Universitat Internacional de Catalunya

The Art of Negotiation

The Art of Negotiation
3
16355
4
First semester
OB
Main language of instruction: Catalan

Other languages of instruction: English, Spanish,

Introduction

This course introduce students to the learning of leadership and negotiation skills applied to the work of a corporate communicator in an institution or company or in a communication and public relations agency.

To this end, the communicative context that conditions their activity is taken into account. Factors such as culture, geography, the economic sector, the social situation, the moment, the expectations of different audiences, public administrations or civil society, among others, influence any strategic or governance action in the company, with consequences on its communication.

The way people understand and manage their own communication (our tastes and preferences, our cultural background or even our life habits) make up a common denominator present in all these factors.

This course will address, from a theoretical and practical point of view, the resources and common practices in the sector that allow to effectively manage corporate communication.

Pre-course requirements

No. 

Objectives

1. To provide theoretical and practical knowledge about the main elements that make up the work of corporate communication.

2. To offer a global vision of the role of the communication context, with special emphasis on those factors related to decision making and negotiation and leadership skills.

3. To provide occupation-oriented tools and resources in the field of corporate communication.

Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme

  • CN01 - Explain the foundations of classical and contemporary culture in order to interpret current communication trends and phenomena.
  • CN02 - Recognise the textual, graphic and audiovisual expressive and narrative resources used to create effective persuasive messages in advertising and public relations.
  • CN05 - Recognise the principal artificial intelligence tools with applications in advertising, marketing and public relations.
  • CP01 - Work effectively in professional advertising and public relations teams, adapting to multidisciplinary and changing environments.Work effectively in professional teams involved in audiovisual production, adapting to multidisciplinary and changing environments.
  • CP02 - Communicate persuasive arguments orally and in writing in Catalan, Spanish and English, demonstrating strong skills in summarising and memorisation.
  • CP05 - Manage relationships between advertisers and agencies effectively, applying media planning and buying strategies in multi-channel advertising and public relations environments.
  • CP07 - Produce audiovisual advertising projects using core techniques in storytelling, recording, editing and post-production for a range of formats and media channels, taking economic viability into account.
  • CP09 - Create multi-platform advertising content using narrative and digital marketing strategies adapted to different formats and channels.
  • CP10 - Create graphic and visual elements by applying principles of design and visual communication to advertising and public relations campaigns.
  • HB04 - Design strategic communication and public relations plans that respond to the needs of organisations across different sectors.
  • HB05 - Use advertising language and narrative techniques to develop persuasive messages for advertising and public relations campaigns.
  • HB08 - Develop creative advertising messages, adapting language and style to different contexts and formats.
  • HB09 - Critically examine information derived from advertising and public relations messages across a range of media formats and platforms in order to assess their market viability.
  • HB12 - Use specialised English terminology in advertising and public relations.

Learning outcomes of the subject

Students will be able to:

  1. To communicate orally and in writing with accuracy, clarity and fluency, demonstrating the ability to synthesise and memorise texts.

  2. To master writing techniques for creating texts commonly used in commercial and institutional communication, using AI-based tools to optimise writing and personalise messages for target audiences.

  3. To become familiar with the linguistic, iconic and visual resources that make up persuasive language, incorporating AI tools to analyse visual trends and improve design quality.

  4. To put forward arguments in an intelligible and convincing manner.

  5. To create radio and television content.

  6. To master innovative visual communication techniques and recognise the main theories of the image in order to create impactful audiovisual content.

  7. To master the main techniques and tools for composition, lighting, photography and studio recording.

  8. To analyse the channels through which communications aimed at a target audience can be delivered.

  9. To master verbal and body language in front of a camera, an audience or an auditorium, applying professional presentation techniques to make an impact through their communication.

  10. To communicate creatively and persuasively through written or audiovisual media. To develop a deeper understanding of persuasive communication techniques.

  11. To master advertising language, both verbal and audiovisual, in order to create commercials aimed at different audiences and adapted to various media.

Syllabus

1) Course Overview - Introduction to Effective Leadership
The art of negotiation: evaluating people’s goals and limitations. Introduction to the different types of human motivation.

Reading:
•    Leggett, B., & Neill, C. (2010). The twin pillars of effective leadership. IESE insight, 6(3), 57-64.
Exercise:
•    The Year in Review.
•    Role Play – Ponce de Leon. 2012. Ian Larkin. Harvard Business School Publishing.

 

2)The Art of Negotiation and The Different Types of Human Motivation

Appraising the different types of human motivation and its implications in negotiation situations and in the work environment.

