The power of anchors in negotiation has been demonstrated time and again. Sellers who demand more tend to get more. Indeed, the initial asking price is usually the best predictor of the final agreement.

A trio of researchers may have found an important exception to this rule, however; lower starting numbers set by the seller in … Read More 

The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, in partnership with The Center for Public Leadership and the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School

invites the public to an address by

Tawakkol Karman
Nobel Peace Prize Co-recipient, 2011
Yemeni Political Activist and Journalist

When: Thursday, June 7, 2012

Time: 6 p.m.

Where: Institute of Politics Forum, Harvard Kennedy School
Free and open … Read More 

How is it that mediators – who themselves lack any power to impose a solution – nevertheless often lead bitter disputants to agreement? Substantive expertise helps, as does keen analytic skill.

According to a recent survey by Northwestern University law professor Stephen Goldberg, veteran mediators believe that establishing rapport is more important than employing specific techniques … Read More 

“The Five Percent: Finding Solutions to Seemingly Impossible Conflicts”
with
Dr. Peter T. Coleman
Director of the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution
and Professor of Psychology and Education
at Columbia University
 
When: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Time: 12 – 1 p.m.

Where: Wasserstein Hall, Room B10, Harvard Law School Campus
Please bring your lunch. Drinks and desserts provided.
One … Read More 

In a panel discussion on February 3 at the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard faculty members shared their reflections on this year’s annual summit of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  Panelists included Dr. Daniel Shapiro of the Harvard Negotiation Project, as well as Kennedy School faculty Charles W. Eliot … Read More 

“Systems Thinking and Peacebuilding: A New Frontier?”
with
Robert Ricigliano
Director of the Institute of World Affairs,
Center for International Education
at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
 
When: Thursday, April 5, 2012

Time: 12 – 1:15 p.m.

Where: Wasserstein Hall, Room 2009, Harvard Law School Campus
Please bring your lunch. Drinks and desserts provided.
Policymakers, practitioners, and academics have seized on … Read More 

It was shaping up to be one of the most expensive Senate races in U.S. history. By this January, Republican Scott Brown and Democrat Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts each had raised millions in their contest for Brown’s U.S. Senate seat, and third-party groups were spending even more on negative ads.

Both candidates had publicly tried to … Read More 

Unless your official title is “lawyer” or “agent” you probably don’t think of yourself as an agent. But if you’ve ever represented a family member, your boss, your department, or your organization in a negotiation, you’ve served as that party’s agent.

Representing others at the bargaining table creates both opportunities and hazards. In their book, Negotiating … Read More 

In business negotiations, when a counterpart apologizes for harming or offending you, should you forgive and move forward? What if doing so seems impossible?
In a chapter in The Negotiator’s Fieldbook (American Bar Association, 2006), Ellen Waldman and Frederic Luskin write that forgiveness isn’t an essential component of negotiation; you may be able to get to … Read More 

Sometimes parties to a dispute disagree on key facts and forecasts but lack the technical or scientific expertise needed to come to a consensus. Suppose, for instance, that a developer is seeking to build a high-rise condominium building in a village that is experiencing a development boom. Longtime residents fight the proposal, arguing that another … Read More