Recent Posts

Balancing Competing Interests, Waxman Style

By on / Daily, Negotiation Skills

What if you were Henry Waxman?

Waxman, in case you haven’t been following the healthcare debate closely, is a man in the middle. The Democratic representative from California is chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and a famed Congressional dealmaker. As a key player in health reform, one of the most complex multi-party negotiations … Read Balancing Competing Interests, Waxman Style

Mnookin Calls for Mediation

By on / Daily, Mediation, News

In an interview with the Boston Globe, Professor Robert H. Mnookin, Chair of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, responds to the national debate on the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Lewis Gates, Jr..

Mnookin calls for mediation to resolve the conflict between Prof. Gates and the arresting officer. Click here to read … Read Mnookin Calls for Mediation

Become a Better Haggler

By on / Business Negotiations

Imagine you’re celebrating a special occasion with friends at an upscale restaurant. Soon after you take your seats, the wine director introduces himself and hands you a list of high-end bottles of wine. You notice that the prices—all in the $200–$600 range—have been slashed through with a red pen. … Read Become a Better Haggler

Negotiation Journal July issue focuses on mediation, multi-party negotiation, trade negotiations and curiosity

By on / Daily, Mediation

As the use of mediation continues to grow, researchers continue to examine what makes mediators effective and what the impact of mediation is on parties in dispute. Four articles in the July 2009 issue of Negotiation Journal provide an in-depth view of mediation effectiveness, with some interesting findings.

In the first article, Stephen Goldberg, Margaret Shaw, … Read More

Obama healthcare moves follow Harvard playbook

By on / Daily, Negotiation Skills

President Obama’s healthcare reform game plan is classic “3-D Negotiation,” a strategy developed at the Harvard Program on Negotiation.

We have no idea whether the President or his aides are students of the Harvard approach, as set out by Prof. James K. Sebenius, vice chair of the Program on Negotiation, and co-author David Lax, in their … Read Obama healthcare moves follow Harvard playbook

Discussing the bottom line in budget negotiations

By on / Daily, Negotiation Skills

The PON Clearinghouse offers hundreds of role simulations, from two-party, single-issue negotiations to complex multi-party exercises. Multimode, Inc. is a two-party intra-organization negotiation between a company’s financial and human resources officers regarding the amount of a budget increase.

SCENARIO: T. Boyd, a Vice President of Budget and Finance at Multimode, Inc., (a manufacturing firm) … Read Discussing the bottom line in budget negotiations

Sharing the market

By on / Daily, Negotiation Skills

The PON Clearinghouse offers hundreds of role simulations, from two-party, single-issue negotiations to complex multi-party exercises.  The Pepulator Pricing Exercise is a two-team, scoreable, multiple round, “prisoner’s dilemma”-style negotiation between representatives of two companies over the monthly price for fictional products called “pepulators”.

SCENARIO: The pepulator market is controlled by two giant … Read Sharing the market

Instructing the negotiator

By on / Daily, Negotiation Skills

The Clearinghouse at PON offers hundreds of role simulations, from two-party, single-issue negotiations to complex multi-party exercises. The Ship Bumping Case is a two-party international negotiation between Russian and U.S. negotiators over a naval incident. Teams internally prepare instructions for a representative not involved in the preparation.

SCENARIO: Vessels from the United States … Read Instructing the negotiator

2009 Winner of the Roger Fisher/Frank E. A. Sander Student Paper Prize Announced

By on / Awards, Grants, and Fellowships, Daily, News

Congratulations to Sean McDonnell (HLS ’09), the 2009 Fisher/Sander Prize Winner, for his paper “Fighting With Faith: The Role of Religion in Dealing With Modern Conflict.”

This prize was established in 2007 by the Program on Negotiation in honor of Professors Roger Fisher, the Williston Professor of Law, Emeritus, and Frank E. A. Sander, the Bussey … Read More

Harvard Negotiation Institute Begins!

By on / Daily

On the morning of June 8, 2009, hundreds of participants from around the world began their week-long intensive Basic Negotiation Workshop and Mediation Workshop.  Participants will engage with instructors Bruce Patton and Frank Sander for five days of interactive study.  There are still seats available in our 2-Day Intensive  Basic Negotiation course, which begins Thursday, … Read Harvard Negotiation Institute Begins!