avoiding

An approach to negotiation that emphasizes neither assertiveness nor empathy. Avoiders shy away from conflict, and disengage in the face of explicit disagreement. (Robert H. Mnookin, Scott R. Peppet and Andrew S. Tulumello, Beyond Winning [Belknap Press, 2004], 52-53)

The following items are tagged avoiding.

When Compromise Fails

Posted by & filed under Daily, Negotiation Skills.

Adapted from “The Dangers of Compromise,” by Max H. Bazerman (professor, Harvard Business School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

In July 2000, Arthur Levitt, then chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), held hearings on the question of auditor independence. Believing that auditors’ close ties to their clients posed a conflict of interest

Free Report on International Negotiations Now Available

Posted by & filed under Daily, International Negotiation.

In this Special Report, we offer expert advice from the Negotiation newsletter to help you in international negotiations. You will learn to:

▶ Cope with culture clashes.
▶ Weigh culture against other important factors.
▶ Prepare for possible cultural barriers.
▶ Deal with translators.
▶ Avoid ethical stereotypes.
▶ Consider the team approach.

To download the report, click here or on the

Who Will Guarantee the Safety of Off-shore Oil and Gas Facilities?

Posted by & filed under Conflict Management, Daily.

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

Building consensus among regulators and the oil and gas industry about how to avoid future oil spills may be easier than previously thought. In this posting, Lawrence Susskind

To Avoid an Impasse, Keep Talking

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations, Daily.

Adapted from “How the Writers Got Back to Work,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

What happens when people think they’ve invested too much in a dispute to back down from their entrenched positions? This question rose to the fore as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) West and East’s strike against the Alliance of Motion

Don’t Be Cursed

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations, Daily.

Adapted from “How to Win an Auction—and Avoid the Sinking Feeling that You Overbid,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Imagine that at the beginning of class, a professor produces a jar full of coins and announces that he is auctioning it off. Students can write down a bid, he explains, and the highest bidder will

Get the Kinks Out

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations, Daily.

Adapted from “Should You Get the Kinks Out?” by Ian Larkin (professor, Harvard Business School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

You may have heard about the power of contingent contracts in negotiation. As an example, imagine that a supplier has proposed you pay a bonus of 10% if the fault rate for its products is

Family Matters

Posted by & filed under Dispute Resolution.

Adapted from “All in the Family: Managing Business Disputes with Relatives,” by Frank E. A. Sander (professor, Harvard Law School) and Robert C. Bordone (professor, Harvard Law School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

What happens when family members go into business together? In a few lucky cases, harmony and success follow without effort. More often,

David Lax

Posted by & filed under Affiliated Faculty, PON Affiliated Faculty.

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DAVID LAX is Managing Principal of Lax Sebenius LLC, a firm that assists companies and governments in complex negotiations and competitive bidding. Dr. Lax was a professor at the Harvard Business School and in 1982, he co-founded the Negotiation Roundtable, an ongoing forum in which hundreds of negotiations have been examined to extract their most valuable lessons.

Negotiation Games

Posted by & filed under Conflict Resolution, Daily.

Adapted from “Rolling the Dice in Court,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Going to trial, it’s said, is like rolling the dice. That proved true in June 2006, when an exasperated federal judge, the Honorable Gregory A. Presnell, ordered litigants to play a game of Rock Paper Scissors if they could not privately resolve their