Recent Posts

Announcing the 2010-2011 PON Graduate Research Fellows

By on / Daily, Graduate Research Fellowships, PON Graduate Research Fellowships

The Program on Negotiation Graduate Research Fellowships are designed to encourage young scholars from the social sciences and professional disciplines to pursue theoretical, empirical, and/or applied research in negotiation and dispute resolution. Consistent with the PON goal of fostering the development of the next generation of scholars, this program provides support for one year of … Read More

When incentives strike out

By on / Business Negotiations, Daily

Adapted from “Managers: Think Twice before Setting Negotiation Goals,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

The next time you’re tempted to dangle performance incentives in front of your employees, think about whether it could backfire.

As an illustration, let’s look at Major League Baseball manager Joe Torre’s renegotiation with the New York Yankees in October 2007. Torre … Read When incentives strike out

Know your rights!

By on / Business Negotiations, Daily

Adapted from “Matching Rights: A Boon to Both Sides,” by Guhan Subramanian (professor, Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

As dealmakers look for more sophisticated ways to reduce risks and increase returns, a matching right—a contractual guarantee that one side can match any offer that the other side … Read Know your rights!

Teams across cultures

By on / Daily, International Negotiation

Adapted from “Team Negotiating: Strength in Numbers?”, first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

According to conventional wisdom, when it comes to negotiation, there’s strength in numbers. Indeed, several experimental studies have supported the notion that you should bring at least one other person from your organization to the bargaining table if you can. On average, this … Read Teams across cultures

After the deal is inked

By on / Daily, Negotiation Skills

Adapted from “Uncover Hidden Value with a Post-settlement Settlement,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

You’ve reached an agreement that you find satisfactory and your counterpart does as well-but you can’t shake the sense that you could have done even better. For example, you might be happy with the price you achieved in a purchasing contract … Read After the deal is inked

Get the sequence right

By on / Daily, Negotiation Skills

Adapted from “Set off a Chain Reaction,” by Michael Wheeler (professor, Harvard Business School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Artful sequencing in negotiation means lining up deals so that each agreement increases the odds of nailing down the next one. A hedge fund manager might find that certain investors will decline to put their … Read Get the sequence right

How entitled are you?

By on / Daily, Negotiation Skills

Adapted from “Entitlement in Negotiation,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Simon Gachter of the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland and Arno Riedl of the University of Amsterdam studied the tendency of negotiators to maintain allegiance to past norms concerning entitlement, even when those norms are unrelated to the parties’ real bargaining power. The researchers … Read How entitled are you?

Aim high…or not?

By on / Daily, Negotiation Skills

Adapted from “How High Should You Aim?”, first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Research shows that moderately difficult goals can energize people and increase their performance. In negotiation, parties with relatively high aspirations often negotiate higher individual payoffs. But there can be a downside: impasse and unethical behavior may be more likely.

In a study conducted by … Read Aim high…or not?

A nudge in the right direction

By on / Negotiation Skills

Adapted from the Negotiation newsletter.

A bank in the Philippines started a program that encouraged would-be nonsmokers to open savings accounts and, for six months, deposit the amount they would have spent on cigarettes. Customers who tested clean for nicotine after six months got their money back; otherwise, the funds were donated to charity. The program … Read A nudge in the right direction

When “fairness” is a distraction

By on / Daily, Negotiation Skills

Adapted from “Accept or Reject?” by Deepak Malhotra (professor, Harvard Business School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Negotiators usually have strong feelings about fairness. Unfortunately, our fairness perceptions tend to be biased in a self-serving manner. Research has shown that, at the end of a negotiation, most people feel they were more cooperative … Read When “fairness” is a distraction

What should journalists and conflict management professionals learn from each other?

By on / Conflict Resolution

“In the Global Village, Can War Survive?” by Program on Negotiation managing director Susan G. Hackley looks at the work of journalists and conflict management professionals, two groups who operate in the demanding world of conflict, and suggests ways they could – and should – learn from each other. “Conflict management professionals should tell their … Read More