UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK

SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY

Course Syllabus

Fall 2013

MANAGING DIFFERENCES:
RESOLVING CONFLICT & NEGOTIATING AGREEMENTS
PUAF 752
Monday
4:15 6:45 P.M.
Faculty:
Charles G. Field, Ph.D.
COURSE ABSTRACT
This course is designed to enhance the students negotiation and leadership skills for
managing differences between individuals and groups. The students will study the nature
of conflict, learn how to handle two and multiparty conflicts. The course will be a blend
of skill building exercises and theory discussions about the behavior of individuals to
understand the negotiation dynamics.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Fisher, R., Ury, W., & Patton, B. (1991). Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without
Giving In. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14 01.5735-2
Stone, D., Patton, B., & Heen, S. (1999, rev. 2010). Difficult Conversations: How to
Discuss What Matters Most. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 978-0-14-311844-2
Ury, W. (1991, 1993). Getting Past No: Negotiating with Difficult People. New York:
Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-553-37131-4
Cases are from the Harvard Negotiation Program and some reproduced articles will be
provided in class. Each student will be charged approximately $25-$30 for the cases
which covers royalties and shipping costs. Students who might have financial difficulties
should notify the instructor at the beginning of the course.

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COURSE OBJECTIVES
Students who complete the course successfully will:

learn the essential elements of interest-based negotiation as related to

psychological dimensions of group behavior
apply learning about negotiation to experiential exercises and simulations
use the foundation of experiential learning for the analysis of conflicts and the
development of strategies for negotiation
demonstrate mastery and synthesis of negotiation concepts through
performance on writing assignments and examinations
apply comprehensive course learning to contexts outside the classroom,
ranging from the personal to the global
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

The University of Maryland, College Park has a nationally recognized Code of Academic
Integrity, administered by the Student Honor Council. This Code sets standards for
academic integrity at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate students. As a student
you are responsible for upholding these standards for this course. It is very important for
you to be aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism.
Any suspicion on the part of your instructor will result in your immediate referral to the
Universitys Student Honor Council for investigation. Academic dishonesty is a serious
offense that may result in suspension or expulsion from the University. For more
information on the Code of Academic Integrity or the Student Honor Council, please visit
http://www.shc.umd.edu.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Please contact the instructors of this course as soon as possible if you have a documented
disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations.
COURSE OUTLINE
Session

Date

9/9

Description
Introduction to the course. An exercise will be conduct to explore
our negotiating tendencies. The oil pricing exercise is intended to
highlight tendencies we have when we negotiate and these
tendencies will then serve as a baseline from which the class will
explore better approaches to negotiation and conflict management.

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Exercise: Oil Pricing
2

9/16

Negotiation Concepts. Oil pricing debrief continued. This session

will then focus on the different conceptual and methodological
approaches used in the course. Students will have the opportunity
to identify their own negotiation style(s).
Exercise:
Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument
Readings Due: *Pruitt, D.G. & Kim (handout)
Overview & Strategic Choice
Reflection Paper #1 Due

9/23

A Basic Framework. Students will conduct a two-party

negotiation exercise with an emphasis on a framework for
understanding the negotiation situation and gaining greater
personal control over that situation. Students will conduct a
structured preparation for negotiation, be a participant in a
one-on-one negotiation, and debrief the experience.
Exercise: Sally Soprano
Readings Due: Getting to Yes

9/30

empathy.
with an

The Role of Relationship in Negotiations. This class will

investigate the nature of relationships and importance of
Students conduct a two-party negotiation exercise
emphasis on the role of relationships between parties.
Exercise: Powerscreen

10/7

Completion of Powerscreen Exercise Class will negotiate

Powerscreen exercise and conduct a debriefing of the results. Use
of choice charts to shift decisions will be explored.

.
Readings Due: Start Getting Past No
Reflection Paper #2 Due
6

10/14 Analytical tools for more systematic thinking about negotiation

situations. Tools to be used include 4-quadrant analysis to
establish a comprehensive logic for analyzing negotiation issues.
The logic includes a description of the situation and a vision of
how it should be; the explanations of why things are the way they
are and the gap that separates the current from the preferred
situation; general approaches for addressing the explanations; and

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specific actions to take. This logic will be applied to a current
public policy situation. The class will also explore the importance
of empathy in negotiations
Exercise: Role Reversal; Circle Chart Analysis
Readings Due: Review Getting to Yes: pp 66-70.
7

10/21 Dealing with Difficult Situations

How do you deal with difficult situations and difficult negotiators?
This session will explore these issues and have the participants
apply techniques to their own most difficult negotiation problems
to analyze both the practical and theoretical aspects of the
situation.
Readings Due: Finish Getting Past No

10/28 Dealing with Difficult Conversations The students will explore the
various intra- and inter-personal dynamics that lie at the heart of
many difficult negotiations. Attention will be given to three
conversations. Additionally, class members will be assigned roles
and have a briefing on the subject matter. Roles for the conflict to
be negotiated in class sessions 14 and 15 will be assigned.
Exercises: Intrapersonal Exploration, adapted from Alice Miller.
Casino
Readings Due: Difficult Conversations

11/4

Application Exercise The students will apply the various concepts

to the Cuban Missile Crisis episode between the U.S,

U.S.S.R. and
Cuba. Preparation outside of class is expected.
10

11/11 Introduction to multiparty negotiations. The students will

participate in an exercise to baseline their approach to multiparty
negotiations. This exercise will broaden the students
understanding of the complexity of multiparty situations. The
session will also cover guidelines for conducting a multiparty
negotiation and an introduction to facilitation skills.
Exercise: Coalition Exercise
Principled-Negotiation Analysis Due

11

11/18

Analyzing a current multiparty conflict. During this session, the

students will be briefed by an expert on the major class negotiation
exercise (Ambassador Philip Wilcox, President of the Foundation
for Middle East Peace, has been invited). The class exercise

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centers on the current negotiations (or lack thereof) between
Israelis and Palestinians. Ambassador Wilcox will give an
overview of the conflict to the whole class and then meet
separately with each party (of which there will be six) to respond
to specific questions.
12

11/25

Multiparty negotiations continued. The students will participate in

a multiparty negotiation. Emphasis will be on meeting design,
process design and relationship mapping.
Exercise: Harborco

13

12/2

Class Negotiation Class negotiation of international conflict.

