We at the Program on Negotiation wish all of our friends a very happy holiday season. We are honored to work with you in helping improve the theory and practice of negotiation, conflict management, and problem-solving, at home and around the world. Best wishes for a joyful 2014! … Read More

On November 24, the United States and five other world powers announced an interim agreement to temporarily freeze Iran’s nuclear program. The six-month accord is meant to give international negotiators time to negotiate a more comprehensive pact that would remove the threat of Iran producing nuclear weapons. … Read “Sacred Values” Crop Up in Conflict Management

When choosing a mediator, keep in mind that you need not accept the proposals that he makes. In other words, you have total power to prevent mediation from leading to an undesirable outcome.

As a result, the only risk of mediation is that you will expend time and money without reaching agreement.

According to experts, mediation success … Read Three Things to Consider When Choosing a Mediator

As state and local governments in the United States have been stretched to the breaking point, conflicts between public-sector employers and employees have become increasingly acrimonious, often resulting in stalemates.

When governments and employee unions reach impasse, they often turn to alternative dispute-resolution practices such as mediation and arbitration. Though these practices can be successful, the … Read More

In his best-selling novel Blink, Malcolm Gladwell scans the psychological literature and uncovers fascinating nuggets of knowledge.

He describes people who can assess the integrity of a work of art within seconds, predict the likelihood that a couple will get divorced based on a short conversation, and assess their romantic interest in another on a “speed … Read Dealmaking: Why It’s Tempting to Trust Your Gut

A European Union summit held in late October failed to make much headway toward better coordination of economic policies, the Wall Street Journal reports. Facing resistance from Germany in particular, European officials are growing pessimistic regarding their odds of negotiating a deal over the next year to lay the foundation for a banking union for … Read More

Some might argue that confrontation is inevitable. But a wide range of collaborative efforts around the country have shown that it can be avoided.

How can negotiators find their way into the trading zone quickly and easily?

One proven method is joint fact finding. … Read More

A lack of transparency regarding negotiations between hospitals and the insurers known as preferred provider organizations, or PPOs, is a key contributor to spiraling health-care costs in the United States, according to an August article in the New York Times.

The problem starts with the somewhat arbitrary, sky-high prices that hospitals put on their supplies and … Read Will you behave ethically?

Joint fact finding is a multistep, collaborative process for bringing together negotiating partners with different interests, values, and perspectives. Here are the five stages through which joint fact finding typically proceeds. … Read More

Stefanos Mouzas is Professor of Marketing and Strategy at Lancaster University Management School in England, where he is also affiliated with the Center of Law and Society. He received his B.Sc. (Economics) from the University of Athens, LL.M. (Contract Law) from University of Bristol, and Ph.D. (Marketing) from Lancaster University. He was Visiting Professor … Read More

Not all matching rights are created equal.

As the prospective right holder, you should know precisely what a proposed matching right will give you. Many deals that seem to guarantee a matching right are, in fact, murky about the exact consequences that could arise.

For potential right holders, the most common mistake is to fail to specify … Read More