Course 2025-2026 a.y.

Classes: 31 (II sem.)

Instructors:
Class 31: STEPHANE FRANCIOLI

No background knowledge is required for this course.

Soft skills are at the heart of effective leadership—and their importance only grows as you move up the organizational ladder. In this course, you’ll learn how to think and act more effectively when negotiating resources with others and when making important decisions. In the first part of the course, we’ll focus on negotiation: how to claim and create value, resolve disputes, communicate across channels, detect deceptions, build trust, and adapt to others. You’ll practice how to turn potential sources of conflict into opportunities for collaboration. In the second part of the course, we’ll explore the art of decision making: what's a decision, why we so often get things wrong, how to gather and interpret information and manage emotions and ethics to make better individual and group choices. The class emphasizes hands-on learning through simulations, role plays, class surveys, group discussions, and short research-based lectures that connect theory to practice. By the end, you’ll better understand how people think, decide, and influence one another, and you’ll have a stronger toolkit for navigating complex situations as a future manager, teammate, and leader.

CONTENT SUMMARY

This course is organized around two complementary skill domains that are central to effective management: negotiation and decision making.

 

Part I – Negotiation:

• Claiming value: strategies for effective bargaining and influence.

• Creating value: integrative approaches to expand the pie.

• Resolving disputes and managing difficult conversations.

• Communicating and negotiating through different media (in person, online, hybrid).

• Building trust, relationships, and reputation over time.

• Understanding how culture and context shape negotiation dynamics.

 

Part II – Decision Making:

• What decisions are and why people and groups often make wrong ones.

• Collecting and combining information.

• Making sense of evidence and avoiding common reasoning traps.

• Generating, evaluating, and selecting ideas.

• Understanding how conflict affects group decision processes.

• The role of emotions, values, and ethics in managerial judgment.

At the end of the course student will be able to...

At the end of the course, student will be able to understand the fundamental principles, concepts, and frameworks of negotiation and decision-making.

 

At the end of the course student will be able to...

At the end of the course, student will be able to:

• Prepare and conduct negotiations that create and claim value.

• Adapt their negotiation approach to different goals, relationships, and cultural contexts.

• Identify and evaluate decision options using structured and evidence-based reasoning.

• Navigate cognitive, emotional, and ethical influences to reach sound individual and group decisions.

• Lectures
• Practical Exercises
• Individual works / Assignments
• Collaborative Works / Assignments
• Interaction/Gamification

Each session includes an activity or simulation (e.g., 1-to-1 negotiation, group exercise, class survey) designed to explore experientially a specific topic or issue. These exercises are followed by a collective debrief combining class discussion and short lecture segments. During the debrief, we analyze the evidence generated in class and connect it to relevant social science research, introducing core frameworks and concepts that help students better understand and navigate negotiation and decision-making processes.

 

 

Because this class is highly experiential and discussion-based, active attendance is essential. Each session builds on shared exercises and debriefs, so missing class means missing key learning opportunities; it can also negatively impact other students' learning experience. Thus, attendance is absolutely mandatory, and exceptions will be granted only in exceptional circumstances.

	Continuous assessment	Partial exams	General exam
Individual Works/ Assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)	x
Collaborative Works / Assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)	x
Active class participation (virtual, attendance)	x
Peer evaluation	x

Individual course grades are based on:

 

• Attendance & Participation (40%). Based on attendance, engagement in class activities, surveys completion, and contributions to discussions.

 

• Multiple-Choice Questionnaires (15%). Two short quizzes assessing understanding of key concepts and frameworks from class.

 

• Peer Evaluations (15%). Peer evaluation of preparedness and engagement in group activities.

 

• Presentations (30%). Two 12-minute group presentations covering a negotiation or decision-making topic not yet covered in the course.

 

Attendence is mandatory. The Attendance & Participation grade will be reduced by 5 percentage points for each class missed without approved justification, with one exception (“joker”) allowed. Students who miss more than three classes without justification will automatically be reassigned to non-attending student status. Job interviews, administrative appointments, public transport strikes, and similar reasons are not considered valid justifications for absence.

Students may opt out of the attending mode and switch to the non-attending mode at any point before teams for the project work are formed.

Long, in-class, closed-book mutliple choice questionaire based on:

• Case studies used throughout the class
• Assigned readings
• Slides

Case Studies: Paper versions provided in class throughout the semester (no digital copies can be provided; non-attending students must arrange to come pick up all the cases in the faculty's office, either prior, during, or after the course but before the final exam; non-attending students abroad can email the faculty to assess whether copies can be exceptionally sent by mail).

 

Selected Chapters (see syllabus):

• Fisher, R., Ury, W. L., & Patton, B. Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in. Penguin Books.
• Dobelli, R. The art of thinking clearly: The secrets of perfect decision-making. Hachette UK.

 

Course Slides: Slides will be posted on Bocconi's online blackboard throughout the semester.