Faculty
Professor David F. Sally
Objectives
Course themes: We negotiate every day. We enter into negotiations with potential employers, coworkers, roommates, landlords, merchants, service providers, and many others. What price we want to pay, how much we want to be paid, how group tasks will be divided and credit allocated...all of these are negotiations. Yet, while we negotiate often, many of us know very little about the strategy and psychology of effective negotiations. Why do we sometimes get our way while other times we walk away feeling frustrated by our inability to achieve the agreement we desire?
Negotiation is the art and science of securing agreements between two or more interdependent parties. The purpose of this course is to understand the theory and processes of negotiation as it is practiced in a variety of settings. This course is designed to complement the technical and diagnostic skills learned in other courses at Tuck. A basic premise of the course is that while a manager needs analytical skills in order to develop optimal solutions, a broad array of negotiation skills is needed in order for these solutions to be accepted and implemented.
Course objectives: The course will highlight the components of an effective negotiation and teach students to analyze their own behavior in negotiations. The course will be largely experiential, providing students with an opportunity to develop their skills by participating in negotiations and integrate their experiences with the principles presented in the assigned readings and course discussions.
As a result of this course, I hope you will:
• Gain a deeper understanding of the nature of negotiation. This objective is paramount because the strategic aspects of negotiations such as interests, goals, positions, rights, and power are often ambiguous and do not have "correct" answers. No one can teach you a formula that will maximize your profit--but you will learn many things that may help and you will learn to recognize which strategies are effective for particular situations.
• Discover alternative sources of leverage in negotiations, to improve your ability to negotiate when, for example, you have no other offer as a back-up.
• Develop confidence in the negotiation process as an effective means for resolving conflict in organizations.
• Experience the negotiation process, and learn how to evaluate the costs and benefits of alternative actions.
• Improve your analytical ability to understand the behavior of individuals, groups, and organizations in competitive situations.
Course format: This course is built around a series of experiential negotiation exercises and debriefs. All exercises require advance preparation. Some exercises require you to meet outside of class to prepare with other students as a team. You are expected to be fully prepared for exercises prior to class and to participate in the debriefing discussions.
Requirements
There are no prerequisites for this course.
Materials
The required text is Thompson, L. (2009). The mind and heart of the negotiator (fourth edition). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice-Hall. It is on reserve in Feldberg. The Raiffa chapter will be distributed in class.
Tuck Honor Code
The Tuck Honor Code standards apply to Negotiation as follows:
Attendance Policy
We will negotiate in class, or have student presentations, each and every session. Because each individual's learning value depends on the preparation and participation of his or her negotiation partner(s) and counterpart(s), there is a strict attendance requirement in this class. You are expected to prepare for and participate in every negotiation exercise, and to do your best to ensure that you are not absent for any session. If you know you must miss one class, you may be required to find and coach a substitute to take your place for the scheduled exercise. Failure to provide advance notice or to provide a substitute when required, and/or missing more than one negotiation will be reflected in a penalty of up to one full grade level in the final course grade. Please consider your recruiting schedule in light of the attendance policy when deciding whether to enroll in this course. This class meets Wednesdays and the following Thursdays: January 7, January 21, February 18 (optional but strongly recommended), and March 4.
Daily class preparation
• You are expected to be prepared and on time for all negotiation exercises (see attendance policy).
• You may not show your confidential role instructions to the other side.
• You may prepare for each negotiation with others in any section of the course who share your role (never with someone who has a different role), but the work you hand in (i.e., your planning document) should be written by you and you alone, except when a team planning document is assigned.
• The Tuck Honor Code calls for integrity and honesty in the performance of academic activities. Do not make up facts or information that materially change the power distribution of the exercise. However, you may choose to withhold information or "spin" information during an exercise, if you would do the same in a real world negotiation.
• You may use any strategy short of assault and battery, or harassment, to reach agreement, including misrepresentation as defined above. However, in selecting a strategy, it is wise to consider that using it may have ramifications that go beyond the particular negotiation.
• Do not discuss cases with or borrow notes from people outside of class.
• Class discussion stays in class.
Graded group projects
• Group projects are considered to be the result of a collaborative effort. It is expected that each group member will make a significant contribution to the assignment.
Missed classes
• Attendance is required in this course. The attendance policy, see above, will be applied as part of the Tuck Honor Code.
Grading
Participation 30%
Participation is a fundamental part of the course. Participation is assessed as follows:
Attendance
The structure and content of the negotiations class makes it extremely important that you participate in all negotiation exercises and discussions. Thus, attendance is expected and required for each class session.
