objective is paramount because many of the important aspects of negotiation are ambiguous and often do not have "right" answers – we cannot teach a set of formulae that will always maximize your profit.
• to gain a broad, intellectual understanding of the central concepts in negotiation. These concepts will be building blocks from which we can systematically understand and evaluate the negotiation process.
• to gain an appreciation for systematic biases in the judgement of negotiators, and learn to guard against them in your own behaviour.
• to improve analytical abilities in understanding the behaviour of individuals, groups, and organizations in competitive situations.
• to provide experience in the negotiation process, including learning to evaluate the costs and benefits of alternative actions and how to manage the negotiation process.
• to develop confidence in the negotiation process as an effective means for resolving conflict in negotiations.
• to be able to formulate an appropriate, effective strategy for almost any kind of negotiation.