When it comes to business negotiations, you probably understand the importance of being as principled as possible to protect your reputation and ward off legal trouble. You probably expect your counterparts to follow the straight and narrow as well. Yet negotiators often have only a fuzzy grasp of which claims and strategies are legal and
Guhan Subramanian
The following items are tagged Guhan Subramanian.
Video: Moving beyond barriers with Eileen Babbitt
In this video, Eileen Babbitt, Director of the International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Program at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, outlines three types of obstacles that generate barriers in negotiations, and how to move beyond them. This video includes excerpts from a session taught by Dr. Babbitt at the Program on Negotiation for Senior
How much authority do they have?
Adapted from “Contracts 101: What Every Negotiator Should Know about Contract and Agency Law” by Guhan Subramanian (professor, Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter, February 2006.
While hammering out an agreement, a mid-level manager offered a customer a significant price discount. When the discount failed to materialize, the customer
Conflict management from the start
Adapted from “Before You Sign on the Dotted Line…”first published in the Negotiation newsletter, May 2009.
After reaching an agreement, professionals often rely on their lawyers to draw up the official contract. Unfortunately, miscommunication between negotiators and their lawyers often leads to costly mistakes. Contract terms may not accurately represent the negotiated agreement, key deal terms
Negotiation lessons from the M&A world
Adapted from “What to Do When the Table Gets Crowded,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter, May 2008.
Negotiators often have to deal with more than one party to reach their goals. These situations pose unique challenges, yet most negotiation advice focuses on talks between two parties.
Where can we turn for guidance? For many years, Harvard
Sizing up the competition
Adapted from “The Ins and Outs of Making Sealed Bids,” by Guhan Subramanian (professor, Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter, July 2007.
Imagine you’re bidding for a house against another “very interested party,” according to your real-estate agent, and the seller wants a sealed bid from you by close
Don’t rush into a flawed contract
Adapted from “A Contingent Contract? Weigh the Costs and Benefits of Making a ‘Bet’,” by Guhan Subramanian (professor, Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter, August 2006.
Contracts in professional sports are often chock-full of contingencies -“bets” that parties place on their different expectations of future outcomes – and former
Video: Setting the Stage for Productive Negotiations
Understanding how to arrange the meeting space is a key aspect of preparing for negotiation. In this video, Guhan Subramanian, professor at Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School, discusses a real world example of how seating arrangements can influence a negotiator’s success. The discussion was held in his negotiation training workshop “Setting the Stage
Selling an Asset? Choose the Right Type of Auction
Adapted from “On the Block: Choose the Best Type of Auction,” by Guhan Subramanian (professor, Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School) and Richard Zeckhauser (professor, Harvard Kennedy School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter, December 2004.
Suppose you’ve weighed the pros and cons of selling an asset via auction or negotiation and decided an auction
Could Your Power Trip Backfire?
Adapted from “When You Hold All the Cards,” by Guhan Subramanian (professor, Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.
Being the more powerful party in a negotiation doesn’t guarantee a free ride. Specifically, legal rules may constrain your actions. In particular, the courts might read additional terms into the deal
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- Business Negotiations
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- “Confronting Evil” Panel Videos Now Available Online
- Conflict Resolution Lessons from the Home: How Conflict Management Skills Transform Discord Into Harmony
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- Confronting Evil: Interdisciplinary Perspectives Conference underway
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- PON co-sponsored conference addresses the challenges of “Confronting Evil”
- Finding the Right Process in India
- The Fiscal Cliff and the Debt Ceiling: Program on Negotiation Chair Robert Mnookin Discusses Recent and Future Negotiations Between Congressional Republicans and the White House
- Robert Mnookin Joins Panel to Discuss the Fiscal Cliff Negotiations on NPR’s Forum
- BATNA for the Holidays? Program on Negotiation Co-Founders Bruce Patton and William Ury Discuss the ‘Fiscal Cliff’ with NPR
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- Negotiating in China: The Gold Rush Mentality
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- An International Negotiation for an All-American Brand
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- Mediating Tragedy: Managing the Boston Victim’s Compensation Fund
- What’s Wrong with Traditional Arbitration?
- Hiring a Mediator: A Checklist
- Social Perceptions at the Crossroads: Why Sex (Still) Impacts the Perception and Evaluation of Other Status-Linked Identities
- Dispute Resolution Using Online Mediation
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- Register Now for the Program on Negotiation’s Negotiation and Dispute Resolution Seminar!
- Negotiate Relationships
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- For Better Negotiation Training, Study the U.S. Government’s Mistakes
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