APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/2015

MAN 2607/2608/2609/2610 Negotiation

Responsible for the course
Leif Helland

Department
Department of Economics

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
30

Language of instruction
Norwegian

Introduction
The program ”Negotiations” is a management oriented education program within BI’s MoM. The program is primarily directed towards leaders and intermediate leaders in the private and public sector. Individuals, businesses, public enterprises and other organizations rarely make their decisions based on framework conditions alone. Often business results are dependent on how well they can negotiate for good solutions. The ability to obtain good solutions through negotiations depends on a combination of analytical and interpersonal skills and is a sign of good leadership.
Analysis is necessary to reach an understanding of the negotiation situation, to be able to identify own interests and those of the other party’s, in order to realize which possibilities and limitations may help to create and demand values, to isolate possible moves and countermoves at the negotiating table and elsewhere, as well as to consider the stability of a long term solution. Participants in the program are offered an analytical concept device that makes them able to prepare, carry out and evaluate various types of negotiations in a professional manner. Interpersonal skills are at the same time important because negotiations by nature are a communications process where confidence and mutual conviction are at the center.
Program is built around three pillars. First, the analytical concept is learned through a combination of lectures, group work and discussions in class. Second, the analytical concept is being tested in various ways: through in-depth work with relevant cases; by inviting business and political practitioners to enlighten aspects of the concept device through guest lectures. One session takes place abroad, including a visit to academic and leading environments within negotiations. The final pillar in the program is participation in a series of experimental negotiations. These experiments are carried out by connecting several computers and having participants discuss with each other on the net in stylized negotiation situations. In the experiments participants’ running choices of action are registered. Different combinations of choices give different number of points, which points are valuable to the participants because the final grade is based on the total number of points obtained through the experiments. By participating in the experiments participants will become aware of the flexing/tension? Between rationality and psychology. The experiments are suited to make participants aware of
how negotiation initiatives may provoke emotional reactions, and how the typical negotiation behaviour often systematically deviates from predictions in standard rationality theory, and thus one gets a deeper insight into the mechanisms that are (un)suitable for creating confidence and compliance in a negotiation situation. Furthermore, participants are confronted with ethical dilemmas where one’s own total points may be increased through actions that reduce the fellow student’s points. A thorough evaluation of the experiments will be examined in plenum.
The program follows a progression starting with simple negotiations where the parties are to share a given cake under changing negotiation protocols and changing outside options. Negotiations where the cake may be expanded to benefit both parties are also introduced. Thereafter the mediator role is discussed, and, finally, the number of negotiating parties and number of dimentions to be negotiated are increased.

Learning outcome