UVU recently sent two teams to the Baylor Business Negotiation Competition. This was the first year UVU participated in the event, and one team took fourth. Peter Gregory and Andrew Boswell received Top Negotiator awards. Peter Gregory and Landon Wray were the first team, Andrew Boswell and Andre Henao were the second, and Maria Cook and Dean Trammell were alternates; Phil Danielson, NAB member, and Tom Macdonald, assistant dean in WSB, were advisors for the team.

“The Baylor Business Negotiation Competition has been happening for the last four years,” said Peter. “It’s really the only undergraduate business negotiation competition in the nation right now. Baylor is on the forefront of that. Phil reached out to us after we applied, and we pulled together a team. We were able to negotiate taking two teams to the event, which is actually pretty big because I think we were one of the only schools that were able to do that; but you compete in teams of two. We flew in and got there Thursday night. Baylor hosted us for a great dinner in the presidential suite at the stadium. The competition was Friday afternoon, and then we came home Saturday.”

The competition consists of two 35-minute rounds, with teams filling the role of buyer or seller. Each team was given their two scenarios two weeks in advance. On competition day, teams negotiate with another team who fills the opposite role (buyer or seller). Three judges score the interaction.

“Each round was quite complex and required both business acumen and negotiation skills,” said Phil Danielson. “The judges praised both teams for their skill and professionalism.”

“In the first case, my partner Landon Wray and I were business partners selling a bed and breakfast to owners of a global bed and breakfast firm,” said Peter. “We prepared by red teaming—or trying to figure out what the other team has to set up reservation points and aspiration points, and then figure out what we really want. You decide what you can settle for, and what would be awesome.”

The outcome is decided by the combined total of the first and second rounds for each team. Fourteen schools competed, including: Baylor University, Northern Arizona University, SolBridge International School of Business, Southern Methodist University, St. Mary’s University, and the University of Akron. Baylor University took first place and Southern Methodist University took second.

“We were the only northern school. Every other school was from the south. Nobody knew we were coming. No one knew anything about us. As far as they knew, we were a small community college somewhere. After the event, we made some really good relations with the other schools we competed with, and we built ourselves up as a legit competitor. I think they plan on seeing us back in the future.”

“The winning team had 251 for their composite score. Landon and I took fourth, it was slick. Andrew and Andre had the highest score of all the teams in their second round, but they had a really tough first round. Phil Danielson really came through for us, and a big shout out to Tom Macdonald. They really set us up to win. We came into this with maybe two weeks of background, and this is a mandatory part of class for a lot of the schools we were competing against. So it was pretty cool to come in with the coaching from Phil and take fourth. With only two weeks leading up, we were able to go out and feel good and really represent UVU well.” 

“Getting the best deal out was not the goal. This wasn’t a cutthroat competition, but it wasn’t flowery either. One of the main things the judges were looking for was collaboration, working together, and coming out with a sweet deal. Phil taught us to get to a deal with the understanding that if you have time left, you’re both going to sit down and figure out how you can sweeten it for both parties. The idea is to make a deal with spare time, shake hands, and have both teams feel good. These are controversial issues you’re negotiating. Both teams go in feeling positive, and then there are some serious curve balls that you have to uncover.”

“Coaching was boot camp. We usually met Monday and Wednesday, and some Saturdays for like two and a half hours in the morning on campus. We didn’t have any experience; that’s a big reason I wanted to do this competition. I realized there was a chink in my education—we hadn’t covered a lot of negotiation. How do you get a bachelors in international business without any negotiation training? So that’s why I really wanted to do it. We covered the basic negotiation tactics in the boot camp setup. Phil taught us about System 1 and System 2 in negotiation. System 1 is like the animal instincts, what people automatically do, and the walls that they throw up. System 2 is using logic to consider the options. It isn’t tricky stuff, but he taught us the basics on how to handle ourselves and overcome obstacles. After the basics we started watching film on prior years of the competition to discuss techniques of what we could do and how we could incorporate our own system in. I feel like it really turned out for us. We went in confident, and came out feeling the same way, so that was encouraging.”

“This competition was an adrenaline rush, it honestly was. I knew I was missing that part in my education, and this just showed me the potential that we all have—especially in the business school—to do something like this. It just showed me a little bit more of what I want to do. It cemented in what I want to do in my career for the future. This is definitely something I’ll throw on the resume.”

“I’m just excited, I wish I could stay here for three more semesters. A big thing is I was the only senior on the team, so there is a ton of potential to build. Those five individuals on the team are going to be here through the fall semester and can help pioneer this, and there’s a ton of potential. We’re going to establish ourselves as a business negotiation team. Dean Norm Wright and Tom see the value of negotiations in the program.”

“I want to express my thankfulness to the National Advisory Board members for their financial support towards the team,” said Phil. “The main reason we were so successful is because the team members had academic experience that gave them a leg up on many of the other teams they competed against. The training helped, but it only multiplied their ability to get results because of their life experience. And I’d also like to give a shout out to Bonnie and the rest of the Dean’s team. I’m very grateful for all of the dean’s team and the work that they did to help make this happen.”

“I want to give a special shout out to Phil for a great job coaching us—he killed it,” said Peter. “Phil is crazy helpful. He came in with a ton of knowledge. He has a ton of experience under his belt, and he did it voluntarily. He’s just a guru at negotiation. It’s in his blood, you can see how passionate he gets about it, so that was huge. It was crazy huge to have him as our advisor and coach. Also a shout out to Tom Macdonald for the support.”

“Traveling to Baylor for this competition was an incredible experience, and we’re especially grateful for Phil Danielson and other NAB members who contribute to our student’s educational success,” said Tom Macdonald. “Having industry experts donate their time and energy here is invaluable to our future growth.

“I think it is amazing that our students—with only three weeks of preparation under their belts—and as rookies, competed with schools with a semester long course and a history of competing, and came out with such a strong performance and two out of the top seven spots,” said Dean Norm Wright. “I guess that is what happens when you combine really hard work with expert coaching.”