Debriefing Discussion
Contributions that analyze negotiation behavior, synthesize course concepts with the exercises, or challenge assumptions are most valuable. Contributions from your negotiation experiences beyond the classroom are particularly welcome. Sharing your negotiation experiences, both successes and failures, during the debriefing discussion is an integral part of your course participation.
Feedback
Feedback is an invaluable tool for learning negotiations skills. In addition to the feedback you offer during the debriefing discussions, you are expected to complete a brief feedback form after each negotiation summarizing your counterpart's performance and when time allows, to give feedback directly to your counterpart. At the end of the course, all the feedback will be compiled and you will receive a summary of your own negotiation "reputation." Giving feedback is required, but the actual feedback (given or received) is not part of your course grade.
Planning Documents 20%
Preparation is the single most important thing you can do to improve your performance in any negotiation. In class, it is essential that you read and prepare for every negotiation exercise. The nature and extent of your preparation will be judged from the planning documents you prepare in advance of each negotiation beginning in Week 2 (New Recruit, Texoil, Viking, and Harborco exercises). Planning documents prepared as part of the group project, below, will be counted toward the group project grade. Please hand in a hard copy of your planning document at the beginning of each class beginning in Week 2. Keep a copy for your use during the negotiation.
Group project: Multi-round group negotiation 30%
You will be working in an assigned group with two other classmates on a multi-round negotiation February 10 and 17. Your group will be assigned the role either of union representatives or company representatives, and will be paired with another group for three rounds of negotiations. Your group will work together to develop negotiating strategies and complete the negotiations. The group assignments will be distributed in class. Before each of the three rounds of negotiation, you will receive detailed information regarding the negotiation and the grading criteria for that round.
Following the final round, you will write a case analysis with your group. The case and case questions will be distributed in class following the final round. Your group's analysis will be due one week later, on February 24. There is a five page limit for the group case analysis (12 point Times or Times New Roman font, double spaced, with one-inch margins).
Group presentation: Real world case analysis 20%
You will form a group of two or three people (not the same group as the assigned group negotiation team) and present in class an analysis of a negotiation in the real world. The topic of your real world negotiation may be any situation that meets the definition of a negotiation: a conflict over resources in which the parties are interdependent and can communicate. Choose a negotiation the class will find interesting. Use the planning document framework to analyze each party's interests, alternatives, likely BATNA and reservation point, and target for the negotiation. For negotiations that have concluded, provide a post-hoc analysis explaining why the parties reached the outcome they did, and how either or both parties could have done better. For negotiations that are ongoing, provide a real-time analysis explaining the best strategy for one of the parties, included anticipated moves by the other side(s). Be prepared to answer questions from the class. Hand in a powerpoint file with your slides, and a detailed planning document to support your analysis.
Schedule
Session 1: Thursday, January 7
Introduction and overview of negotiation analysis
Exercise (distributed in class): Biopharm/Seltek
none
Thompson, Ch. 1
Session 2: Wednesday, January 13
Foundations of cooperative agreements
Exercise: New Recruit
New Recruit planning document
Thompson, Ch. 2 (pp. 12-27), Ch. 3
Session 3: Thursday, January 21
Effective strategies for creating and claiming value in complex negotiations
Exercise: Texoil
Texoil planning document
Thompson, Ch. 4, Ch. 7
Session 4: Wednesday, February 3
Conflict resolution
Exercise: Viking Investments
Viking planning document (one copy per team, completed with your assigned teammate)
Thompson, Ch. 5 (pp. 105-118), Ch. 6 (pp. 128-147)
Thursday, February 4
Optional session
Negotiation preparation scoring systems, useful for preparing ABC/190 group planning documents
Session 5: Wednesday, February 10
Negotiating in teams (Round 1 and 2)
Exercise: Adam Baxter/Local 190, 1978 and 1983 rounds (1983 round distributed in class)
1978 round planning document with scoring system (one copy per team, completed with your assigned team)
Thompson, pp. 245-249; Raiffa, Ch. 11
Session 6: Wednesday, February 17
Negotiating in teams (Round 3)
Exercise: Adam Baxter/Local 190, 1985 round
1985 round planning document with scoring system (one copy per team, completed with your assigned team)
none
Thursday, February 18
Optional session
Negotiation documentary followed by discussion, useful for preparing group case analysis
Session 7: Wednesday, February 24
Multiparty negotiations
Exercise: Harborco
Harborco planning document (individual)
Adam Baxter case analysis (group)
Thompson, Ch. 9
Session 8: Wednesday, March 3
Group presentations
Printed powerpoint file and planning document to support group project negotiation analysis
Thompson, pp. 27-39
Session 9: Thursday, March 4
Group presentations
