Successful Conclusion of The Negotiations Challenge Competition

The Negotiation Challenge (TNC) 2013 was concluded with great success in Athens, on the 5th and 6th of April. 

Launched in 2007 as part of a joint project by students and doctoral candidates from HHL - Leipzig Graduate School of Management and Harvard Law School, TNC is about testing communication and mental acuity skills in a “real world” negotiation competition with other international teams.

ALBA Graduate Business School organized and hosted this two day event during which the invited students had the chance to not only compete with each other but also to get a taste of the life in Athens. Team members, coaches and professors left Greece with unforgettable experiences and great memories to accompany them.

60 teams from Universities from all over the world applied for The Negotiation Challenge 2013, but only 18 of them qualified for the competition. Greece was represented by 2 teams, one from ALBA and one from AUEB. The rest of the teams which travelled to Athens are: Alfa University (Belgrade, Serbia), Chinese University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong, China), ESSEC Business School (Paris, France), Harvard Law School (Boston, USA), HHL (Leipzig, Germany), IESEG School of Management (Lille, France), Moscow State University Lomonosov (Moscow, Russia), National Law School of India (Bangalore, India), Reykjavik University (Reykjavik, Iceland), Technische Universitate Muenchen / TUM (Munich, Germany), Texas Tech University (Texas, USA), University of California Hastings College of the Law (San Fransisco, USA), Universidad de los Andes (Bogota, Colombia), University of Bonn (Bonn, Germany), Warsaw School of Economics (Warsaw, Poland), World Maritime University (Malmo, Sweden).

The level of the competition was extremely high and the negotiating skills of all the participants were really impressive. Participants competed in various locations all around Athens and in different types of exercises.

The inaugural exercise was held on the American College of Greece campus and was followed by the second one – on a maritime theme- which took place on the Hellas Liberty Ship, in Piraeus. The second day started at the Bodossakis Foundation Building and the third exercise, transported teams centuries back in virtual negotiation for a peaceful solution of the Trojan War. The last exercise was held in the National Library.

Despite the extremely qualified participants and the intense competition, two teams stood out: those of the University of Reykjavik in Iceland and the German HHL in Leipzig, which met for the final in the breathtaking Acropolis Museum. Participants and guests had the opportunity to both admire the unique exhibits of the Museum and watch the finalists claim the trophy. As representatives of Plato and Aristotle, respectively, the 2 teams tried to prevent the breakdown of Plato's Academy and reconcile two diametrically opposite pedagogical and philosophical schools. Like in any top negotiation, in this virtual simulation, agreement was the result of a balanced collaboration and not intense and hostile confrontation.

For the selection of the winning team, ALBA had enlisted a group of eminent personalities from the academic and the business community. Mr. Alexander von Reden, partner in the largest law firm in Germany and staunch advocate of TNC, Professor Will Baber, from the Kyoto University in Japan, Professor Peter Kesting, from the University of Aarhus in Denmark, and from Greece Mr. Spyros Pappas, member of the Board of Management of the Athens University of Economics and Business and Mr. Nikos Sofianos, Secretary General of the Executive Committee and also a Member of the Board of Directors of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

When Mr. Pappas, on behalf of the committee, announced the team from Iceland as the winners all celebrated this success, including the team from Leipzig, who, despite the normal disappointment enjoyed the highly prestigious second place. 

A special thank you to all the companies and organizations that supported the event: