The following items are tagged Northwestern University.
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
For many people, thinking about the role of power in negotiation can be paralyzing. In fact, the same people who are anxious about negotiating in general tend to be anxious about exerting their power during negotiation. Why? Perhaps because most of us realize that power, even when not explicitly discussed, is often the precipitating and driving force of negotiation processes and outcomes. Obviously, power can generate competition and conflict. But when channeled effectively in negotiations, it can be a catalyst for win-win outcomes.
Adapted from “Predicting Your Response to Conflict,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.
Imagine an upcoming negotiation. How will you respond if your opponent seems bent on provoking an argument? If you’re like most people, you’ll have difficulty predicting your precise response. Professor Dan Gilbert of Harvard University found that when asked how a
Kathleen L. McGinn is the Cahners-Rabb Professor of Business Administration and the Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development at Harvard Business School. McGinn teaches courses on negotiations, power and influence, and interpersonal decision making to MBAs and Executives at the Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation.
For decades, General Electric (GE) and the Environmental Protection Agency sparred over who would pay for the removal of PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, that GE had discharged into New York’s Hudson River, a cleanup project expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. In October 2005, the two sides came to an agreement.
Adapted from “Why You Should Make More Than One Offer,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.
Effective negotiators seek opportunities to create value. By making tradeoffs across issues, parties can obtain greater value on the issues that are most important to them. But how can you be sure you’re making the right offer?
In a past issue
In all types of negotiations and across all phases of the process, people can sometimes misrepresent or fail to tell the truth. Individual negotiators lie with the hope of improving their own outcomes. When negotiating his salary with the Cranbury, N.J.–based pharmaceutical marketing firm Carter-Wallace in 1997, Robert Bonczek misrepresented his prior title and salary at DuPont. Once Carter-Wallace detected the deception, it withdrew its offer. Sometimes entire teams of negotiators lie [or was this just a bluff?]. In the union-management negotiations between the United Autoworkers Union (UAW) and Textron that began in 1994, Textron’s management team misrepresented its intention of hiring nonunion workers. As a result, the UAW agreed to a contract that it later regretted accepting.
Adapted from “Beyond Blame: Choosing a Mediator,” by Stephen B. Goldberg (professor, Northwestern University), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.
When a negotiation escalates into a dispute, most managers understand the value of seeking out a mediator for professional assistance with the matter. The question of whom to hire, however, is less clear-cut. What type of
Adapted from “Make the Most of Mediation,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.
As compared with other forms of dispute resolution, mediation can have an informal, improvisational feel. Mediation can include some or all of the following six steps, writes Kimberlee K. Kovach in The Handbook of Dispute Resolution (Jossey-Bass, 2005):
1. Planning. Before mediation begins,
Adapted from “Putting on the Pressure: How to Make Wise Threats in Negotiation,” by Adam D. Galinsky (Professor, Northwestern University) and Katie A. Liljenquist (Assistant Professor, Brigham Young University), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.
On August 3, 1981, 12,000 air-traffic controllers went on strike after negotiations with the federal government about wages, hours, and
Taught by world-renowned professors, distinguished thought leaders and best-selling authors.
BATNA
Business Negotiations
Conflict Management
Conflict Resolution
Crisis Negotiations
Dealmaking
Dispute Resolution
International Negotiation
Mediation
Meeting Facilitation
Negotiation Skills
Negotiation Training
Pedagogy
Sales Negotiations
Win Win
Women and Negotiation