Increasingly, business negotiators recognize that the most effective bargainers are skilled at both creating value and claiming value—that is, they both collaborate and compete. The following 10 negotiation skills will help you succeed at integrative negotiation.
… Read More 
Discover step-by-step techniques for avoiding common business negotiation pitfalls when you download a copy of the FREE special report, Business Negotiation Strategies: How to Negotiate Better Business Deals, from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.
contingent contract
The following items are tagged contingent contract:
Business Negotiation Strategies: How to Negotiate Better Business Deals
New Free Report – Business Negotiation Strategies: How to Negotiate Better Business Deals
… Read More
Contingency Contracts in Business Negotiations
Question: Lately I have been hearing a lot—both in the news and on the job—about companies using contingencies in contracts. Given that I sometimes negotiate deals that entail a lot of risk regarding how future events will play out, I am interested to know how contingencies work and how I might use them.
… Read More
Dealmaking: Secrets of Successful Dealmaking in Business Negotiations
Discover how to boost your power at the bargaining table in this free special report, Dealmaking: Secrets of Successful Dealmaking in Business Negotiations, from Harvard Law School.
… Read More
Negotiation Techniques To Get New Business Partnerships Off on the Right Foot
“A huge mistake.” “A shot in the dark.” “An audacious move.” Those are a few of the media’s characterizations of wireless carrier AT&T’s acquisition of media and entertainment firm Time Warner, announced on October 22, 2016, for $85.4 billion.
… Read More
Try a Contingent Contract if You Can’t Agree on What Will Happen
In negotiation, all the goodwill, trust, and cooperation you create can seem useless if you and your negotiating counterpart disagree about how future events may play out. In such cases, a contingent contract can be a highly useful, though widely overlooked, tool for creating value in negotiation.
… Read More
Using Integrative Negotiation Techniques to Close the Deal
Like a contingency, a condition to a deal is a related though far less common deal-structuring technique. A condition is an ‘if’ statement like a contingency, but, whereas a contingency depends on unknown future events, a condition is entirely within the control of the parties involved.
… Read More
In Contract Negotiation, Wise Business Negotiators Sweat the Small Stuff
What are business negotiators responsible for in contract negotiation? Many would say they’re in charge of building relationships and new business, crafting creative solutions, and fighting for the best deal possible. Few, however, would say they’re responsible for ensuring that the deal holds up well over time.
… Read More
7 Tips for Closing the Deal in Negotiations
“ABC: Always Be Closing.” That’s the sales strategy that actor Alec Baldwin’s character Blake shared in the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross as he tried to motivate a group of real estate salesmen. In his verbally abusive, profanity-laced speech, Blake presented a ruthless model of closing a business deal that ignores customers’ needs and cuts … Read More
Top 10 Notable Negotiations
In 2017, all eyes were on Washington as a president with a reputation as a dealmaker entered the White House. The following negotiations from the past year, both inside and outside of politics, caught our eye due to the broader lessons they offer business negotiators.
… Read More
A Contingent Agreement Can Allow Negotiators to Agree to Disagree
Negotiators often try to overcome their differences of opinion about how future events will unfold through persuasion techniques. A more fruitful approach might be to “bet” on your differing views with a contingent agreement. By adding incentives or penalties based on future performance to your contract, you protect both parties against risk.
… Read More
Notable Negotiations of 2017
Our notable negotiations of 2017 includes hits and misses from entertainment, sports, business, and especially politics, due to a new rough-and-tumble era in Washington.
… Read More
Steelers Find Mutual Gains In “Non-Negotiation” with Antonio Brown
The National Football League’s Pittsburgh Steelers faced a dilemma. Mid-contract, the team’s star wide receiver, Antonio Brown, asked the team to improve upon the six-year, $42.5 million deal they negotiated back in 2012. Brown had risen to become the best receiver in football and believed he was underpaid.
