MBA 769
Negotiation Skills
Spring 01/Stevens Point
Dr. Steve Dunn
920-424-2162
Week 1 Introduction
3/29 Initial Blackboard On-line access
Negotiation skills questionnaire (handout)
Personal Bargaining Inventory
Exercise: The Used Car (3)/Assigned Role
Read: Chapter 1, 2
Week 2 Strategy and Tactics of Bargaining
4/5 Read: Chapters 3,4
Exercise: Salary Negotiations (8)/Initial Assigned Role New House Negotiation (18)
Influence Tactics Inventory
Case 2: Pacific Oil Company
Week 3 Communication/Leverage
4/12 Read: Chapters 5,6
Exercise: Universal Computer (5)
Elmwood Hospital (11)
Week 4 Ethics/Social Context
4/19 Read: Chapters 7,8
Exercise: Sanibel Island (22)
The SINS Scale
Case 3: A Power Play for Howard
Week 5 Teams and Group Negotiations
4/26 Read: Chapters 9, 10
Exercise: Newtown School Dispute (9)
Jordan Electronics (14)
Case 6: Vanessa Abrams
Trust Scale
Week 6 International Negotiations
5/3 Read: Chapter 11
Exercises: Alpha Beta (17)
Case 4: Creating the GM-Toyota Joint Venture
Week 7 Difficult Situations
5/10 Read: Chapters 12, 13
Exercise: Third Party Conflict Resolution (15)
Delta Airlines Paper Due
Assignments and Grading
This class consists of several components, negotiations, discussions, and written assignments. The role play activities in the negotiation section of this course will require a number of handouts. It will also be very important that you come prepared to class. You will also have to complete some role play and exercise activities outside of class. There will be 4 written case assignments to complete for the class. In addition, you will be graded on the basis of your performance in the role plays, actual results obtained in the negotiation exercises and the quality of your discussion both in class and on-line.
Note on role plays and negotiations:
It will be considered cheating if you engage in any of the following activities:
1) Misrepresenting the written work of others as your own
2) Reading, reviewing or discovering the confidential briefing information held by your opponents in any graded role play scenario, by gaining access to that information from your opponent directly, or from others in the course who may be playing your opponent’s role.
Graded negotiations:
1) Roles will be assigned and the negotiations explained at the end of a particular class period. Students will be assigned roles and opponents will be specified.
2) Students will have an entire week to arrange a negotiation with their opponent and arrive at a settlement if required. We will also spend approximately ˝ hour of class time wrapping up these negotiations. Negotiations can be done via Blackboard discussion (I will set up specific areas for each group)
3) Results from negotiation are due in writing via email to the professor by the specified deadline. Failure to meet the deadline will result in a penalty of one letter grade per day late.
4) Teams will be assigned grade points based on the quality of their solution as compared to all other teams playing that same position. In the case of integrative criteria, you will be graded on the best cooperative, innovative joint agreement. For distributive negotiations, the actual amount will be the criteria.
5) All appeals must be in writing no later than 24 hours after the negotiation results are submitted.
6) All negotiated agreements must be signed by all participants and submitted in writing at the next class.
Note for negotiations:
Competitiveness and conflict in negotiations, even simulated ones, lead to heightened emotions, distortion of perception and judgment and the increased likelihood of behaving unproductively and unethically. You may get angry with other students and/or me and say things you do not mean, and in fact, are remorseful for later. Remember that I will play the role of policeman, prosecutor, judge and jury in setting and enforcing rules and conduct.
Papers:
There is one term paper that will be due on Thursday May 10th . This is a semester long coverage of the Delta airline pilots labor situation as it develops. You will need to do a background literature search on the roots of the issues, the history of pilot labor negotiations etc. You will also need to discuss the specifics of the issue at hand, the tactics being used by the different players, and how from your perspective the negotiation is proceeding. This is an in-depth study of a live negotiation.
This paper is worth 100 points.
The 4 case assignments are each worth 50 points for a total of 80 points. These will be due at the beginning of the class in which the case is to be discussed.
They typically will require a couple of pages of analysis that address specific questions that I will assign.
There are a series of self-assessment questionnaires that you will be required to complete during the semester. Each one should be turned in with an assessment of your scores and the implications for your own personal style. These scores will remain confidential unless the participant wishes to disclose his findings in a group discussion.
Blackboard On-line Discussion Group
We will be utilizing the Blackboard on-line discussion capabilities for this course. Blackboard also provides an easy way for students to submit papers, for the instructor to publish announcements, post grades, and deliver supplemental course readings. The main purpose of the discussion groups is to allow students to reflect upon:
· The content of the course
· Cases and exercises that may have been done, and your personal reaction to them
· Personal negotiations you have had outside the course and how you have conducted yourself
· Issues that are arising for you in the course and their implications for your own learning and development as a negotiator
You should spend a few minutes preparing for the on-line discussion each week by asking yourself the following:
· What happened in the role play simulations this week?
· What strategy/tactics did I use, and what strategy/tactics did my opponents use?
· What did I learn from this activity? What do these activities say about my strengths/weaknesses as a negotiator?
· How do these activities relate to the ways I have negotiated, or will negotiate, “real” situations outside of the course?
Final Grade
Term Paper on Delta 100
4 case assignments 200
Participation /Self Assessments 200
TOTAL 500