Prepare a Negotiation Journal of Reflections on Your Learning Experience as You Progress: Negotiation Skills Assignment, TCD

Process:

You will write an opening journal entry concerning your own experiences, strengths, and weaknesses as a negotiator. Subsequently, you will write an entry after role-playing exercises, responding to the experiences, and reflecting on specific questions. Finally, you will complete the journal with a closing personal reflection on your learning experience in the module.

It is strongly recommended that you write each journal entry on the same day the role-play took place, to ensure that the experiences are fresh in your memory and that the journal task does not snowball out of control. Each journal entry is short (3-5 pages) and should not pose a major challenge, but if you do not keep up with the entries it will be difficult to write an adequate journal later on the module.

Assignment questions:

Prepare a negotiation journal of reflections on your learning experience as you progress through the module. The journal entries should be organized under the following topics, following the chronological sequence of the module:

1. Personal assessment (to be written prior to the start of course)

• When do you negotiate and what do you negotiate about?
• What do you view as your strengths and weaknesses as a negotiator?

2. Reflections on “Salary Negotiation” role-play (lecture 2)

• Was your preparation sufficient? Explain why or why not.
• Which of your negotiation tactics and strategies worked well, which did not work, and why?
• What are the key learning points of this exercise?

3. Reflections on “BioPharm-Seltek” role-play (lecture 3)

• Which of your negotiation tactics and strategies worked well, which did not work, and why?
• What was the impact of your target, your BATNA, and each side’s first offer on the negotiation?
• What was the pattern of concessions in the negotiation? Did it favor either side more than the other, and if so, why?
• What are the key learning points of this exercise?

4. Reflections on “Atlas GlobalTel” role-play (lecture 4)

• What strategies and tactics did you use to maximize your points? Were they effective, and why (or why not)?
• How well did you manage the process of information sharing, and how would you improve that process if you were to undertake a similar negotiation again?
• What are the key learning points of this exercise?

5. Reflections on “Viking Investments” role-play (lecture 5)

• What were the key factors that made it difficult to reach an agreement?
• Do you believe that the deal you reached (or the last proposals you exchanged if a deal was not finalized) was an integrative one? Why?
• What are the key learning points of this exercise?

6. Reflections on “Bullard Houses” role-play (lecture 7)

• What do you believe would have constituted unethical behavior for the party you played in the exercise? Did you or the other party overstep any ethical boundaries?
• If you played the Downtown role: What approach did you take to gathering important information, and how effective was it?
• If you played the Absentia role: What approach did you take to dealing with questions, and how effective was that approach?
• What are the key learning points of this exercise?

7. Reflections on “Computron Pharmaceuticals” role-play (lecture 8)

• How effective were you at creating value and at claiming value? Why?
• What effect did the parties’ perceptions of their relative power have on the outcome of your negotiation?
• What are the key learning points of this exercise?

8. Reflections on “Alpha Beta” role-play (lecture 9)

• What did the other team do that frustrated the negotiation?
• What did your team do that frustrated the negotiation?
• Did you correctly interpret the behavior of the other side in the negotiation?
• What are the key learning points of this exercise?

9. Reflections on “Research Consortium: role-play (lecture 10)

• What did the exercise teach you about the role of coalitions in multi-party negotiations?
• How did you use the time available to parties to meet each other? Was your use of this time effective, and why?
• How can one party influence the outcome of a multi-party negotiation?
• What are the key learning points of this exercise?

10. Personal review (to be written after the course)

• Reflecting on your first journal entry, what have you learned about your strengths and weaknesses as a negotiator?
• What are the key behaviors that you personally need to implement to improve your negotiation skills?