Undergraduate Course: Negotiation (BUST10039)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Business Studies |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This course addresses an area where many resource allocation decisions depend not on the outcome of market forces but on the interplay of bargaining between two or more groups. Such situations may be found in purchasing a car, a carpet, or a house; in contracting for the services of a painter, a builder, or a plumber; in determining the terms and conditions of one's individual employment; in corporate take-overs; in union-management agreements concerning groups of workers; in free trade agreements within groups of countries; in divorce settlements; in setting regulatory conditions; in determining the location of an environmentally dangerous facility; and in many other areas of resource allocation.
Some of the important considerations that bear on such situations have long been understood in economics, e.g. the concept of reservation price. Others are only now being addressed. These new developments principally concern game theory and can be traced back to the work of Thomas Schelling as summarised in his The Strategy of Conflict. More recent examples of this line of work can be found in Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff's Thinking Strategically. It has to be emphasised that this is not a course in game theory and does not pursue the theoretical approach. Students are recommended to take The Economics of Strategic Behaviour. The approach we will adopt here is more behavioural and applied.
This course attempts to recognise that the proper understanding of negotiation requires we go beyond the traditional boundaries of economics and management science, and address notions of bounded rationality, biases in decision making, social influence etc. What is outlined here is not a course in game theory. This course will place much greater emphasis on bounded rationality. It will also make extensive use of role playing and group based simulations. There will, therefore, be a substantial "practical" component to the teaching. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2012/13 Semester 1, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| Central | Lecture | Lecture Theatre 1, 7 Bristo Square | 1-5,7-11 | | | 09:00 - 10:50 | | |
| First Class |
Week 1, Wednesday, 09:00 - 10:50, Zone: Central. Lecture Theatre 1, 7 Bristo Square |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours:Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | | |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| The objectives of the course are to provide you with a deeper understanding of the negotiation process and to allow you to develop some facility in negotiation practice. These objectives will be achieved both through the analytical discussions provided in lecture and backed up and developed in the course readings, and through the in-class (and, when necessary, out-of-class) group simulations of negotiation. In the simulation exercises you will be actively involved in playing a role in a wide range of negotiation situations. This is a highly interactive class that will require you to develop your interpersonal and group skills. |
Assessment Information
Assessment is in the form of one component of course work and a two-hour degree examination in April/May. The element of course work comprises an in-class multiple choice test to be held in week 11 (30% of final grade). The degree examination, therefore, counts for 70% of the final grade.
For the multiple-choice test, a sample test is provided at the end of this booklet and we will go over the correct answers in class near the end of the semester. Negative marking will be utilised in the multiple choice test. The test itself will take place in the final Negotiation class session of the semester ¿ attendance is compulsory and failure to attend will result in a reference to the Special Circumstances Committee.
The degree examination at the end of the year is a two-hour examination that will require students to answer two out of four questions. The degree examination will be integrative, in the sense that, where appropriate and relevant, students will be rewarded for displaying knowledge of more than one lecture topic in the answer to each question. This means that the practice of concentrating on three or four topics out of the whole course is strongly discouraged here. Please, be warned. |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Neg |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Brian Main
Tel: (0131 6)50 8360
Email: Brian.Main@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Paul Kydd
Tel: (0131 6)50 3824
Email: Paul.Kydd@ed.ac.uk |
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