Negotiation/Organiz Conflict

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Everyone negotiates. We constantly enter into negotiations with potential employers, coworkers, partners and others, on issues such as what price we will pay or receive to how tasks will be divided, and so on. While we negotiate constantly, many of us feel we know very little about the strategy and psychology of effective negotiations. In this course, we will learn the processes of negotiation as it is practiced in a variety of settings. You will develop an understanding of the principles, strategies, and tactics of effective negotiation, conflict resolution, and relationship management, and enhance your ability to assess the variables in negotiations, and the impact of interpersonal styles, personality, and culture. The premise of the course is that while a manager needs analytical skills in order to develop optimal solutions, negotiation skills are needed in order for these solutions to be accepted and implemented in many business settings. The course treats negotiation, conflict resolution, and relationship management as complex processes that require the successful practitioner to develop and use a unique blend of perceptual, persuasive, analytical, and interpersonal skills. After each exercise, we will discuss what happened and why it happened so that you will develop understanding as well as factual knowledge. We will discuss strategies that worked and strategies that did not. If a strategy did not work we will examine why and discuss alternative approaches.