Adapted from “Set off a Chain Reaction,” by Michael Wheeler (professor, Harvard Business School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Artful sequencing in negotiation means lining up deals so that each agreement increases the odds of nailing down the next one. A hedge fund manager might find that certain investors will decline to put their … Read More 

Adapted from “Entitlement in Negotiation,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Simon Gachter of the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland and Arno Riedl of the University of Amsterdam studied the tendency of negotiators to maintain allegiance to past norms concerning entitlement, even when those norms are unrelated to the parties’ real bargaining power. The researchers … Read More 

Women need to take the initiative in asking for a raise, Associate Professor Hannah Riley Bowles at the Harvard Kennedy School explains in a New York Times article published May 14.  Her studies show that women need to take the initiative to ask for more pay and need to employ a … Read More 

Adapted from “How High Should You Aim?”, first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Research shows that moderately difficult goals can energize people and increase their performance. In negotiation, parties with relatively high aspirations often negotiate higher individual payoffs. But there can be a downside: impasse and unethical behavior may be more likely.

In a study conducted by … Read More 

Adapted from the Negotiation newsletter.

A bank in the Philippines started a program that encouraged would-be nonsmokers to open savings accounts and, for six months, deposit the amount they would have spent on cigarettes. Customers who tested clean for nicotine after six months got their money back; otherwise, the funds were donated to charity. The program … Read More 

Adapted from “Accept or Reject?” by Deepak Malhotra (professor, Harvard Business School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Negotiators usually have strong feelings about fairness. Unfortunately, our fairness perceptions tend to be biased in a self-serving manner. Research has shown that, at the end of a negotiation, most people feel they were more cooperative … Read More 

A New York Times article published May 6 highlights the dilemma Supreme Court nominee and former dean of Harvard Law School Elena Kagan faced over whether to allow the military to recruit at Harvard Law School.

Professor Robert Mnookin, head of PON is quoted saying “Elena is very good at reading the lay of the land, … Read More 

Professor Mnookin discusses Elena Kagan, Supreme Court nominee and former dean of Harvard Law School on New Hampshire Public Radio. Mnookin describes Kagan as a “remarkably gifted, likeable person. She has a brilliant legal mind and is an extraordinarily capable leader.”

To listen to the full interview, click here. … Read More 

PON Chair, Robert Mnookin was interviewed yesterday about the nomination of former Harvard Law School Dean, Elena Kagan.  Click here to read the article. … Read More 

Adapted from “Faulty Expectations,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

One of the most common, clear recommendations to emerge from negotiation literature is the need to consider the other party’s decisions. Ample evidence shows that negotiators too often fail to think about the other negotiator or do so in a simplistic manner. Professors Kristina A. Diekmann … Read More