The Last Word
Work as Negotiation

As Wharton Professor Richard Shell points out in his popular executive program and book, negotiations are central to any job. This is certainly true of our work in executive education. We are constantly looking at new ideas for programs, and we continue to add relevant new programs to our portfolio and reshape our existing programs. Like a portfolio of products or services at any organization, some of these ideas percolate up, and others are developed by strategic analysis of gaps or opportunities in the existing set of offerings.

Some of the new ideas for programs come from our ongoing discussions with business leaders and managers, and insights from our advisory board or staff. Some of the new programs are the result of valuable new research from our faculty, such as John Zhang’s studies of pricing that led to our new Pricing Strategies: Measuring, Capturing, and Retaining Value program or Olivia Mitchell’s new program on pensions. For the programs that percolate up, there are always negotiations. I look for champions who have passion for the idea and can carry it forward through the inevitable challenges on the way to creating a successful program.

Our work never happens in a vacuum. It is always in the context of ongoing dialogue and negotiations. We are working with a broader and more complex set of partners, such as our Alliance with INSEAD and the leading schools involved in the Directors’ Consortium. In our custom programs, we often are brought in to address one challenge, but a careful assessment of the company’s situation reveals a need to address other issues. We can’t just follow the initial concept and achieve the goals company leaders expect. This leads to the give and take of negotiations about the program content and a stronger, more effective program.

If the business environment was more static, there might be much less need for negotiation skills. We would just execute against a plan. We would work against a fixed job description. But in a fluid environment, where the competencies needed to succeed are changing, and we need to change our programs to address them, negotiation is a constant. The environment changes. Programs change. Jobs change.

There are few if any organizations today where employees can succeed without strong skills in negotiations. Some people, even at the top of the organization, can sometimes be frustrated by the fact that it sometimes seems to take so much discussion to get anything done. And when we present our side in negotiations, particularly something we feel strongly about, we put a piece of ourselves out on the table. This can be a difficult thing. But as a person at the center of many of these negotiations, I can see their tremendous value. Negotiation, when it is done right, is what is best about organizations. It is where the best of the individual is brought directly into organizational decision making and tested against other views. Through the interaction of these perspectives, we develop solutions collectively that are better and broader than any of us could have developed individually.

Robert E. Mittelstaedt, Jr.
Vice Dean and Director
Wharton Executive Education

• Pricing Strategies: Measuring, Capturing, and Retaining Value
  
  
• Directors’ Consortium

• Wharton Executive Education
  
  
• The Wharton School

This month's articles:

• Thought Leaders
  What can Larry King and Ben Franklin teach us about successful career negotiations?
  
  
• In the Classroom
  What are the challenges facing women in leadership?
  
  
• Career Profile
  Unisys Vice President Curt Girod credits good mentors and continuous education with advancing his career.
  
  
• The Last Word
  Vice Dean Robert Mittelstaedt on how negotiations have become central to work.
  
  
• Education à la Carte
  Strengthen your career bargaining position by developing new skills and knowledge.