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 publicity, executives become so focused … read more »

The evidence from social science is clear: people’s behavior is powerfully influenced by the actions of those who are like them. A classic study by Harvey Hornstein, Elisha Fisch, and Michael Holmes found that New York City residents were highly likely to return a lost wallet after learning that a “similar other”—another New Yorker—had first tried to do so. But … read more »

Negotiation researchers have long studied how to use “carrots”-promises of mutual gains-to induce agreement. Less attention has been given to “sticks,” specifically, the effectiveness of threats.

Threats often have a negative connotation-understandably so, as they’ve often been associated with offers that can’t be refused or, in some cases, warnings of annihilation. But sometimes threats are justified. If your vendors are pricing … read more »

Adapted from “Wise Negotiators Know When to Say ‘I’m Sorry’” by Maurice E. Schweitzer, Associate Professor, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

In negotiation, it’s unavoidable: sooner or later, you’ll do or say something that offends or hurts your counterpart. Whether or not the harm you cause is intentional, you’ll need to rebuild trust and cooperation to repair the … read more »

Everyone has to negotiate with government sooner or later. Maybe you’re seeking a building permit for an addition on your house. Or a reduced tax penalty at the end of an IRS audit. Or permission from the state to open a charter school. Or a contract to sell software to the Defense Department. You may not think you’re negotiating with … read more »

Recently, a local incident grew into a national dispute that seemed ripe for mediation. After being locked out of his home and forcing his way in, Henry Louis Gates, an African-American Harvard University professor, had a confrontation with Cambridge, Massachusetts police sergeant James Crowley and was arrested for disorderly conduct. In a press conference, President Obama said the Cambridge police … read more »

Harvard Law School’s News Office recently interviewed Harvard Law School’s Negotiation & Mediation Clinical Program (HNMCP) students and faculty about three of the projects on which they worked during the Spring of 2009.
Click here to read the entire interview http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/spotlight/clinical-practice/clinic.html
Harvard Law School’s Negotiation & Mediation Clinical Program (HNMCP) founded by Professor … read more »

The debate over how to reform health care has quickly become volatile and often unproductive, with the media focusing on who brings the largest group of shouting protesters.

Professor Lawrence Susskind of the Program on Negotiation and the Consensus Building Institute outlines in his blog how to use a consensus building approach to improve the level of discourse at health care … read more »

As the controversy surrounding the arrest of Harvard Prof. Henry Louis Gates   heats up, the Wall Street Journal weighs in on Alternative Dispute Resolution.  Click here to read more… … read more »

In 2000, Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE), seeing the surge in employee grievances and litigation in other companies, implemented a revolutionary dispute system they called SOLUTIONS to deal with its own internal disputes.

Dispute Systems Design, or DSD, is the process of identifying, creating, implementing, and evaluating an effective means of resolving conflicts within an organization.

CCE’s program consists of four parts and often … read more »