Business Negotiations

Adapted from “A Fresh Look Through the Glass Ceiling,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Women are less likely to seize opportunities to negotiate than men, Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever documented in their widely-read book Women Don’t Ask. Subsequent research has indicated that, when they do negotiate on their own behalf, women ask for and … Read Negotiation and the Glass Ceiling

Adapted from “Putting More on the Table: How Making Multiple Offers Can Increase the Final Value of the Deal,” by Victoria Husted Medvec and Adam D. Galinsky (professors, Northwestern University), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Suppose you open talks with an important customer by making an aggressive first offer. He becomes offended. You back off … Read Put More on the Table

James K. Sebenius (Program on Negotiation Executive Committee Vice-Chair; Gordon Donaldson Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Co-author of 3-D Negotiation)

Negotiators are often too confident of their own position and too quick to demonize the other side. In this article, the author describes steps to conquer these damaging biases.

Read More … Learn More About This Program

Adapted from “The Deal Is Done—Now What?” by Jeswald W. Salacuse (professor, Tufts University). First published in the Negotiation newsletter.

At last, the deal is done. After 18 months of negotiation, eight trips across the country, and countless meetings, you’ve finally signed a contract. It’s clear and precise. It covers all the contingencies and has … Read What to do When the Ink is Dry

Adapted from “Leading Horses to Water,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

The hardest step in negotiation is often the first. Costly lawsuits can drag on if everyone is afraid to be the first to blink. Prospective buyers and sellers can waste endless hours dancing around a possible deal. And in collective bargaining, labor and management … Read How to Get to the Table

Adapted from “How to Negotiate Successfully Online,” by Kathleen L. McGinn (professor, Harvard Business School) and Eric J. Wilson (Cogos Consulting), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

The intricacies of electronic negotiation can be dizzying. You’re likely to find yourself communicating with numerous people you’ve never met about issues you each value differently, and you all … Read Negotiating Online? Meet Face to Face First

Lawrence Susskind (Ford professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology; co-author of Built to Win, Breaking Robert’s Rules and Breaking the Impasse)

Putting a dispute handling system in place has been shown to eliminate many disagreements or misunderstandings. So why are some industries reluctant to do so? In this posting, the author … Read Dispute Prevention: It’s a Good Idea, Right?

Adapted from “Strategies for Overcoming E-Mail’s Weaknesses,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Negotiators communicating via e-mail can easily be blinded to the medium’s pitfalls. In her research, professor Janice Nadler of Northwestern University Law School confirms that the “impoverished” nature of e-mail—its dearth of physical, social, and vocal cues—often leads to misunderstandings, ambiguous messages, and … Read Improve Your Online Negotiation Results