In challenging economic times, negotiators can find themselves in an entirely new ball game. That’s what happened to actor Brad Pitt, film director Steven Soderbergh, and their production team when Sony Pictures abruptly pulled the plug on their film project Moneyball just days before the start of shooting in late June. … Read More
Balancing Competing Interests, Waxman Style
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
Wall Street Journal promotes Alternative Dispute Resolution for Gates/Crowley conflict
As the controversy surrounding the arrest of Harvard Prof. Henry Louis Gates heats up, the Wall Street Journal weighs in on Alternative Dispute Resolution. Click here to read more… … Read More
Mnookin Calls for Mediation
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Coping with cultural differences
Have you ever found yourself negotiating with people from other cultures, whether at home or abroad? If so, did you try to adapt your negotiating style to fit the other person or team’s culture, and if so, how?
Most negotiators understand that cultural differences are likely to be a factor in negotiations. Unfortunately, many negotiators actually … Read Coping with cultural differences