The finals of the World Championship in Negotiation, aka The Negotiation Challenge, took place last week in the Netherlands. Poland finished as runners-up winning the title of Negotiation World Vice-Champions, represented by Paweł Urzenitzok (University of Silesia), Dominik Zdebik (University of Silesia) and Aleksander Łabuć (SGH Warsaw School of Economics). The team was coached by Bartosz Dominikowski. It has been a decade since the last time Poland made it to the podium.
The Polish made it to the finals after winning several qualification rounds, negotiating against the teams from Georgetown University and Eindhoven University of Technology, among others. In the finals taking place on 5–6 April 2024 in the Netherlands, they competed against the best negotiators from all around the world. The Championship featured 66 leading work universities, with such names as Harvard Business School, Columbia Law School, Princeton University, HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management and HEC Paris. The Polish team finished the Challenge as runners-up and won the title of the Negotiation World Vice-Champions.
Competitors had to test their skills in negotiation and were evaluated based on the terms of the negotiated contract, the influence of the negotiation on the relation with negotiation partners and the opinion of experts on the way of conducting negotiation. The jury’s verdict included the analysis of adopted negotiation techniques and strategies, along with their efficiency in the process.
The finalists led negotiations based on complex business cases concerning, e.g., the export of a Swiss product to new markets along with optimising its production cost, details of carrying out promotional actions to increase its sales efficiency in a Dutch shop chain; the final task was called The Future of AI, where the participants team delved into the strategic stages of the AI development, discussed necessary regulatory actions and international initiatives aimed at legally standardising artificial intelligence. Each negotiation round was observed by experienced judges who evaluated the negotiation style and shared feedback with the finalists.
As finalists of the Challenge, Aleksander Łabuć, Paweł Urzenitzok and Dominik Zdebik had a chance to participate in the masterclass workshop and training in negotiation techniques delivered by Gary Noesner, FBI’s Former Chief Hostage Negotiator and the first ever Chief of the bureau’s Crisis Negotiation Unit.
‘The hard work, countless hours of training, and the numerous negotiation books we read really paid off. It is a great honour for me, as a Pole, to bring home the runner-up trophy. I am so happy that we can show the skills, determination and tenacity of the Polish competing against people representing the world’s best universities. Our negotiation journey started several years ago, and we have been working step by step to be better and better negotiators ever since. I also hope that our success will inspire others,’ says Paweł Urzenitzok.
‘True victory isn’t just about the moment of triumph on the podium, but also about the plethora of new acquaintances, experiences and things we learnt during training. Each conversation, each negotiation and every single moment dedicated to learning was an opportunity for growth and development. New friendships made with mentors and other participants were not only a form of support but a source for inspirations and perspectives broadening our horizons,’ claims Dominik Zdebik.
‘The entire Challenge was an excellent experience to compare our negotiation style and skills to those of the teams from remote places around the world like India or the USA. The title is a great honour and responsibility, all the more because it was achieved among the group of representatives from prestigious universities and degree programmes such as executive MBA, HEC Paris or Master and Conflict Resolution at Columbia University. I hope that we will continuously deepen our knowledge and contribute to developing negotiation skills among students and professionals in Poland. To quote one of the judges during the official start of the final competition: Negotiate for the better future – may this message stay with us along the rest of our path,’ says Aleksander Łabuć.
Negotiation World Vice-Champions | Photo by Twente University
Negotiation World Vice-Champions | Photo by Twente University
Negotiation World Vice-Champions | Photo from a private gallery