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The Oxford Programme on Negotiation

The next Oxford Programme on Negotiation will run at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford on 15-20 July 2007.

The five-day residential course identifies five major skills required to build successful agreements:

• Gathering the right information
• Deciding rationally about goals and strategies
• Communicating persuasively
• Developing creative solutions
• Implementing sustainable agreements

Tim Cullen, director of the programme, said: "Negotiation is crucial in all organisations and in virtually every aspect of modern business. In essence, negotiation is deciding what to agree on and persuading the other party to agree.

"At Oxford , our approach to this is to bring in some of the world's best negotiators – not just from business but from the political and legal spheres for instance – and to engage the participants in a dynamic and challenging process to improve their negotiating abilities.

"We use case studies, exercises, simulations and role-play as well as the more traditional teaching techniques to develop and practice the skills of negotiation and to relate it to the participants' own experiences and real world concerns. This year, we are introducing the very important dimension of ethics in negotiation which is increasingly significant."

Speakers at the programme include Professor Leonard Greenhalgh who will explore negotiation and organisational strategy with participants.

Cullen said: "Len Greenhalgh and our other professors stress how to look for ways to expand the potential areas for agreement. Good negotiators seek to identify what is of low cost to them (which they can afford to concede) and of high value (which they want to gain). Understanding what is of low cost and high value to the other side will often enable both parties to achieve mutual gains."

Cullen concluded: "This is not just a tips and techniques course, but a challenging masterclass in how to negotiate more effectively in all aspects of business life – not just when you are doing deals. It is solidly grounded in the underlying cognitive psychology of human behaviour and gives participants invaluable insights to help them bargain effectively whilst achieving a satisfactory result for all parties."

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The Oxford Programme on Negotiation

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