Developing the negotiation skills of graduate managment students

Negotiation skills are considered integral to managerial effectiveness. Yet, little research has examined the systematic development of negotiation skills in management education. This paper describes a university course that was developed to improve MBA students’ negotiation skills. Results from a quasi-experimental study show that the course significantly improved students’ knowledge of negotiation and their distributive and integrative self-efficacy. There was also a significant increase in the extent to which negotiation course students believed competitive bargaining tactics were acceptable, and misrepresenting yourself unacceptable. Implications for the design of courses directed at developing negotiation skills among graduate students are discussed, together with directions for future research.