MBA (HRM) Class 2015-17, Term VI Faculty: Dr. Neerpal Rathi COURSE OUTLINE
At workplace and home, people frequently engage in a variety of conflict and negotiation situations. Effective management of conflict and negotiation skills are very critical for individuals, especially human resource professionals, to manage and lead others effectively. The way conflict is being managed can have far reaching consequences for individuals, teams, and organizations. Effective conflict management involves analyzing the conflict situation, understanding the dynamics between the parties, and determining the appropriate method of conflict resolution. When conflict is managed properly, seeds of possibilities are planted. At the heart of conflict management is competence in negotiating and communication. Negotiation is a common mechanism for resolving differences between, and allocating resources among, exchange partners, such as superiors, colleagues, peers, corporate entities and even nations. Broadly viewed, these are social decision making processes, involving interdependent parties who do not share identical preferences. Negotiation is indispensable element of any business enterprise. Negotiating effective agreements is typically viewed as a blend of art and science. By possessing confidence and skill in negotiating, one can engage with others more directly and constructively. This course focuses on developing conflict management and negotiating skills of the students. This course emphasizes experiential learning through student participation in a variety of self-assessments, exercises, role-plays, and case studies. In addition, research on negotiations and conflict will be used to supplement this learning. Using different methods, this course is intended to help the students to develop an understanding of conflict dynamics and the art and science of negotiation. I believe that by the conclusion of this course, you will have improved your ability to diagnose conflict and negotiation situations, strategize and plan appropriate interventions, and engage more effectively in conflict situations. Learning Outcomes After participating in this course, students will understand the nature and process of conflict management and negotiation. Specifically, students will be able to: Ø Develop an understanding of the theory and practice of conflict management and negotiation. Ø Understand the nature of conflict in individuals, groups, organizations, and society. Ø Better understand themselves, their personality, and their reactions to conflict. Ø Learn the techniques to manage conflict in their personal and professional lives and assimilate practices to reduce conflict and foster trust in relationships. Ø Understand more effective ways to prepare for, engage in, and conclude negotiations. Pedagogy This course will be delivered through a mutual discussion between all participants of the course including the instructor. The instructor’s job will be to share the basic theories/tools/insights either through lectures, appropriate videos, or management game/simulation pertinent to the topic on hand, and then facilitate discussions to help elaborate the relevance of various theoretical concepts in the organizational and social context. Students will be expected to actively participate in the process of developing an understanding of the topics in the classroom. The pedagogy would also provide some opportunity for students to link course contents to the actual workplace through a group assignment involving some practical work.
Evaluation Components Class participation 10% Student journal 25% Group project 30% End-term exam 35%
Tentative Sessions Plan
Required: Folger, Joseph P., Poole, Marshall Scott and Stutman, Randall K. Working through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups, and Organizations, Pearson Education. Lewicki, Roy J., Saunders, David M. and Minton, John W. Essentials of Negotiation, McGraw Hill-Irwin. Suggested readings: R. Fisher and D. Shapiro, Beyond Reason, Penguin Books. R. Fisher and W. Ury, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In, Penguin Books. Malhotra, D. & M. Bazerman, Negotiation Genius, Bantam Dell.
Additional reading materials will be provided to the students during class.
Description of Evaluation Components
Class participation: This is for contributions made to class sessions, not just attendance. Class participation will be assessed in terms of frequency and quality of contribution made by a participant to the activities going on in the classroom. Class participation can take various forms such as asking questions, sharing one’s experiences or observations that are relevant to the discussion at hand, answering questions raised by the instructor during the course of instructions, extending the answers to instructor questions provided by other students, enthusiastically participating in all the classroom activities and exercises. Student journal: You must compile a journal in which your learning during the course is recorded. You should choose examples from your earlier and current life that match the theory, exercises, readings etc. that will be discussed in the classes. The journal should demonstrate your learning about self, others, and groups as a result of participation in classes, participation in exercises, readings, and personal reflection during the whole process. Also, it should focus on explaining the implications of learning for your future behavior as manager, group leader, student etc. The journal will be assessed for the quality and depth of the analysis, evaluation, reflection and comment. Academic Integrity
Students must show the highest level of academic integrity in writing their assignments, giving presentations, and answering to the exercises, including their end-term examination. Plagiarism, copying, etc. will be seriously viewed, and anybody found to engage in these activities will be penalized. Penalties may include a grade deduction, a 0 grade in the component, an F grade, or any other penalty depending on the nature of the offense. Faculty will be available for help as may be required by the students from time to time. Personal meeting with the faculty, if required, may be arranged with prior appointment.
About the Faculty
Dr. Neerpal Rathi is Associate Professor in Organizational Behavior area at Xavier School of Human Resource Management, Xavier University Bhubaneswar, India. He received his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India, and did his Post-doctoral work at Incheon National University, South Korea, where he also taught as a visiting faculty. Dr. Rathi received his PG Diploma in Industrial Counseling from Institute for Psychotherapy and Management Sciences, Mumbai. Prior to joining Xavier University, he had worked with Amrita University Coimbatore, IIM Ahmedabad, and Banasthali University, Rajasthan. His research interests include emotions at workplace, quality of work life, personality, and employee health and well-being. Dr. Rathi is a keen researcher and had published several papers in various national and international journals. In addition, he had presented his research in various conferences in India and abroad. He can be reached at: neerpal.r@gmail.com
Created By: Bijoy Kar on 12/12/2016 at 05:01 PM Category: Course Outlines-HRM-II Doctype: Document