Take My Liberty BUSI 455 Class

Liberty's catalog describes BUSI 455 as a review of the theories, processes and practices of conflict resolution and negotiation, in which students analyze the factors that shape negotiations, diagnose them and identify strategies, and examine the cultural side of conflict.

Week one opens with the first seven chapters of Sande's The Peacemaker, a biblical approach to resolving conflict, read in three presentations before the course turns to Lewicki.

Lewicki's custom edition is read out of order, starting with chapters fourteen and sixteen in week two and then a cluster of four foundational chapters in week three.

Week four reads chapters three, four, five and seventeen on integrative negotiation and perception, and week five reads eleven to thirteen with Sande's eighth chapter and appendix, where ethics and relationships sit.

Week six studies negotiation backgrounds for the second case, week seven reads chapters six, seven and eighteen, and week eight closes with chapter fifteen.

Graded work starts with a 100-point forum thread, 60 points of replies and a 40-point ExpertNegotiator analysis; then Negotiation 1, planned for 100 points and conducted for 150.

The Ethics Paper is worth 150, and Negotiation 2 is planned for 150, conducted for 150 and self-critiqued for 75, with a 25-point peer evaluation at the close.

BUSI 455 is carried around its two negotiations, because the planning documents are where the points for preparation are won, and good preparation is what makes the live sessions go well.

Each planning document sets out your interests and the other side's likely interests, your target, your resistance point and your best alternative to a negotiated agreement, the issues and how you value them, and the strategy and opening you will use.

The live negotiations are yours. You meet your classmate, use your plan and record what happened; the results report for Negotiation 1 is then written up from your notes.

For week five, the Ethics Paper picks a hard question, such as whether a bluff about a rival offer is ever acceptable, and settles it using both of the course's lenses.

The opening forum applies Sande's early chapters to a conflict you choose, and the replies engage classmates' threads; the ExpertNegotiator analysis interprets the results of the platform's assessment.

The self-critique for Negotiation 2 is written from your notes on how the session went, measured against your plan.

Peer evaluations stay with you.

A BUSI 455 writer negotiates or mediates for a living, as a contracts manager, a procurement lead, a labor relations specialist or a trained mediator, often with a master's in conflict resolution or business.

That experience shows in the planning documents: a realistic best alternative, a resistance point the plan will actually hold to, issues ranked and traded sensibly, and an opening that leaves room to move.

They know Lewicki's distributive and integrative frameworks well, and many are familiar with Sande's peacemaking model, which this course places alongside them.

Each plan and paper passes a second negotiator's review.

Your name stays with the coordinator, and the writer sees only the course and the case materials.

If a concept is unclear before a session, such as how to expand the pie in an integrative negotiation, a short explanation can be sent.

The Ethics Paper is written by someone comfortable with both the secular frameworks and the biblical one the course uses.

The planning documents are the first difficulty. Students often list goals without a resistance point or a best alternative, which leaves the plan unable to guide a real decision.

The live sessions are the second. Negotiating with a classmate takes scheduling, and a session that runs out of time can cost the results grade.

Integrative thinking is the third, since students tend to treat every issue as a fixed pie and miss trades that would leave both sides better off.

The Ethics Paper is the fourth, asking for a careful position on questions where the law, business practice and scripture can pull in different directions.

The self-critique is the fifth, because honest reflection on one's own mistakes is harder to write than a description of the session.

Week four carries the 150-point Negotiation 1 results, and weeks five to seven each carry 150 points.

Week eight closes with the self-critique and the peer evaluation, when the course is nearly done.

The forum thread is due in week one and the replies and analysis in week two, so the class is best handed over early.

The Negotiation 1 planning document arrives several days before week three closes, giving you time to learn it before the session.

The results report is written once you send your notes from the session in week four.

Expect the Ethics Paper with days to spare in week five, and the second plan ahead of week six's close.

The self-critique is written from your notes after the week-seven session.

Your price list shows the thread, the replies, the analysis, both plans, the results report, the Ethics Paper and the self-critique; the sessions and peer evaluations are never on it.

The planning documents and the Ethics Paper are the largest lines.