Results for OB381

Effective managers and leaders should be familiar with the strategy and psychology of conflict and negotiate effectively with other persons, departments, organizations, and stakeholders. Hence, the first aim of the course is to develop your ability to analyze conflict and negotiation situations. Concepts from the course will enable us to look beneath the surface rhetoric of a conflict, to isolate the important underlying interests at stake, and to determine what sort of negotiated settlement (if any) is feasible in a given situation. In addition to understanding how to analyze conflict and negotiation situations, to manage effectively, you must have a broad repertoire of behavioral skills that can be applied to the various conflict and negotiation situations you are likely to encounter. Therefore, a second aim of the course is to allow you to experience various bargaining situations by playing a role in simulated negotiations. Our exercises will allow you to try out tactics that might feel uncomfortable trying in an actual negotiation, get constructive feedback from your counterparts and classmates, and learn how you come across. This course is an intense, compact version of longer negotiation courses (electives OB381 and OB581); thus, students should not take either of these courses as there is considerable overlap among the three. Attendance and participation in the negotiation exercises are mandatory.

Conflict is unavoidable in every organization. The key question is how it will be handled: will it escalate to dysfunctional levels or will it be effectively managed? Hence, a first aim of the course is to develop your ability to analyze conflicts, to look beneath the surface rhetoric of a conflict, to isolate the important underlying interests, and to determine what sort of agreement (if any) is feasible. We'll analyze which negotiation strategies are effective in different conflicts. We'll also examine psychological and structural factors that create conflict and often pose a barrier to its resolution. But understanding how to analyze a conflict is not enough. To manage conflict effectively, you need a broad repertoire of behavioral skills. Developing these is the second aim of the course. To achieve this, negotiation exercises are used in every session. When playing a role in a simulated conflict, you will be free to try out tactics that might feel uncomfortable in a real one. You will get feedback from your classmates about how you come across. In sum, you can use this course to expand your repertoire of skills, to hone your skills, and to become more adept in choosing when to apply each skill.