In January, a New York Times exposé documented dangerous and harsh working conditions in Chinese factories that manufacture products for Apple. The American technology company stood accused of tolerating child labor, unsafe working conditions, and punishingly long shifts for thousands of workers at the factories of Chinese suppliers such as Foxconn. The article triggered a … Read More 

Negotiations have reached an impasse, but both sides agree on one thing: you need help resolving the dispute. You engage a neutral mediator to do just that. Rather than acting as a judge who decides who “wins” or “loses,” a third-party mediator assists parties in reaching an agreement.
Negotiators often feel unprepared for mediation. The very … Read More 

How does the presence of lawyers affect the process of mediation? You might guess that when one or both sides bring an attorney to a mediation, the process would become more contentious and adversarial, with impasse more likely, than if the parties worked solely with a mediator.

That conventional wisdom is contradicted by new research by … Read More 

The problem: You’re not sure which of two common dispute resolution processes, mediation or arbitration, to use to resolve your conflict. Mediation is appealing because it would allow you to reach a collaborative settlement, but you’re worried it could end in impasse. You know that arbitration would wrap up your dispute conclusively, but it wouldn’t … Read More 

Settlement negotiations for medical malpractice lawsuits often occur late in the litigation process, when adversarial positions have become well-entrenched, and parties have little or no inclination to compromise. In an effort to improve the success rate of these settlement negotiations, some courts in New York State are now offering “judge-directed negotiations” for parties involved … Read More 

Is there a social cost for women who negotiate assertively for themselves in the workplace? Research suggests that women who negotiated higher compensation are viewed by evaluators as being more “demanding,” which leads to a disinclination to work with them in the future. In our most recent “Dear Negotiation Coach” feature in the … Read More 

In the July 2011 issue of Negotiation Journal, mediator David Hoffman takes a thoughtful look at the role of caucusing in mediation in an article entitled “Mediation and the Art of Shuttle Diplomacy.” The practice of meeting separately with each disputant, while widespread, is not without controversy. Critics have argued that these private sessions give … Read More 

Adapted from “Strength in Numbers: Negotiating as a Team,” by Elizabeth A. Mannix (professor, Cornell University), first published in the Negotiation newsletter, May 2005.

The widespread belief in “strength in numbers” suggests that having more players on your team should be a benefit, not a burden. But this belief can lead team members to underprepare … Read More 

PON Chair Robert Mnookin suggests 2010 Great Negotiator Martti Ahtisaari as a possible  international mediator who may be able to help solve the ongoing conflict in Belgium. Professor Mnookin notes that bringing in an outside mediator can help avoid “reactive devaluation,” or the devaluing of a possible solution simply because it was suggested by an … 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

The BP oil spill in the Gulf region inadvertently created a nightmare for mediators. In this posting, Lawrence Susskind lays out a reasonable plan that addresses prompt dispersal … Read More