Adapted from “When a Contract Isn’t Enough: How to Be Sure Your Agent Gets You the Best Deal,” by James K. Sebenius (Professor, Harvard Business School). First published in “Negotiation Newsletter.”

Top executive pay attorney Joseph Bachelder was representing a client who’d just been chosen as a company’s next CEO. After a first session with the board’s representative to hammer out … read more »

Adapted from an article first published in “Negotiation Newsletter”.

Sometimes negotiators get off on the wrong foot. Maybe you and your partner had different understanding of your meeting time, or one of you makes a statement that the other misinterprets. Such awkward moves at the beginning of an interaction can lead one party to question the other side’s motives.

In their research, … read more »

This month’s Harvard Business Review features an article by Daniel Shapiro, an Associate at the Harvard Negotiation Project.  Shapiro’s article focuses on repressing emotions and its negative effect on businesses.  To read the full article, visit Harvard Business Review’s website. … read more »

Adapted from “Have You Negotiated How You’ll Negotiate?” by Robert C. Bordone, Professor, and Gillien S. Todd, Lecturer, Harvard Law School.

Breakdowns in negotiation are common. In the face of impasse at the bargaining table, managers are quick to blame either the challenges of the issues being negotiated or the hard-line tactics of the opposing parties. Yet these explanations are often … read more »

Adapted from “Their Agent, Your Advantage,” by Guhan Subramanian, Professor, Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School.

The benefits of hiring an agent are well known. Yet negotiation experts often overlook the ways in which you can use the other side’s agent to your advantage.

Suppose you’re stuck in contentious negotiations with the other side’s agent. How can you break an impasse? … read more »

Adapted from “Are You an Overconfident Negotiator?” by Don A. Moore, Professor, Carnegie Mellon University.

Many negotiators understand the importance of estimating the other side’s reservation price—the worst deal he would accept from you. However, despite the fact that such estimates often are based on hints, clues, and speculation, negotiators are frequently overconfident that their estimates are accurate.

Say, for instance, that … read more »

Adapted from “Dealing with Distrust? Negotiate the Process” by Deepak Malhotra, Associate Professor, Harvard Business School.

Kathy, a serial entrepreneur, was negotiating the acquisition of a boutique software-development firm when a dispute arose regarding the valuation of one of the software firm’s assets. Specifically, the firm owned the rights to a technology patent of uncertain value. The firm’s owner argued that … read more »

Adapted from “Will You Thrive—Or Just Survive?” by Deborah M. Kolb, Professor, Simmons College of Management.

What happened the last time you faced a new leadership opportunity? Whether you were called on to head a team, a task force, a unit, a division, or a company, chances are you negotiated the compensation and perquisites of the appointment—your salary, title, vacation, and … read more »

Adapted from “Can You Break the Cycle of Bad Communication?” by Susan Hackley, Managing Director, the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.

“What happened?”
“How did a pleasant discussion turn sour?”
“Why did the deal unravel at the last minute?”

If you’ve ever come away from a negotiation asking questions like this, poor communication may be to blame, write Roger Fisher, William Ury, … read more »

Adapted from “Don’t Like Surprises? Hedge Your Bets with Contingent Agreements,” by Lawrence Susskind, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A town government and a private fuel-oil company have a standing contract that they have renewed for several years in a row. The contract is again up for renewal, and the town manager is under pressure from his constituents to reduce the … read more »