Electronic negotiation: A teaching tool for encouraging student self-reflection

As the amount of negotiation taking place electronically increases, the responsibility of negotiation instructors to prepare students to successfully operate in electronic environments grows. We believe that skills related to electronic negotiation -like many other negotiation skills - are best taught by providing students opportunities to gain firsthand experience followed by self-reflection. For the past five years, we have used an electronic negotiation exercise to allow students to personally experience the complexities associated with negotiations completed exclusively over the Internet. Further, with the use of e-mail and instant messaging, a powerful record emerges: a complete transcript of the negotiation encounter. After describing the preparation and structure of this exercise, we explain how to harness the power of this vehicle to lead students to significant insights through self-reflective activities.