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2018/2019  KAN-CICOO1007U  International Business Negotiation

English Title
International Business Negotiation

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Spring
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for Master of Arts (MA) in International Business Communication in English
Course coordinator
  • Robert Ibsen - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
Main academic disciplines
  • Communication
  • Organisational behaviour
  • Strategy
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 17-12-2018

Relevant links
Learning objectives
Learning objectives

Upon completion of the course, students – in a commercial as well as in a non-commercial context – must be able to:
  • analyze and map – using relevant theories, models and tools – situations where the parties negotiate and endeavour to resolve disagreements. Key ingredients are of relative power balance between the parties involved - overview of alternatives - relative importance for a negotiator of maximized result now vs. preservation and cultivation of relationship long-term in a given context
  • choose the appropriate negotiation strategy – based on an analysis of the above – while understanding the pros and cons of the choice made in a given context
  • prepare, plan and actively participate in processes such as negotiations and similar meetings using relevant tools and models based on relevant and up-to-date insights
  • understand, analyze, map and actively use insights relating to a successful negotiation, including handling various complexity drivers
  • work around complexity drivers: - trust and ethics and their impact on negotiations - cognitive biases and their impact on rational thinking and negotiator behaviour o - behavioural differences regarding e.g. communication styles – and how to work around such issues of intercultural differences - turning them from stumbling blocks into building bricks in negotiations
  • enhance own performance through a structured approach to preparing, conducting and evaluating a negotiation broadly defined – this way seeking incremental improvements over time in own overall performance
  • understand, analyze, map and actively use insights relating to a successful negotiation, including complexity drivers such as intercultural differences and how to try to change them from stumbling blocks into building bricks in the negotiation process
  • critically and constructively evaluate the relative merits of various theories etc. – while bearing the specific context for a given negotiation in mind
Examination
International Business Negotiation:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 10 pages
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 7 days to prepare
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
For whatever reason, students failing to pass the ordinary examination hand in a new assignment at the retake.
Course content and structure

The key contents of the course will focus on these elements – in this logical sequence:

  • an overview of the field of negotiations
  • factors that must drive and inform the negotiator’s choice of overall strategy – and factors that easily exert an influence on negotiator behaviour, but don’t
  • tools for managing the entire negotiation process
  • value-driving communication and the importance of mindful and conscious behaviour
  • intercultural issues as a potential complexity driver
  • the important role of interpersonal differences – and the importance of a realistic self-perception
  • trust bases and ethics in negotiations – and how to handle unethical behaviour
  • cognition and cognitive biases in business and human interaction in general

As for overall pedagogical framework, all content elements from lectures will be leveraged and supported continuously by exercise, discussions and assignments. 
Description of the teaching methods
The course and its pedagogical approach will, in essence, be built around three components, which will each contribute to the students’ successful completion of the course:
• input via lectures and further discussion of relevant theories, tools and models need in order to prepare and plan a negotiation, doing it as well as evaluating and reflecting on all aspects of the negotiation
• a large number of practical exercises and case studies to leverage – via experiental learning – the students’ understanding of learning points as well as enhancing their skills when it comes to carrying through negotiations
• articles, papers and other types of input to further enhance the students’ understanding – and well-considered and critical use of – theories, models etc. during the course
Feedback during the teaching period
Feedback and continuous assessment are an integral part of the course. This will be based primarily on an on-going use of negotiation exercises parallel to lectures. These exercises are designed to anchor in learning points from lectures.
The natural rationale is that Negotiation Skills, by definition, include a sophisticated set of skills to be mastered in a real-life situation while relying on the required theoretical base (the course curriculum). This is ensured through experiental learning, i.e. exercises.
During and in particular towards the end of these weekly exercises, students will get individual and collective feedback on all relevant aspects of their performance, including: correct choice of strategy, proper use of tactics, communication style, grasp of specific elements from the curriculum, and naturally suggestions for modifications/​improvements. Feedback and input given as peer-to-peer input as well as, of course, by the lecturer.
Student workload
Lectures 33 hours
Group exercises and assignments 33 hours
Preparation 94 hours
Examination 40 hours
Expected literature

Ibsen, Robert: Real Negotiations (Samfundslitteratur, 2017)

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Assorted articles, papers, exercises/cases and slidepacks etc.

 

 
Last updated on 17-12-2018