… Read More
Dear Negotiation Coach: Negotiating Upgrades
Q: My company, a large multinational, contracts with an outside vendor for some of our software infrastructure. Due to new regulatory requirements, we have asked the vendor’s team to upgrade certain features of the software. We think that we should get these upgrades for free because these enhanced features may be needed by their other clients … Read More
Tired of Liars? Promote More Ethical Behavior in Negotiation
To hear many people tell it, deception is on an upswing in society. In 2005, responding to what he saw as a growing disregard for facts in the public sphere, talk-show host Stephen Colbert used the term “truthiness” to refer to popular beliefs that feel true but actually are not. During the 2016 U.S. presidential … Read More
Promoting Fair Outcomes in Negotiation
So, you believe you’ve done everything you can do create value in your negotiation. You engaged in logrolling, making trades based on your and the other party’s different preferences on particular issues. You brainstormed new issues to add to the discussion, added a contingent contract, and proposed multiple offers simultaneously to identify which your counterpart … Read More
Taking the Plunge: How a Controversial Partnership was Born
“A huge mistake.” “A shot in the dark.” “An audacious move.” Those are just a few of the media’s characterizations of wireless carrier AT&T’s acquisition of media and entertainment firm Time Warner, announced on October 22 of last year. As of November, it was the biggest merger of 2016, with $85.4 billion in cash and … Read More
Contract Negotiations: Before You Sign on the Dotted Line
When times are tight, contracts are often broken. These days, parties on both sides of sales agreements are struggling to fulfill their promises, and contract workers are having trouble getting paid by their employers.
… Read More
Entrepreneurs: Prepare to overcome key negotiation challenges
Start-ups and individual entrepreneurs often encounter roadblocks when negotiating with potential partners and investors. When you are trying to sell others on your big idea or venture, you face the daunting challenge of convincing them that it’s worth their time, money, and effort. And even as you’re drawing on all your powers of persuasion to … Read More
How to Prepare for Changing Conditions at the Negotiation Table: Bargaining Strategies for Integrative Negotiations and Dispute Resolution
These article offers some negotiation tips for negotiators attempting to reconcile two disparate estimations of future events during the course of a negotiated agreement.
… Read More
To Reduce Post-Deal Regret, Take an Analytical Approach
Dissatisfied with her first book contract, comedian Amy Schumer canceled it and negotiated a different one.
A better strategy? Lessen your odds of disappointment from the start.
In 2012, David Hirshey, senior vice president and executive editor of publisher HarperCollins, saw Amy Schumer’s stand-up comedy act and was so impressed by the rising star that he offered … Read More
Dear Negotiation Coach: Negotiations Stalled Over Price
I am trying to buy a smaller company in my industry, but the negotiations have stalled over price.
It probably won’t surprise you to hear the seller thinks his company is worth a lot more than I think it is. So far we have been talking about doing a straight cash deal, but now I’m contemplating … Read More
Negotiation Skills: Should Put Off What You Could Negotiate Today?
To reach agreement, negotiators sometimes postpone the resolution of certain issues until a later date. We look at how this practice plays out in the real world. Remember the federal debt ceiling talks? In mid-2011, congressional Republicans insisted on significant spending reductions from their Democratic counterparts in exchange for voting to raise the nation’s debt … Read More
Dealmaking: Help Your Agreement Go the Distance
Help your agreement go the distance If your deal doesn’t work in the real world, it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on. Here’s expert advice on increasing the odds of successful implementation.
… Read More
Learning from the deficit-reduction talks
Does anyone down there know how to cut a deal?” Senate Republican Mitch McConnell said to Vice President Joe Biden. It was Sunday, December 30, 2012, the day before the “fiscal cliff ” deadline, and the minority leader had phoned Biden out of a sense of desperation, report Patrick O’Connor and Peter Nicholas in the … Read More
Negotiator toolbox: Capitalize on differences
The problem: You and your negotiating counterpart express differing opinions about the future success, performance, or timeliness of an item or service. A homeowner might be skeptical of a contractor’s promise to complete an extensive remodeling project within six months, for instance. Differing forecasts can breed suspicion and stand in the way of agreement.
