Master’s students take part in negotiation workshops
120 master’s students recently took part in negotiation workshops as part of their Strategic Purchasing module.
The series of interactive half-day workshops were developed and delivered by Mike Ludbrook, Business Trainer and Procurement Project Manager at ValueTime Consulting, and gave students hands-on experience of the skills of business negotiation.
Mike has been on both sides of the negotiating table having worked in both buying and selling roles. Now working as a procurement consultant and a trainer for the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), Mike was able to develop a bespoke programme for the MSc students that drew on rich examples from his own varied career.
Mike said: “It was great to see the students try out and develop their practical negotiation skills. They progressed from a basic recognition of how they negotiate regularly in their private lives, to showing a deep appreciation of how more complex business-to-business negotiations operate.”
The feedback from the workshops was excellent and students enjoyed being able to apply the theories and models from their studies in such a hands-on way. Moonsun Kim, MSc Operations and Supply Chain Management student, said: “It is always good to share our opinions and experience with other students. I realised real business or purchasing negotiation is much tougher and harder.”