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

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

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

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

Upset by a delay in the delivery of one of your products, a longtime buyer threatens to turn to the media unless you meet his extreme demands. Not only is the relationship in jeopardy, but your company’s reputation seems to be as well. What should you do?

Let’s explore another relm of negotiation advice for an … Read Think Like a Hostage Negotiator

The Clearinghouse at PON offers hundreds of role simulations, from two-party, single-issue negotiations to complex multi-party exercises. Win as Much as You Can is a four-person, simplified, iterated prisoner’s dilemma exercise.

SCENARIO: This exercise is analytically similar to both the Oil Pricing and Pepulator Pricing exercises. Participants’ sole objective is to maximize their … Read Practice taking risks

On the heels of an intricate negotiation, conditions change for the worse. Crops fail, the price of oil skyrockets, one side issues an earnings restatement, or the market as a whole is a lot less promising than it was when you negotiated the initial terms. Suddenly your agreement has lost its luster. How should you … Read Keeping Your Cool when the Negotiations Get Hot

Common psychological barriers lead us to overvalue our possessions. That can be a problem when it’s time to get rid of them. Some possessions truly are priceless—we wouldn’t part with them for any amount of money. Others are virtually priceless, or “pseudosacred,” according to Harvard Business School professor Max Bazerman. We might claim that these … Read You Want How Much for the Mug?!

Facilitation works best when a facilitator is matched properly to the group and to the situation. Look out for these signs of trouble that may suggest that you need a different facilitator, or that facilitation may not be working for your group:

Poor chemistry. Your facilitator’s personal style may be too forceful, or not forceful enough, … Read When Facilitation Goes Wrong