master negotiations

Great negotiators understand that successful business outcomes don’t happen by chance. The best results are achieved through careful research and evaluation, a strategic negotiation plan and highly organized teamwork.

This course features an innovative “Gain-Gain” methodology that focuses on maximizing profitability and minimizing costs and risks, while maintaining critical business relationships. Participants will engage in a team-based negotiation scenario that allows for immediate practical application of learned strategies, followed by a comprehensive debrief that analyzes the effectiveness of various approaches, the role of communication, and team dynamics.

Negotiate with Confidence is taught by Dr. Robin Pinkley, a distinguished professor of Management and Organizations at the ¾«¶«´«Ã½ Cox School of Business. The program leverages her expertise as an accomplished negotiation consultant for Fortune 500 companies and global corporations, as well as her pioneering work on the “Gain-Gain” negotiation approach.


Course feature Course detail
Dates: October 22, 2025 –
Topic: Strategy
Format: On Campus
Location: ¾«¶«´«Ã½, James M. Collins Executive Education Center
Price:

Pricing: $1,395

20% discount until August 8: $1,116*
10% discount until August 29: $1,225.50*
Group pricing & discounts available*

*Limit one discount per program. Exclusions subject to change.
Questions?

To learn more about the program, contact Sally Siegel at 214.768.6444 or sallys@smu.edu.

Topics

Successful business leaders understand how to negotiate in any scenario, whether they need to close a business deal or negotiate a salary offer. This course teaches students core negotiation concepts and best practices that provide a consistent framework to help achieve their goals and foster strong business relationships.

  • Apply a Gain-Gain approach to negotiation that focuses on mutual value creation and sustainable outcomes, prioritizing both results and relationships.
  • Learn to plan an effective strategy to gain knowledge about the other party’s interests, needs, and priorities.
  • Know when to stay and when to walk away - establish your bottom line and identify deal-breakers.
  • Recognize and avoid common traps that jeopardize long-term success.
  • Build confidence in your ability to handle difficult conversations and turn tension into opportunity.
  • Leave with practical tools and strategies you can immediately use in real negotiation scenarios.

photo of two people negotiation

Who Should Attend?

The Negotiate with Confidence course is perfect for Managers+, entrepreneurs or anyone who will benefit from improving their ability to influence and negotiate in a professional setting.

Schedule

Course Pre-Work: Prior to the class, participants will be provided with an overview of the negotiation subject matter and assigned to one of two teams. Participants will be expected to be familiar with the materials when the course begins.

Schedule Session Session Details
8:30 a.m. – Noon

Power & Impact of Bidding/Concession Strategies

 Discuss the power and impact of bidding and concession strategies and how to use each to their best advantage in negotiations.
Tag-Team Negotiation Strategic Session
 In-depth planning session with your team to prepare your negotiation strategy ahead of the afternoon’s live exercise. Identify key points of information, knowledge gaps, position strengths and disadvantages, target goal and bottom line, and team roles and structure.
BREAK Lunch Provided
1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Tag-Team Negotiation Exercise  Immediately turn words into action a team-based negotiation scenario that tests strategies in real time to maximize learning.
Summary and Q&A Reinforce core concepts in a thoughtful debrief analysis of the entire exercise that examines strategy effectiveness, the impact of shared and omitted information, active listening, team management and more.

headshot of Rodney Bryan Pratz

"Dr. Pinkley’s class is not just about improving negotiation outcomes — it is about transforming how you lead, how you collaborate, and how you show up in every part of your life."

Rodney B. Pratz, CFO, Peacock Alley, ¾«¶«´«Ã½ Cox MBA '25





See What Others Are Saying about ¾«¶«´«Ã½ Cox Executive Education

This is a carousel with auto-rotating slides. Activate any of the buttons to disable rotation. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

three men at a table

Hettie Tabor, Academic Director, ¾«¶«´«Ã½ Cox School of Business

"Data-driven companies are harnessing the power of advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to make smarter decisions, optimize service and streamline operations. Where does your organization stand in its evolution?"

This course will help you embrace the imperatives of digital transformation, envision where your teams and organization need to be in 10 years—and how to get them there.

three students at a table working

Eric Hinton, Director, Rowling Center

"With dynamic presentations, challenging dialogue, and an interactive case discussion, this outstanding certificate program helps you build your knowledge and skills in order to implement, maintain, and improve your compliance program."

The ¾«¶«´«Ã½ Ethics & Compliance Certificate Program is a multi-disciplinary program designed for compliance, legal and financial professionals.

someone standing

Deniqua Hill

"The application of the 7 Step Change Model was incredibly valuable. Great examples and the simulation was an amazing learning experience. Jerry’s facilitation and teaching was excellent, and the opportunity to interact with other participants was great.

This new one-day course about Leading Change in Volatile Times will bring to the surface unproductive leadership habits - and teach and reinforce better ones.

Master Negotiation

Brian Anderson, TPC Health Systems

"This has been a fantastic program. It made me so much more intentional in how I approach my job and managing. The speakers were excellent and gave real, practical advice on how to manage and lead successfully. I would recommend this course to anyone."

If you're already a front-line manager or a leader moving into management for the first time, this powerful management course will arm you with what's needed to handle the toughest tests.

Strategic Thinking

Tim Sutton, Academic Director

"This class will reframe how you think about strategy and help you come away with the tools and network needed to help you be a more powerful force in your organization."

Strategic Thinking for Competitive Advantage is a provocative and new two-day programs that explores the new rules and realities for creating sustainable competitive advantage.

Examine Our Other Offerings

Photo of accounting sheets

Finance

To compete and succeed, companies need leaders in every department who can speak the dollars-and-cents language of business. Managers who can interpret financial reports, assess the impact of decisions and communicate operating strategies have a definite career advantage.

Learn more
Leadership

Leadership

Our Leadership series teaches the skills and tools you need at critical junctions in your corporate career. Whether you're moving into your first managerial job or already at the senior executive level, we'll help you refine your essential competencies, business acumen and soft skills.

Learn more
Multidimensional Diversity

Multidimensional Diversity

Diverse perspectives open doors to enhanced business success. A recent Boston Consulting Group study suggests that greater leadership diversity spurs innovation and boosts financial performance. On average, diverse companies enjoy a 19% increase in revenue compared to their less diverse counterparts, and ¾«¶«´«Ã½ Cox Executive Education offers award-winning programs to raise up the diverse perspectives within your own organization.


Learn more

Want To Keep Exploring?

See the Course Calendar

collins center

Next Steps

Questions? Not sure which program fits your needs? Reach out to our team.