Negotiation Management, Analysis, and Support

Negotiation is a complex activity that requires time and effort. It is a dynamic process involving two or more people who are interdependent in the realisation of their objectives. People use negotiations to make decisions and to resolve conflicts if there is no other clear and well established procedure. The complexity, efforts, argumentation, and conflict that often underlie negotiations may make people uncomfortable and even fearfull of resorting to this form of decision making. However, it is impossible not to negotiate! Hence, one needs to learn how to manage conflict and how to negotiate effectively.

Negotiation, bargaining and conflict resolution are now taught at most, if not all, business and management schools. The skills required for managers, engineers and other professionals include effective communication, collaboration and negotiation.

Changes in the workplace and beyond make the negotiation approach to decision making the dominant one. Commerce and trade, including electronic commerce, involve negotiations and bargaining. Globalization of trade and internationalization of services and production make negotiation even more important and -- at the same time -- difficult due to distance, time and cultural differences. New communication and computer technologies introduce negotiations of, and with, intelligent software agents, bargaining on virtual markets, negotiations via Web, as well as group decision and negotiation support systems for negotiation planning, analysis, and conduct.

This course is designed to equip students who want a commerce degree and students who expect to perform managerial functions in their future careers to obtain basic skills and knowledge in conducting and managing negotiation.

The course covers essential topics for negotiation and conflict management illustrated with cases from business, trade, engineering, computer science, and other areas. It provides the basis for understanding of negotiation strategies and tactics as well as methods for negotiation analysis and evaluation. The objective is to develop an understanding of the negotiation process and to teach how the structure of the negotiation process affects the outcomes achieved.

There will be a Web site with handouts, guides and other materials dedicated to this course. Numerous materials are already available at: http://interneg.org/ the site for and about negotiations which is the most comprehensive Web site to date. InterNeg has been developed by Gregory Kersten and the InterNeg Group at Carleton and Concordia Universities and it has been used by thousands of managers and students.

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© Gregory E. Kersten & The InterNeg Group. E-mail.
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