Open for learning: Low familiarity examples and general questions foster knowledge transfer of a negotiation principle

This paper examines how certain types of examples and probing questions might foster or inhibit openness to learning, and subsequent knowledge transfer to new situations. Specifically, we examine the effect of learning from a negotiation example set in an unfamiliar rather than a familiar industry, and the impact of general versus specific questions about the example. An experiment with executives revealed that when learners respond to general questions about a negotiation example from an unfamiliar industry they were more open than defensive as compared to learners who were asked specific questions about an example in a familiar industry. Openness in turn led to successfully applying the lessons in the example to a subsequent face-to-face negotiation. The suggestion from this work is that customizing examples to specific industries and asking narrow, example-specific questions impedes the learning and knowledge transfer in negotiation training and management education.