Deals
HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL (2267)
WINTER 2014
Instructor:
Kevin P. Mohan
This advanced negotiation course includes both negotiation simulations and analysis of actual corporate deals. In the first part of the course, students will participate in complex negotiation simulations and debrief their results in class. In the second part of the course, student teams will research and analyze real world corporate and other transactions in order to present their most important aspects and lessons to the class. For some of these presentations, the lawyers, bankers, and/or principals who participated in the transaction under discussion may assist in the team’s assessment.
Topics developed throughout the course include: how negotiators create and claim value through the setup, design, and tactical implementation of agreements; complexities that can arise through agency, asymmetric information, moral hazard, and adverse selection; structural, psychological, and interpersonal barriers that can hinder agreement; and the particular challenges inherent in the roles of advisors as negotiators. The course will also explore the differences between deal-making and dispute resolution; single-issue and multiple-issue negotiations; and between two parties and multiple parties.
The basic Negotiations class is a suggested prerequisite. Evaluation will be on the basis of class participation and a team project based on analyzing and presenting a deal. Students can alternatively choose to write a paper instead of the project.