A lecture which attracted the highest number of attendees was “Why Skill to Negotiate is So Important to Business” by Professor James K. Sebenius, a Gordon Donaldson Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He took the lead at the Harvard Business School to make Negotiation a required course of the MBA programme and currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Program on Negotiation at the Harvard Law School.
Prof Sebenius based his lecture on 3D-negotiations. “Sometimes there is a refusal to bargain in good faith at the table and tactics (one of the dimensions) would have to move beyond the negotiating table,” he said.
One of the case studies he gave underlined the importance of negotiations to avert the disastrous effects on business and the industry. In the Shippers versus the Longshoremen (port workers) a massive slowdown by the port workers after the CEO announced technology improvements led to interesting away-from-the-table tactics in the negotiations. Eventually a deal was reached which was mutually beneficial and Prof Sebenius showed the importance of considering a creative approach in deal making and giving each side what it values most.
Other speakers from the Harvard Business School who were at Sunway were Professor Nabil El-Hage, Professor of Management Practice, who spoke on “What We Teach You at the Harvard School of Business” and Dr Michael J. Roberts, the Executive Director of the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, who gave a valuable lecture on “What is Required of an Entrepreneur”.
These lectures led to a lively discourse among interested members of the audience and an exchange of ideas which are especially useful for those interested in business and the case studies of the corporate sector.
Other luminary speakers in the past have included Dr Daniel L Axelrod of the Adizes Institute, Professor Lim Chong Yah and Associate Professor Joseph Wan Chew Yoong from the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and Emeritus Professor Edwin Thumboo of the National University of Singapore. All lectures are free and open to all members of public.
Dr Goh Cheng Teik, the coordinator of the Distinguished Speakers’ programme and member of the Board of Directors, Sunway said “Events like this are both lively and invigorating and has validated Sunway University College as a centre for spawning intellectual advancement and open learning”.
The programme is a recent innovation but international scholars have been invited here to speak at Sunway since 1997. “Over the years, the broadening of subject matter of the lecture series has evolved to meet public interest and we are committed to this undertaking which best prepares our students as effective professionals when they enter the working world” said Elizabeth Lee, Executive Director, Sunway. “It is also in line with the lifelong learning that the Government is encouraging” she added.
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