14

12/9

Class Negotiation Continuation and completion of international

conflict negotiation. Assessment of Multiparty Negotiation and
course closure.
Integrated Analysis Due
ASSIGNMENTS & EVALUATION

Assignments: Each of the following will be detailed later in the course.

Case Exercises. Students will be assigned roles to negotiate during the
course of the term. In all cases, you are to place yourself into the role, but
conduct yourself as though it was you in that role. These exercises are not
an opportunity to be an actor. However, they do represent opportunities
for you to experiment with your negotiating style. As a general rule, if
you have a question about the role ask yourself: what would I do if this
situation were real? It is expected that you will incorporate what you learn
in class into the exercises. .
Reflection Papers (1-2 pages)
DUE: 9/7, 10/8
The week following key exercises completed in class, students are to hand
in a paper reflecting personal learning about your own negotiation style.
Each paper is also to make reference to relevant concepts from lectures
that were applied in the exercise. A reflection paper is not a recitation of
what happened; rather, it is an analysis of what you learned about yourself
as a consequence of the class experience. For example, if you were
anxious or angry about the particular negotiating experience, you might
ask these kinds of questions. Why were you anxious or angry? Was this
a unique experience or have you experienced it in other, earlier negotiating

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experiences? What impact does this have on the quality of negotiated
outcomes? What steps might you take to ameliorate this pattern? While
not formally graded, you will receive comments about your reflections.
Papers will receive a grade of Well done, Satisfactory, or Needs
Improvement. . The first paper will be treated as advisory so as to
provide feedback on the nature of this analysis. If it is given a well done
that grade will be included in the grading. The second reflection paper
will be graded for credit.
Principled-Negotiation Analysis (5-7 pages)
DUE: 11/11 Students are to demonstrate mastery of interest-based
(principled) negotiation by completing an analysis of a two-party conflict.
The paper must use all nine elements and detail the type(s) of conflict
strategies present. You may write on a topic that is personal to you or a
public policy matter. It should be one about which you have a good
understanding. The topic may be one you have studied in another course.
The topic may be a negotiation that has already been completed or one
that is still in progress. If it is a completed negotiation, it must be one
which could have been significantly improved had concepts covered in the
course been used.
The purpose of the paper is to apply course concepts. Sound analysis
requires a realistic understanding of the situation so making up facts is not
acceptable. The paper must demonstrate the capacity to step back from the
conflict, analyze the situation from all perspectives and then draw some
conclusions. A justification for ones point of view is not an acceptable
analysis. Appropriate citation to sources of facts and attributed views is
expected.
Integrated Analysis Paper (15-20 pages)
DUE: 12/9
Students are to demonstrate mastery of all major course concepts through
the analysis of a multi-party conflict/negotiation. You may select a
significant public policy issue about which you have some knowledge
either because of personal interest or study in another course. The paper
must reflect a synthesis of concepts in the analysis. A paper to receive a B
must demonstrate proficiency in use of the nine elements, process
considerations and difficult conversations. A higher grade will be earned
by demonstrating a proficiency in the use of other frameworks covered in
class: e.g. circle chart analysis, negotiation styles, handling difficult
situations and multiparty process. A superior paper reflects an integration
of these frameworks. If a topic is chosen that has already been resolved
(successfully or not), the student must critique what happened and how the
conflict could have been handled differently to produce a better result. If

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the negotiation has been completed, it should be one where significant
improvements could have been achieved using concepts covered in class.
You need to know enough the facts surrounding the situation to write a
good analysis. Conjecture about the situation or inventing the facts are not
acceptable. Sound negotiation assessment requires a grasp of real facts
and circumstances.
Submission of Papers You are to submit a hard copy of your papers on the
day they are due and email a copy to Dr. Charles Field at
cfield1@umd.edu.
Readings You are responsible for having the readings done in time for the
classes as listed.
PARTICIPATION:
It is important that you attend all classes. The class is highly interactive
with most of the learning built into the exercises and analysis of their
results. You will be assigned paired and team negotiations. Therefore
other students will be relying on your participation. A great deal of
learning occurs in the discussions and exchanges in class. So you are
encouraged to actively participate.
EVALUATION:
All assignments are graded on an A to F basis, with the exception of
the reflection papers. A work is considered superior performance in the
course, measured by:
technical mastery of key concepts
consistent demonstration of critical thinking
effective synthesis of materials
quality of writing assignments, especially in terms of
clarity of content and absence of grammatical errors
capacity to apply learning in analysis and practice
reflection and growth in personal learning
effectiveness of classroom participation
Each assignment is given the following value towards the final grade:
Reflection Papers
Principled- Negotiation Paper
Integrated Analysis Paper
Participation

10%
25%
50%
15%

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Late assignments will be accepted with prior permission from the
instructor(s). Absent such permission, a penalty of as much as one full
letter grade will be deducted from late assignments.
A grade of incomplete will be granted ONLY in cases of illness or
personal emergency. A contract with the instructor is required.