Recent Posts

Dear Negotiation Coach: How Can I Use Deal Structuring and Negotiating to Resolve an Impasse?

By on / Dealmaking

When two sides seem far apart on a contract dispute, careful and creative deal structuring and negotiating can often result in a winning agreement for both sides. Here’s an example of how that might look in a business deal, based on a question we recently received.

“My company, a large multinational, contracts with an outside vendor … Read More

Salary Expectations: Calibrating Pay During a Labor Shortage

By on / Salary Negotiations

Employers may strive to set and negotiate salaries in a fair manner, but numerous factors can affect employees’ salary expectations and lead employees to believe they are being treated unfairly.

Consider Karen Womack, a warehouse manager at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park, the home of Major League Baseball’s Seattle Mariners. Womack was earning $16.70 per hour before the … Read More

Using Business Negotiation Skills To Move a Deal in your Favor

By on / Salary Negotiations

Performers have increasingly learned business negotiation skills and played an outsized role in shaping plays and musicals vying for a Broadway stage. In 2016, the original off-Broadway cast of Hamilton negotiated with the show’s producers to acknowledge their contributions to the hit musical by guaranteeing them a small share of the show’s profits.

With other actors … Read More

Dear Negotiation Coach: International Cultural Differences Around Trust

By on / Negotiation Skills

When choosing new business partners, we size them up to decide whether they are trustworthy. Interestingly, international cultural differences can influence the way in which we make such determinations, Jeanne Brett, Professor Emeritus of Management & Organizations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and Louisiana State University professor Tyree Mitchell found in a new … Read More

Building a Winning Team: Learn from the Disharmony of Trump’s Trade Negotiations with China

By on / International Negotiation

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly asserted that if he were elected, eliminating the U.S. trade deficit with China would be a top priority. But once in office, Trump was alternately swayed by opposing factions in his administration: pro-business moderates and America-first trade hawks. The resulting roller-coaster ride, as summarized in the Wall Street Journal, serves … Read More

Dear Negotiation Coach: Am I Using Deceptive Tactics in Negotiation?

By on / Dealmaking

Ethical negotiators try not to use deceptive tactics in negotiation situations. However, there’s one negotiation technique that may not feel deceptive, but it can slip under the radar and cause problems later. We spoke with Francesca Gino, Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration, Negotiation, Organizations and Markets Unit at Harvard Business School. We asked her … Read More

Effective Leadership: Learning from David Cameron’s Failed Brexit Negotiations

By on / International Negotiation

Leaders sometimes need to devote significant time to convincing a counterpart of the logic and appeal of their proposals. What happens when they need to persuade negotiators on opposite sides of an issue to see your point of view? Such situations highlight why negotiation is important in leadership, as effective leadership can require special skills … Read More