Max H. Bazerman (Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School) and Deepak Malhotra (Associate Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School)

You don’t have to let a recalcitrant negotiator derail your progress. In this article, the authors describe strategies and tactics to overcome another party’s counterproductive behavior and keep the deal on track.

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Adapted from “Learn to Negotiate with an Open Mind,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

After wrapping up a difficult negotiation, it’s tempting to forget about it and move on. The regret triggered by counterfactual thinking, or reflections on “what might have been,” can be so painful that many people will do whatever they can to … Read More 

Adapted from “Negotiating with the Green-eyed Monster,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Envy can cause us to engage in deception at the bargaining table. That’s the cautionary finding of research by Simone Moran of Ben-Gurion University in Israel and Maurice E. Schweitzer of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Why might negotiators be more … Read More 

Adapted from “Speaking the Same Language,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Negotiators can find themselves talking past each other for hours, even days. Then suddenly something happens–a breakthrough. The parties begin conversing on a different plane, one that reveals solutions to problems that had seemed intractable.

Professor Linda Putnam, a communications scholar at Texas A&M University, … Read More 

The Conflict Prevention and Resolution Institute (CPR) selected the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program (HNMCP) to be the recipient of its 2010 Problem Solving in the Law School Curriculum Award at its annual awards banquet on January 11, 2011 at the New York offices of Fulbright & Jaworski LLP.  The clinic’s director and founder, … Read More 

Adapted from “Negotiating with Regulators,” by Lawrence Susskind (professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

When preparing to launch new products, plans, and innovations, an organization often must apply for licenses, permits, and other types of regulatory approvals from government agencies. Thankfully, even the most elaborate application processes allow individual regulators a … Read More 

Adapted from “Negotiating with Your Advisers,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Our most trusted advisers face conflicts of interest between what is best for them and what is best for us. An attorney might give different advice about whether to settle a lawsuit depending on whether she would be paid by the hour or receive … Read More 

Adapted from the Negotiation newsletter.

Imagine an upcoming negotiation. How will you respond if your opponent seems bent on provoking an argument? If you’re like most people, you’ll have difficulty predicting your precise response. Professor Dan Gilbert of Harvard University found that when asked how a positive or negative event will affect their happiness, people accurately … Read More 

Professor Robert Bordone, director of the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program and Tobias Berkman, Associate of HNMCP, published an article in the Harvard Negotiation Law Review titled Negotiation Advice for the 112th Congress. To read the full article, click here.

“There will be many post-mortems in the wake of the historic changes brought about … Read More 

Adapted from “Battles of the Experts,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Sometimes conflict is triggered by honest disagreements over the facts. When one partner buys out another, for example, the two might disagree about the value of the business. Similarly, if a piece of high-tech equipment fails, the manufacturer might point to improper maintenance while … Read More