Introduction to International Negotiation and Conflict Management

This course takes place on: March 6, 13, 20 and 27, 2026

This four-day course aims to form and enhance participants’ awareness of the negotiating process. They will acquire the tools and develop the skills required to manage everyday negotiation situations successfully.

Being an effective negotiator is a critical skill in any profession. Negotiation skills are important in all life situations and in every profession. The negotiation process is a comprehensive strategy for resolving conflicts of interest in a lasting way. It is based on skills that are not innate but can be acquired and improved through intensive and practical study. This, course introduces you to some of the key aspects of conflict management and negotiation. It is an interactive learning-by-doing course that focuses on the acquisition of negotiation skills. It can change participants' perspectives on how negotiations should be planned, structured and conducted to be successful. The course includes theory and concepts as well as extensive preparatory reading, combined with practical role-playing and mock negotiations, case analysis, class discussions and self-assessment tools.

The course is designed for those who would like to learn and reflect on how to resolve conflicts of interest in a win-win manner – even under time pressure; who are interested in applying what they have learned in exercises in class and in daily practice; and who are willing to actively participate in all modules of the course.

The course is taught by Prof. Dr. Felix Addor, a veteran international negotiator with the Swiss government, and Deputy Director General of the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (Swiss Ministry of Justice), the federal agency in charge of all intellectual property matters in Switzerland.