Reading:
•    Case Study – Recruiting Andrew Yard. 2012. Brian Hall, Nicole Bennett, Sara del Nido. Harvard Business School Publishing.
•    Garrels, S. R. (2005). Imitation, mirror neurons, and mimetic desire: Convergence between the mimetic theory of René Girard and empirical research on imitation. Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture, 12(1), 47-86.

3)Teamwork and Team Building I:
Managing Talent and Making Difficult Decisions

Reading:
•    Case Study - Somebody Stop the Radio Star: Jian Ghomeshi at the CBC. 2016. Karen MacMillan, Meredith Woodwark. Ivey Publishing

4)Types of Human Motivation and Questionnaire Debrief

This session will cover further aspects of human motivations and will debrief the Motivation Questionnaire done in the previous week.

Reading:

Exercise:
Leading Yourself and Designing Your Life
Introduction to the Self-Authoring Plan. Students will learn the four different phases of this experiential exercise and will start working on Part I for the following week.

5)Personality Types, Job Suitability and Personal Development
This session covers the main tools designed to map personality traits and how to match different types of jobs to them.
Students will also have the chance to start developing their personal improvement plan and identify their personal goals, based on the results from the previous evaluations and the Resilience Exercise (Motivation and Personality Traits).

Reading:
•    Article – So, You Want to be a CEO? 2018. David Beatty. Rotman Management Magazine.
•    Schwartz, T., & McCarthy, C. (2007). Manage your energy, not your time. Harvard business review, 85(10), 63.
Exercise:
•    Resilience

6) Teamwork and Team Building II – Managing Creativity
This session covers the complex aspects of building teams in the creative industries.

Reading:
Case Study – Teaming at Disney Animation. 2014. Amy C. Edmondson, David L. Ager, Emily Harburg, Natalie Bartlett. Harvard Business Publishing.

7) Difficult Conversations: Salary Increase, Giving Feedback, Hiring and Terminating Employees

This session will cover some of the main complex aspects of people management inside organizations, and students will learn how to better approach their superiors and negotiate for a promotion or salary increase, as well as how to provide feedback to others, how to hire the right talent, how to fire employees and how to conduct an exit interview.

Reading:
•    Role Play – The Mike and Vicky Case. 2014. Horacio Falcao, Emily Kerr, Martina Ladd. INSEAD.
•    Jeffrey Pfeffer (2010). Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don’t. Chapters 2, 5 and 8.

8)Work-Life Balance – Managing Personal and Professional Goals (Career Anchors and Career Planning)

This session will discuss the topic of career planning, career anchors, managing the different phases in life and work-life balance.

Reading:
•    Case Study – The X-Caliber Project. 2015. Kriti Jain, Heather Grover, Horacio Falcao. INSEAD.
•    Steven Johnson (2018). Farsighted: How We Make the Decisions That Matter the Most – Chapters 1 and 2.

Exercise:
•    Career Anchors Questionnaire, Edgar Schein.
•    Introduction to the 360º Evaluation

9)Leadership Communication – Finding Your Voice

Developing the ability to materialize your thoughts and vision into a powerful, persuasive speech.

Reading:
•    The Art of Persuasive Communication: Excellent Public Speaking. Leggett, B., & Neill, C. (2010). IESE Publishing.
•    Stephen R. Covey (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Part 3
Exercise:
Developing a persuasive speech, defining your “Point-X” and Message.

10) Warm-up: The Art of Pitching

11) Influence and Power – Developing Leaders

Leading teams and developing future leaders in organizations.

Reading:
•    Case Study – Pina Bausch: Leadership as collective genius. 2012. Katharina Lange. ESMT - European School of Management & Technology.

12) Final Speech Presentations 1

13) Final Speech Presentations 2

Bibliography and resources

1.

Jeffrey Pfeffer (2010). Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don’t. Harper Collins.

2.

Jeffrey Pfeffer (2022). 7 Rules of Power.  Swift Press.

3.

Joseph Badaracco, Jr. (2002). Leading Quietly: An Unorthodox Guide to Doing the Right Thing. Harvard Business School Press.

4.

Douglas Stone et al. (2010). Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters the Most. Portfolio Penguin.

5.

Ryan Holiday (2016). Ego is the Enemy. Portfolio.

6.

Ryan Holiday (2019). Stillness is the Key. Portfolio.

7.

Stephen R. Covey (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Simon & Schuster.

8.

Case studies and journal articles as listed on syllabus.

 
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