A new educational project from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) has been awarded a $5,000 USD grant by Negotiation and Team Resources (NTR) teaching grant programme, a leading organisation that supports innovations in negotiation and conflict resolution, to develop Negotiation Hero: A Playable Case Study for Teaching Negotiation and Sustainability. This game is an interactive, team-based simulation and is already used by over 3,000 students. It is aimed at transforming how negotiation and sustainability are taught in business schools. Led by Dr Dimitrios Tsekouras, and supported by Pablo Andrés Ortiz de Zaldumbide, both from RSM, this two-year project builds on the business school’s successful experiential learning platform.
Real-world challenges in the classroom
Supported by a grant from NTR, the development of Negotiation Hero is based on RSM’s in-house solution, Prometheus game, and directly aligns with NTR’s mission to advance negotiation education, particularly through its simulations enhanced by multimedia and AI.
In the project team, Dr Tsekouras, RSM associate professor of Transformative Education in the department of Technology and Operations Management, brings 13 years of negotiation education experience to the table, while Ortiz de Zaldumbide, EdTech and Game-Based Learning expert in RSM’s Learning Innovation Team (LIT), contributes his many years as a game-based learning designer. A combination that ensures pedagogical alignment and high usability. The aim is to help Negotiation Hero become a vital tool for teaching negotiation and sustainability in an increasingly complex world.
Teaching key negotiation and sustainability concepts
Initially, the game is set to be integrated into two courses: an undergraduate Principles of Negotiation course; and an MBA course on Negotiations. The new module places learners in a complex scenario that involves realistic business leaders, local officials, NGOs and citizen groups. Each team must navigate competing interests, limited resources and ethical dilemmas. There is no perfect outcome, which mirrors the challenges of real-life negotiation.
Students explore core concepts such as interest-based versus positional bargaining, stakeholder mapping, multi-party dynamics and coalition-building, while they reflect on trade-offs between economic, social and environmental goals. The game also integrates AI-driven elements for adaptive feedback and analytics, which enhances both engagement and learning outcomes.
Designed for broad use and long-term impact
Negotiation Hero will be supported by structured materials to enable wider use by educators around the world. Its scalable design ensures that the game can be easily adopted by instructors at other institutions.
More information
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is one of Europe’s top-ranked business schools. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam – a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who can become a force for positive change by carrying their innovative mindset into a sustainable future. Our first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes encourage them to become critical, creative, caring and collaborative thinkers and doers. www.rsm.nl
For more information about RSM or this release, please contact Danielle Baan, science communications and PR for RSM, on +31 10 408 2828 or by email at baan@rsm.nl.
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