Negotiation is not just an art. It’s also a science. And in today’s tech-driven, interconnected world, the stakes are higher than ever. From sealing billion-dollar deals to managing virtual conflict resolution, mastering the nuances of negotiation can make or break careers in business.
Enter business schools and their non-degree executive education programs, which are designed to equip leaders with the tools they need to negotiate successfully.
“Negotiation is the mechanism through which decisions are made, implemented and revised,” says Steven Blader, a professor of business at New York University’s Stern School of Business. “It’s particularly critical for high-stakes, impactful decisions — both within and between organizations.”
Blader teaches on the “Negotiation Strategies: Optimizing Outcomes through Collaboration and Conflict Resolution” course at Stern, priced at $4,752.00 and delivered over two days in New York.
It is one of many options available to executives at business schools around the world. In the UK, UCL’s “Executive Negotiations Programme” helps individuals and teams nail down a shared negotiation framework.
Down under, Melbourne Business School’s “Negotiation and Conflict Resolution” course takes a hands-on approach, arming participants with practical strategies to handle workplace conflicts and land better deals.
Learning To Build Rapport
Negotiation is about more than driving a hard bargain. It’s about building trust, uncovering information and developing creative solutions that align disparate goals. But good negotiation isn’t about dominating the table.
“While the parties may be at odds on the issues under discussion, they shouldn’t be at odds with each other,” NYU Stern’s Blader explains.
So, how do you learn to thrive in this high-stakes arena? For executives worldwide, the answer can lie in specialized programs at some of the world’s top business schools.
These courses aren’t just designed to teach you how to negotiate — they immerse you in realistic scenarios and provide the tools to navigate even the trickiest of situations.
At Insead, Horacio Falcão’s “Advanced Negotiation Executive Education Program” takes a deep dive into the unique challenges of virtual negotiations.
Falcão, a professor of management practice, says that while virtual environments offer efficiency, they also pose big hurdles for relationship-building and communication.
“When we negotiate, we unconsciously rely on our upbringing in a face-to-face environment, where a lot of what we communicate happens outside of our awareness,” he explains.
This unconscious reliance on body language and other non-verbal cues can make virtual negotiations feel less real, distorting communication and undermining the chemistry that helps build trust.
Falcão’s program focuses on diagnosing these differences and helping executives adapt. Participants learn to communicate in deliberate and effective ways to counteract the limitations of digital platforms.
One graduate, tasked with renegotiating an entire industry’s value chain, combined face-to-face meetings for trust-building with video calls, phone conversations and email to address technical issues and complex calculations.
This multichannel approach ensured clarity and fostered a sense of mutual respect, ultimately accelerating the negotiation process and setting a standard for the industry.
Practicing Real-Life Scenarios
Leigh Thompson’s program at Kellogg School of Management takes a similarly forward-looking approach. Aptly titled “Negotiating in a Virtual World”, the course immerses participants in scenarios that simulate the complexities of digital negotiations.
Thompson, a professor of dispute resolution and organizations, stresses that one of the first challenges in virtual environments is determining the best communication medium.
“By analyzing and selecting the right virtual tools, participants overcome barriers like nonverbal communication gaps and psychological distance,” she explains.
Drawing on behavioral research, her program teaches skills such as media selection, trust-building through computer-mediated interactions, and aligning team goals in virtual settings.
One of Thompson’s graduates, a senior executive in construction, used these strategies to solve a complicated contract dispute. By starting with emails and other non-live communication to share information, they kept emotions in check and gave everyone time to prepare for live meetings. This approach encouraged teamwork and led to a solution that worked for everyone.
At NYU Stern, Blader’s negotiation courses are built on challenging executives’ preconceived notions about what it means to negotiate effectively.
“Many see negotiation as a battle of wills,” Blader notes, “but this mindset limits their ability to create value.”
His approach focuses on surfacing and addressing these default tendencies through in-class simulations, where participants experience firsthand how unproductive their ingrained habits can be. Once they recognize these limitations, they’re better positioned to embrace trust-building, creative thinking and collaborative strategies.
Across these programs, one common thread is the recognition that the digital shift in business is here to stay, and leaders must adapt.
Insead’s Falcão points out that relationship-building in virtual environments often requires entirely new strategies.
“Negotiators must become much more proactive and deliberate about preparing, planning and implementing relationship-building moves and communication processes,” he says.
In his courses at Insead, participants learn to use clear text communication and thoughtful relationship-building techniques to build trust and transparency. This includes expressing positive intentions and showing trustworthiness, helping to close the gaps in virtual communication.
Thompson’s emphasis on media richness and naturalness theories, meanwhile, offers a different but complementary perspective at Kellogg. By understanding the strengths and limitations of different communication platforms, executives can tailor their strategies to fit the situation.
For example, video conferencing may be ideal for building rapport, while email might be better suited for clarifying technical details without the pressure of real-time responses.
The results speak for themselves. Business schools say participants consistently report measurable improvements in their negotiation outcomes, whether they’re resolving disputes in the tech sector or navigating complex partnerships across borders.
Kellogg’s Thompson notes a ten percent improvement in performance among her graduates.
Seb Murray is a London-based freelance journalist and editor with several years’ experience in print and online media. He writes regularly for titles such as the Financial Times, the Guardian and the Evening Standard, as well as a plethora of education and corporate magazines and websites. He reports on issues facing the world’s top higher education institutions and online education providers.
