Business Negotiation Skills
Leverage Negotiation Training To Find Opportunities in Differences
In a business environment defined by constant change, old negotiation playbooks fall short. Why? Negotiation is no longer just a transactional exchange — it’s how today’s forward-thinking leaders align priorities, build trust, and drive meaningful change.
Whether you're leading strategic partnerships, navigating stakeholder tension, or managing high-stakes conversations, your ability to influence outcomes through negotiation defines your leadership impact. This program builds on proven principles — like BATNA, framing, and preparation — and expands them with modern tools for trust-building, emotional intelligence, and negotiating change.
Duke’s advanced negotiation strategy program teaches the frameworks, tools, and mindset to lead negotiations that matter — across the table, across teams, and across moments of uncertainty.
Led by award-winning negotiation researcher and thought leader Professor Ashleigh Shelby Rosette, this immersive three-day experience combines advanced strategic negotiation tactics with hands-on practice, equipping you with tools you can use immediately. You’ll return to your organization ready to perform under pressure, align interests, build trust, and lead with confidence in any high-stakes conversation.
What You’ll Gain—Whether You’re Closing Deals or Driving Alignment
For Partnership Builders and Client Strategy Leaders
Sharpen your negotiation strategy, strengthen leverage, and craft agreements that drive long-term business value. This advanced negotiation development workshop equips you to lead conversations that drive action.
For Internal Leaders and Cross-Functional Teams
Gain negotiation skills for leaders managing internal alignment, stakeholder tension, and competing priorities — even when you lack formal authority. Learn how to influence outcomes and foster collaboration.
For Entrepreneurs and Founders
Navigate investor talks, build high-impact partnerships, and negotiate with confidence under pressure. This advanced negotiation course provides practical frameworks for high-growth environments.
For Change Leaders and Team Builders
Transform resistance into trust and misalignment into shared purpose. Master negotiation strategies for managers tasked with leading through uncertainty and change.
Inside the Learning Experience
From day one, this program is designed for real-world impact.
Watch as Professor Ashleigh Shelby Rosette shares how participants apply strategy in real time — negotiating, getting feedback, and sharpening their instincts with every exercise. It’s the kind of experience that sticks — and shows up in your next high-stakes conversation.
Designed for the Real-World Leadership Challenges Every Professional Faces
Whether you’re managing across teams, guiding critical initiatives, or aligning diverse priorities, this program helps leaders across industries turn complexity into clarity and influence into impact.
“I now feel like I’m better prepared, and a more conscious negotiator. I learned a lot of concepts that any professional can use, such as the power of anchoring and making 1st offers. Now when the person across the table repeats a perspective, I try to diffuse it.”—Biren Gandhi, Director of Procurement, Leading Manufacturer
Interactive Learning: Engage in dynamic simulations, role-playing exercises, and case studies that reflect real-world negotiation challenges.
Personalized Feedback: Receive tailored feedback from Professor Rosette and peers to refine your instincts and techniques.
Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of professionals from various industries, expanding your network and sharing insights.
Practical Application: Apply what you learn immediately in your professional context, driving tangible improvements in outcomes across business contexts.
More About the Program
Over 3 days, you’ll focus on negotiation tactics, case studies, and leading-edge negotiation techniques. Engaging class discussions provide insight on key concepts, while a series of live negotiations in a variety of diverse settings ensure you integrate core principles with personal experience.
Discussion topics in this immersive professional development program are designed to help you develop your negotiation style and see differences as opportunities — rather than obstacles — in a negotiation. Covering a range of subjects that draw on next-level research in management and leadership, you’ll learn effective strategies that can help you attain better outcomes. We will employ negotiation exercises, as well as negotiation simulations to prepare you for your next real-world interaction at the bargaining table.
Course Topics
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Introduction to Negotiations
This module lays the groundwork by exploring key concepts of successful negotiation. Participants will learn the importance of preparation, assessments, objectives, and understanding the psychological and behavioral aspects that influence negotiation outcomes. Emphasis is placed on building a strategic approach to negotiations and recognizing common pitfalls to avoid.
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Reflecting Inward—Centering on Self: Getting What You Want
Some negotiations focus on competitive scenarios where parties aim to divide a fixed resource, often leading to a win-lose outcome. This section covers techniques for claiming value, managing offers and counteroffers, and strategically maneuvering to secure the best possible deal. Participants will learn skill sets to identify and leverage their own and their counterpart’s interests to maximize gains.
