Real Negotiations, Real Business Outcomes

Student-led consultancy projects tackling genuine commercial challenges across Australian SMEs

Our final-year projects aren't simulations. Students work with actual businesses facing negotiation roadblocks—supplier disputes, partnership agreements, contract renegotiations. They analyse, strategise, and present actionable recommendations under supervision. Some projects have saved clients thousands in operational costs. Others have opened new distribution channels. And yes, a few have ended without resolution because that's how real negotiation works sometimes.

Discuss Your Challenge

Students analysing contract documents during negotiation workshop

Project-Based Learning

What Students Actually Deliver

Between September 2025 and February 2026, our advanced cohort will undertake six supervised consultancy projects. Each runs for 8-10 weeks and involves stakeholder interviews, data analysis, negotiation framework development, and formal presentation to business owners.

Past projects include restructuring a retail franchise agreement that reduced annual fees by 12%, mediating a supplier conflict for a hospitality group, and mapping out partnership terms for a logistics startup expanding into regional NSW. Students work in pairs under faculty guidance, applying theoretical frameworks to messy, unpredictable commercial contexts.

Not every project succeeds. Some businesses decide not to implement recommendations. Others discover the problem was different than expected. That's valuable learning too—recognising when negotiation can't fix structural issues or when walking away makes more sense than pushing forward.

Tools Students Apply in Practice

Core methodologies that shape how students approach client projects, from initial assessment through to final recommendations

Stakeholder Mapping

Identifying all parties with interests in the outcome—not just the obvious ones. Students interview operational staff, review supplier histories, and map power dynamics before suggesting any negotiation approach.

BATNA Development

Building genuine alternatives to proposed agreements. Students help clients understand their walkaway position and develop backup options that aren't just theoretical but practically executable within existing constraints.

Value Creation Analysis

Finding where mutual gains exist beyond just splitting differences. This often means uncovering non-obvious trade-offs like payment terms vs delivery schedules or exclusivity clauses vs volume commitments.

Cultural Context Evaluation

Assessing how organisational culture and personal communication styles affect negotiation dynamics. Regional Australian businesses operate differently than Sydney corporates—students learn to recognise and adapt to these differences.

Risk Documentation

Mapping what could go wrong with recommended approaches. Students present contingency plans and help clients understand probability vs impact for different negotiation paths, including when to seek legal review.

Implementation Planning

Translating strategy into actionable steps with timelines and checkpoints. Recommendations only matter if they're implementable with the client's actual resources, capabilities, and constraints.

Project Supervisor

Hayden Strickland

Commercial Negotiations Faculty

I spent fifteen years negotiating contracts for mining services companies before moving into education. Worked across procurement, partnership development, and dispute resolution—mostly in contexts where relationships mattered as much as contract terms.

What I bring to student projects is pattern recognition from seeing hundreds of negotiations play out. I can usually spot where a deal will hit resistance before students do. My job isn't to take over but to ask questions that help them think through second-order consequences and prepare for pushback they haven't anticipated.

I supervise 3-4 projects each cohort. Students meet with me weekly to review progress, test assumptions, and troubleshoot obstacles. I also sit in on final presentations to clients—partly to ensure quality, partly to step in if a conversation heads somewhere problematic.

Contract restructuring for cost reduction and operational flexibility
Supplier relationship management during disputes and renewals
Partnership term development for joint ventures and alliances
Cross-cultural negotiation dynamics in Australian regional contexts
Mediation techniques for multi-stakeholder commercial conflicts

How Businesses Participate

If your organisation faces a negotiation challenge suitable for structured analysis, here's what working with our student team involves

Initial Consultation

30-minute discussion with faculty to outline your challenge and determine if it matches student capability level. We look for projects where analysis and strategic planning add value but don't require immediate execution or legal intervention.

Project Scoping

Defining specific deliverables, timeline, and information access requirements. Students need to interview stakeholders and review relevant documentation—we clarify expectations around confidentiality and reporting structures upfront.

Student Team Assignment

Two students with relevant coursework backgrounds are matched to your project. They introduce themselves via video call, explain their approach, and schedule initial interviews. Faculty supervisor remains involved throughout but students drive the work.

Research and Analysis Phase

Students conduct interviews, review documents, apply negotiation frameworks, and develop recommendations. You'll have a mid-project check-in to review preliminary findings and redirect if needed. This phase runs 6-7 weeks.

Final Presentation and Report

Students present findings and recommendations in person or via video conference. You receive a written report covering analysis, strategic options, implementation considerations, and risk assessment. Faculty supervisor attends to ensure quality standards are met.

Submit Project Inquiry