Negotiation in the Public Sector
Spring Semester, Wednesdays 10:50-12:30 Room 310H
Course outline:
Negotiation is an integral part of everyday business. Even in the public sector, each officer negotiates with wide varieties of stakeholders, both inside and outside the office, in various stages of policy-making and implementation.
Theory and practice of negotiation has been explored, particularly in the United States, for the last forty years. Most professional schools (e.g., public policy and business schools) around the world offer basic trainings on negotiation as an essential skill for professionals. This course follows the format of standard negotiation trainings in American professional schools.
The course will provide an overview of theories and techniques for negotiation analysis. It will also cultivate practical negotiation skills through role-play simulations. Each student will be asked to play negotiator’s roles in simulated settings. Negotiation is a practical skill; it has to be cultivated through exercises.
Textbooks:
- Fisher, R. and Ury, W. (1991). Getting to Yes, Penguin.
- Lax, D. and Sebenius, J. (1987). Manager as Negotiator, Free Press.
Class schedule
1 |
Introduction |
-Introduction to the course |
2 |
Position and Interests, BATNA |
-Separating positions and interests |
3 |
Distributive bargaining |
-Single-issue negotiation that tends to end up In competitive strategies |
4 |
Negotiation exercise (1) |
-Simulated negotiation of distributive bargaining between a pair of students |
5 |
Integrative Bargaining |
-Multiple-issue negotiation that enables value creation (Win-Win) for both sides |
6 |
Negotiation exercise (2) |
-Simulated negotiation of integrative bargaining between a pair of students |
7 |
Multi-party negotiation |
-Resolving public policy disputes often involves a number of stakeholders |
8 |
Fairness in distributing value |
[VIDEORECORDED LECTURE] |
9 |
Negotiation exercise (3) |
-Simulated negotiation of multi-party negotiation |
10 |
Facilitating dialogue |
-Learn practical techniques for facilitating dialogues for negotiation |
11 |
Negotiation exercise (4) |
-Simulated negotiation involving the facilitator's role |
12 |
Value-laden disputes |
-Public policy disputes are often entrenched by value-laden discourses that cannot be negotiated for a resolution, but how can we deal with them? |
13 |
Negotiation exercise (5) |
-Simulated negotiation of value-laden issues |
14 |
Wrap-up |
-Final exam and wrap-up |