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Focusing Outward—Integrating Collectively: Considering Situational Influences
This module teaches how to identify shared interests, brainstorm creative solutions, and use objective criteria to achieve collaborative results. Integrative negotiations emphasize value creation and fostering mutually beneficial agreements. Techniques for building trust and effectively communicating to uncover hidden opportunities are explored, with the goal of reaching outcomes that satisfy all parties involved.
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Managing Conflict—Communicating Effectively: Differentiating Interests, Rights, & Power
This section covers strategies and techniques for resolving disputes in a constructive manner. Participants will explore various methods, including mediation and arbitration, to manage conflicts and prevent escalation. The focus is on understanding the root causes of disputes, developing solutions that address the needs of all parties, and fostering a cooperative atmosphere leveraging emotional intelligence to facilitate long-term agreements.
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Leading Change—Negotiating Across Divides: Viewing Differences as Opportunities
Negotiating across divides involves handling complex negotiations that cross cultural, organizational, or ideological boundaries. This module addresses the challenges of differing values, communication styles, and expectations. Participants will learn to navigate cultural nuances and body language, manage diversity, and employ strategies to overcome barriers to agreement. Emphasis is placed on adaptability and the importance of cultural competence in achieving successful outcomes.
Sample Schedule
Arrival
Check-In Available
3:00pm
Welcome Dinner
6:00 - 8:00pm
Day 1
Breakfast
7:00 - 9:00am
Program Introduction
Reflecting Inward—Centering on Self: Getting What You Want
9:00am - 12:30pm
Lunch
12:30 - 1:30pm
Focusing Outward—Integrating Collectively: Considering Situational Influences
1:30 - 5:00pm
Dinner
6:00 - 8:00pm
Day 2
Breakfast
7:00 - 9:00am
Managing Conflict—Communicating Effectively: Differentiating Interests, Rights, & Power
9:00am - 12:30pm
Lunch
12:30 - 1:30pm
Understanding Diversity—Leveraging Best Practices and a Framework on Emotions, Offers, and Gender to Be a Better Negotiator
1:30 - 5:00pm
Optional Campus Tour
5:00 - 6:30pm
Dinner
6:00 - 8:00pm
Day 3
Breakfast
7:00 - 9:00am
Leading Change—Negotiating Across Divides: Viewing Differences as Opportunities
Program Review
9:00 - 11:30am
Program Close
11:30am - 12:00pm
Lunch
12:00 - 1:00pm
Certificate of Completion
Upon successful completion of the Business Negotiation Skills program, participants receive a verified Certificate of Completion and digital badge issued by Duke Executive Education.
This credential signals your achievement and can be easily added to your LinkedIn profile to highlight your new capabilities in strategically negotiating deals, aligning priorities, building consensus, and leading through change.
The certificate reflects an enhanced ability to:
- Prepare effectively for both formal and informal negotiations
- Gain buy-in and move initiatives forward
- Engage in high-stakes conversations while preserving trust
This program counts toward the Duke Certificate of Leadership and Management.
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Faculty
Ashleigh Rosette
Ashleigh Shelby Rosette, PhD is the James L. Vincent Professor of Leadership at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. She is one of the foremost leading scholars on research that resides at the intersection of leadership, gender, and race and one of the most decorated teachers at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
In her primary area of research on leadership and diversity, she studies how stereotypes and bias provide a framework to better understand the diversity shifts in present-day organizations, especially for top leaders. Her secondary area of research, negotiations, complements the diversity considerations as a basic premise of her work is that an in depth understanding of an array of negotiation skills must be understood and engaged to capitalize on the benefits of diverse experiences. Her research has been featured in Forbes, CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Business Week, the Financial Times, USAToday, Huffington Post and National Public Radio.
She was ranked as one of the Fifty Most Influential Business Professors by mbarankings.net, ranked as one of the Favorite Professors of the MBA Class of 2019 by Poet & Quants, received the 2019 PhD Project’s Trailblazer Award, is the recipient of the 2019 Bank of America Faculty Award (Fuqua’s highest faculty honor) and is one of the most decorated teachers in the history of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business having received the Teaching Excellence Award of the Year a record-breaking twelve times.
She provides consulting services on topics such as leadership, diversity, decision-making, and negotiations to an array of clients in varied industries, such as banking, consulting, auditing services, automobile manufacturing, medical services, and the social/non-profit sector.
Ashleigh Rosette is an Associate Professor of Management and Organizations and a Center of Leadership and Ethics scholar at Fuqua. Dr. Rosette studies negotiations and diversity in organizational settings. In her research, she examines the influence of affect and culture on the negotiation process and negotiated outcomes and explores social and contextual factors that influence diversity-related perceptions. Her research has been featured in media outlets such as Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and Business Week.
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