Author: Sue Shellenbarger

It’s never easy to ask for a raise or extra perks, especially during a recession. To make matters worse, many workers have trouble negotiating a new compensation package on their own behalf. In this column, Iris Bohnet, a public policy professor and vice chair of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, … Read More 

Co-authored by Pierre Pettigrew, Mark Freeman,
Robert C. Bordone, Reza Nasri, Balaji Chandramohan

In the 21st century, the power to persuade will be a more practical and useful tool for settling disputes than flexing either military or economic muscle. In this posting, Robert C. Bordone, Thaddeus R. Beal Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Harvard … Read More 

Jeswald W. Salacuse (Henry J. Baker Professor of Law; former Dean, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University; author of The Global Negotiator and Seven Secrets for Negotiating with Government)

If you think that hammering out a deal which is agreed to by all parties is the last step, think again. Now you’ve got to … Read More 

“In the polarized atmosphere of Washington, D.C. today, consensus is becoming an increasingly rare commodity, as this year’s debates over health care reform and financial regulation have made clear.  To help curb that trend, twenty senior federal officials – both Republicans and Democrats – met in Washington in July to hone … Read More 

Lawrence Susskind, Ford professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology; author of Built to Win; co-author of Breaking Robert’s Rules and Breaking the Impasse

Building consensus among regulators and the oil and gas industry about how to avoid future oil spills may be easier than previously thought. In this posting, Lawrence Susskind … Read More 

Adapted from “How to Say What Matters Most,” by Susan Hackley (managing director, Program on Negotiation), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

In their book Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (Penguin Putnam, 2000), authors Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen tell us how to engage in the conversations in our professional or … Read More 

In collaboration with the Program on Negotiation and other cosponsors,  the 23rd annual International Association for Conflict Management conference will be held in Boston July 24-27. The conference will feature a combination of poster and paper sessions, workshops, symposia, and roundtables. The IACM conference highlights the interdisciplinary nature of IACM and the excellent scholarship of … Read More 

The Clearinghouse at PON offers hundreds of role simulations, from two-party, single-issue negotiations to complex multi-party exercises. Trask Divorce is a two-party, multi-issue negotiation between lawyers representing a divorcing couple regarding alimony and financial support for a special-needs child.  This simulation involves ethical issues.

Scenario: Kate and Bill Trask are in the midst of … Read More 

“In the Global Village, Can War Survive?” by Program on Negotiation managing director Susan G. Hackley looks at the work of journalists and conflict management professionals, two groups who operate in the demanding world of conflict, and suggests ways they could – and should – learn from each other. “Conflict management professionals should tell their … Read More 

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When negotiators get along well, creative problem solving is easy. When they become upset, however, they seem to forget everything they know about finding joint gain, to the point of giving up tangible wins simply to inflict losses on the other party. This is especially true in high-profile negotiations that turn nasty. Confronted with negative … Read More