Teaching Win-Win Negotiation Skills to MBAs: A Quasi-Experimental Examination of a Social-Exchange Based Pedagogical Approach

Abstract

Negotiation skills are critical soft skills that remain pedagogically challenging. We propose a pedagogical approach for win-win negotiations within the framework of social exchange theory. We then examine the effectiveness of our approach by testing the impact of training on the negotiation outcomes of MBA students, using a separate sample, pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design. For 84 dyads, we found that training explained rates of getting to yes as well as the quality of the agreements reached as rated by third party reviewers. Dyads with training were 25% more likely to reach agreement than those without training, and the quality of agreements reached was significantly higher for the experimental group, overall as well as for three out of four measures of quality (creativity, price prominence, and practicality) after controlling for age, age gap, gender, and country.

Keywords: Negotiation, pedagogy, social exchange theory, training, MBA, win-win