On May 25th, the world-renowned Professor Ofer Sharone from MIT Sloan School of Management delivered the third lecture to the IMBA candidates of 2016 at School of Management, Fudan University. During the lecture, Professor Ofer Sharone employed several interesting games and mock negotiations to elaborate the conception of negotiation and all the students enjoyed this unique opportunity for a mock negotiation.
The purpose of the first game designed by professor Sharone was to help the students to realize which kinds of negotiation styles they belong to. By two dimensions “Assertiveness and Empathy”, Professor Sharone differentiated people into five conflict handling modes, including collaborating, compromising, competing, avoiding and accommodating. Nevertheless he indicated that there is no one “RIGHT WAY” to handle a negotiation or conflict and each approach may be the best solution under certain conditions. People could get rid of the default mode by simulating, experimenting, taking risks, reflecting or constant practicing.
In the next mock negotiation, Professor Sharone required the students to act as opposing parties and both sides should obtain more favorable conditions for themselves. The fundamental principle for this segment was to assist the students with understanding the importance of potential relationships and the risks in negotiations.
Professor Sharone increased the difficulty in the final part of this lecture by asking one of the parties to pretend to be irritated at the beginning of the mock negotiation. These trainings equipped all the students effectively to cope with either tactical or real anger expressed in negotiating. Eventually, professor Sharone also introduced the methods to deal with various tactics and overcome the barriers of negotiations.
The most profound impression left by Professor Ofer Sharone was his unique teaching, especially the methods by which he elaborated the academic concepts. His original amazing games and mock negotiations drew the wide attention of all the audiences. Even after the lecture, he was surrounded by students for further discussions.
Written by 2014 IMBA Hang LI
