powerful

The following items are tagged powerful.

A Forceful Deal: George Lucas Puts His Trust in Disney

Posted by & filed under Sales Negotiations.

On October 30, the Walt Disney Company made a bold leap into the world of fantasy movies with its surprise announcement that it was acquiring Lucasfilm, home of the immensely successful Star Wars brands, from its founder, George Lucas, for $4.05 billion, split evenly between stock and cash. Lucas is the sole shareholder of his company.

How to Negotiate When You’re Literally Far Apart

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations.

Imagine that you’re the CEO of a sports clothing manufacturer based in Chicago. You recently traveled to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to meet with a distributor who has a rich and diverse network in the European sports market.

During the business trip, you both express enthusiasm about the possibility of a joint venture and agree to give the potential alliance more thought.

Back home, you learn that one of your competitors has discussed similar plans with the same distributor.

Negotiating the Fiscal Crisis

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

How can we avert a full-throttle drive over the fiscal cliff? Despite some promising signs of movement on both sides of the aisle, the current negotiation approach – positional bargaining – is bound to bring us dangerously close to the edge.

Role-Play Simulations and Managing Climate Change Risks

Posted by & filed under Pedagogy at the Program on Negotiation (Pedagogy @ PON).

Climate change risks are an increasingly important consideration in many decisions with long-term implications, such as choices around economic development and infrastructure investment. It does not make sense to invest in projects that will be destroyed by sea-level rise or undermined by sustained drought. The enormous uncertainty associated with climate change makes it difficult, however, for decision-makers to plan ahead. This is particularly true in developing countries, where pressing needs like poverty reduction often trump long-term considerations about sustainability.

In Dispute Resolution, Try Going to the Top

Posted by & filed under Dispute Resolution.

When two parties are attempting to resolve a contentious dispute, the most effective peacemakers may be those at the highest levels. That’s the lesson from recent productive talks between President Obama and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai on the issue of rules for detaining terrorism suspects.

Why Busy People Like Drafts

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

How can you gain an edge when you’re in the seemingly weak position of negotiating a favor from a government or powerful bureaucracy? Present the other side with a draft agreement that authorizes or approves your request. Busy bureaucrats who lack a strong grasp of the details at hand are likely to seize on your text as a time-saver. That’s precisely why Washington lobbyists put drafts of the laws they desire, usually written by high-priced attorneys, in the hands of congressional staff.

The Perils of Powerful Speech

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations.

Death to modifiers! All hail the active verb. Be succinct. These are some of Strunk and White’s commandments for simple and direct writing from The Elements of Style. They may also be effective guidelines for establishing verbal power in negotiation – though not always, it turns out.