Effectiveness of Negotiation Trainings – A Meta-Analysis

Despite the enormous interest in and money spent on negotiation skill trainings, empirical validation data are mixed, and little knowledge exists about success factors of negotiation trainings. Therefore, this study systematically examines the overall effectiveness of negotiation trainings, testing training length, feedback for the trainees (e.g., concerning negotiation behavior, or ob-tained negotiation outcomes), and degree of training virtuality as potential moderators of training effectiveness. Our meta-analysis included 17 studies with 20 samples and 44 effect sizes. Results revealed a large positive training effect (g = .72) but also significant heterogeneity among effect sizes. Moderation analyses showed that longer trainings were more effective, whereas the other two moderators did not qualify training effectiveness. Together, this meta-analysis suggests that money spent on negotiation trainings is well invested, however, the effectiveness of the trainings differed considerably, with longer trainings leading to more positive outcomes.