Mediation is a process of third-party involvement in a dispute. A mediator cannot impose an outcome but rather assists the disputing parties in reaching their own agreement. Mediation can be used in a wide range of disputes, including labor disputes, public policy disputes, disagreements among nations, family disputes, and neighborhood and community quarrels.
To better understand the teaching needs of the mediation community, Negotiation Pedagogy at the Program on Negotiation (NP@PON) organized a Mediation Pedagogy Conference in May of 2009. In advance of the conference, an 18-question online survey was sent to the 175 conference presenters and registered participants. The 75% response rate allowed us to illuminate important … Read More
On Tuesday, December 8, 2009, the Front Page of the Boston Globe featured an article on Kenneth Feinberg, President Obama’s “Pay Czar.” Feinberg was a guest lecturer at Professor Robert Bordone’s Dispute Systems Design Course.
To read the Boston Globe article online, click here.
For more information about the Dispute Systems Design Course and Prof. Bordone’s clinical … Read More
Adapted from “Does Lawsuit Mediation Really Work”? First published in the Negotiation newsletter.
No one likes to go to court. Not only is it expensive and time-consuming, it often leads to frustrating results and damaged relationships. So is court-sponsored mediation a better route?
The answer is “sometimes,” according to a comprehensive survey of court-affiliated mediation programs … 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 … Read More
In an interview with the Boston Globe, Professor Robert H. Mnookin, Chair of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, responds to the national debate on the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Lewis Gates, Jr..
Mnookin calls for mediation to resolve the conflict between Prof. Gates and the arresting officer. Click here to read … Read More
As the use of mediation continues to grow, researchers continue to examine what makes mediators effective and what the impact of mediation is on parties in dispute. Four articles in the July 2009 issue of Negotiation Journal provide an in-depth view of mediation effectiveness, with some interesting findings.
In the first article, Stephen Goldberg, Margaret Shaw, … Read More
Are you interested in gaining valuable work experience in the field of negotiation and dispute resolution? Come to the PON Internship Fair to meet representatives of organizations that are recruiting interns and research assistants.
Recruiters will briefly introduce their organizations and the available internships at 5:30 P.M. sharp. Students will then be able to circulate among … Read More
Traditional advice recommends not mixing business and family but this could mean losing out on the potential rewards of working with those close to us and other potentially lucrative business opportunities. Inevitably, family members in business together will have to negotiate with each other. So what is the best way to ensure both a successful … Read More
Basic negotiation skills may seem easy to apply in business situations but what about when business and family collide?
For example, a 69-year-old CEO of a large financial firm that has been in his family for three generations is considering retirement. He has three children who may be interested in taking over the business in addition … Read More
Negotiation Pedagogy at the Program on Negotiation (NP@PON) produced a video of an actual landlord-tenant small claims mediation – from start to finish, including side-bar conversations – for its 2009 Mediation Pedagogy Conference. It is rare that an actual (as opposed to staged or acted) mediation is available for instructional purposes. Of the many different … Read More
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Understanding how to arrange the meeting space is a key aspect of preparing for negotiation. In this video, Professor Guhan Subramanian discusses a real world example of how seating arrangements can influence a negotiator’s success. This discussion was held at the 3 day executive education workshop for senior executives at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.
Guhan Subramanian is the Professor of Law and Business at the Harvard Law School and Professor of Business Law at the Harvard Business School.