The tool: … Read More
Don’t rush into a flawed contract
Adapted from “A Contingent Contract? Weigh the Costs and Benefits of Making a ‘Bet’,” by Guhan Subramanian (professor, Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter, August 2006.
Contracts in professional sports are often chock-full of contingencies -“bets” that parties place on their different expectations of future outcomes – and former … Read More
Get the Kinks Out
Adapted from “Should You Get the Kinks Out?” by Ian Larkin (professor, Harvard Business School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.
You may have heard about the power of contingent contracts in negotiation. As an example, imagine that a supplier has proposed you pay a bonus of 10% if the fault rate for its products is … Read More
The negotiating QB
Adapted from “The Brett Favre Trade: A Win-win Deal in a Win-lose Game,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.
In the middle of the National Football League’s off-season, as legendary quarterback Brett Favre weighs for the third year in a row whether to return to football or accept retirement, it’s worth revisiting the negotiations behind his … Read More
Fall 2020 HARVARD NEGOTIATION MASTER CLASS
2020 Programs
Summer Programs
Contact us: Call 1-800-391-8629 (outside the US: +1-301-528-2676) between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET any business day or email hni@law.harvard.edu
Articles & Insights
BATNA
- Business Negotiations
- Conflict Resolution
- Crisis Negotiations
- Combatting COVID-19 with Common Interests
- What is Crisis Management in Negotiation?
- Famous Negotiations Cases – NBA and the Power of Deadlines at the Bargaining Table
- Harvard Law Professor Guhan Subramanian Moderates Panel on Difficult Negotiation Scenarios
- Police Negotiation Techniques from the NYPD Crisis Negotiations Team
- Dealing with Difficult People
- Dealing with Difficult People: Lies, Lies, and More Lies
- How to Deal with Difficult Customers
- Managing Difficult Conversations: Achieving Objectives with Backmapping Negotiation Strategies
- When Dealing with Difficult People, Try a Complementary Approach
- Ethics in Negotiations: How to Deal with Deception at the Bargaining Table
- Dealmaking
- How Does Mediation Work in a Lawsuit?
- Dealmaking Tips: 7 Negotiation Tactics for Saving a Deal from Collapse
- Business Contract Mistakes—and How to Avoid Them
- Lessons for Business Negotiators: Negotiation Techniques from International Diplomacy
- Business Negotiation Skills: How to Enhance Your Negotiated Agreement
- Dispute Resolution
- 3 Negotiation Strategies for Conflict Resolution
- Win Win Negotiation Example – Change the Name of the Game
- What are the Three Basic Types of Dispute Resolution? What to Know About Mediation, Arbitration, and Litigation
- Patience is a Winning Negotiation Skill for Getting What You Want at the Negotiation Table
- How Fast-Food Workers Used Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to Demand Higher Wages
- International Negotiation
- Negotiation Case Studies: The Bangladesh Factory-Safety Agreements
- A Crisis Negotiations Case Study: Chen Guangcheng, the United States, China, and Diplomatic Negotiations
- Overcoming Cultural Barriers in Negotiation: China and the Gold Rush Mentality
- How to Overcome Cultural Barriers in Negotiation
- Negotiation Analysis: The US, Taliban, and the Bergdahl Exchange
- Leadership Skills
- How to Negotiate in Cross-Cultural Situations
- Organizational Leadership in High-Stakes Business Negotiations
- Negotiations, Gender, and Status at the Bargaining Table
- Leadership Styles in Negotiation: The Case of Ebay and Paypal
- Leadership Skills in Negotiation: How to Negotiate Equity Incentives with Senior Management
- Mediation
- Undecided on Your Dispute Resolution Process? Combine Mediation and Arbitration, Known as Med-Arb
- How Mediation Can Help Resolve Pro Sports Disputes
- Definition of Mediation and the Mediation Process: The Impact of Lawyers on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
- Why is Negotiation Important: Mediation in Transactional Negotiations
- Mediation: Sitting Down at the Table
- Negotiation Skills
- Negotiation Training
- Salary Negotiations
- Teaching Negotiation
- Win-Win Negotiations