A Case Study of Conflict Management and Negotiation
Recent research by Dora Lau, Keith Murnighan and later Katerina Bezrukova shows that the composition of negotiation teams dramatically shapes outcomes. Groups split along visible demographic lines—age, gender, race—create strong fault lines that spark dysfunctional conflict and depress performance. By contrast, fault lines based on information such as education or work experience generate functional conflict, leading to better negotiation results. The studies advise managers to design teams that minimize demographic clustering and instead emphasize complementary expertise to harness diversity as a strategic asset.
For Sellers, The Anchoring Effects of a Hidden Price Can Offer Advantages
Luxury sellers sometimes omit a listing price, inviting buyers to submit opening bids. The tactic leverages scarcity and the psychological pull of hidden value, as illustrated by a Palo Alto home that sold for $7 million after being listed "price on...
From Agent to Advisor: How AI Is Transforming Negotiation
The Program on Negotiation’s 2025 AI Negotiation Summit at MIT highlighted a wave of research showing AI can act as a backstage coach, trainer, and even a negotiating partner. Projects ranged from an eviction‑court AI advisor to a caregiving negotiation...
How to Negotiate a Pay Raise or Starting Salary Using AI
Employees and job seekers are increasingly turning to AI tools like ChatGPT to research salaries, craft negotiation arguments, and rehearse scripts. However, studies show the model can overstate compensation—for example, quoting $100‑120k for a five‑year software engineer versus the $87k...
Copyright Negotiation: In Dealmaking with Tom Petty, Sam Smith Backs Down
In early 2015, Sam Smith’s hit “Stay With Me” was found to echo Tom Petty’s 1989 song “I Won’t Back Down.” After publishers flagged the similarity, the parties reached a private settlement granting Petty and co‑writer Jeff Lynne a 12.5% songwriting credit and an equal...
Confronting Implicit Biases That Hinder Diversity and Inclusion
Harvard’s Program on Negotiation interviewed authors of *Race, Work & Leadership* about the covert biases that keep Black professionals out of senior roles. Research cited shows Black‑sounding names, ethnic hairstyles, and performance evaluations systematically disadvantage Black candidates. The experts propose...
Conflict Resolution Examples in History: Learning From Nuclear Disarmament
The Nunn‑Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, co‑authored by Senators Richard Lugar and Sam Nunn, dismantled over 7,500 strategic nuclear warheads and 1,400 missiles in its first two decades. The initiative showed how U.S. funding and diplomatic coordination can enable former...
Dispute Resolution for India and Bangladesh
India and Bangladesh finally resolved a centuries‑old enclave dispute by swapping 162 tiny territories that together cover about 15 square miles. The 2015 agreement, signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka, also secured roughly $5 billion in Indian investment...
Advantages and Disadvantages of Leadership Styles: Uncovering Bias and Generating Mutual Gains
The article examines how leadership styles shape gender bias, citing Google’s struggle with a male‑dominant workforce and low female representation in technical and managerial roles. It details Google’s response—unconscious‑bias workshops, video lectures, and promotion‑process checks—to curb a 1% evaluation bias...
Planning for Cyber Defense of Critical Urban Infrastructure
Cybersecurity for critical urban infrastructure has become a public‑safety priority as ransomware attacks increasingly target city services, especially water and transportation systems. Attackers exploit phishing and weak user credentials, often encrypting data and demanding cryptocurrency payments. Municipalities frequently lack robust...
Moral Leadership: Do Women Negotiate More Ethically than Men?
Recent research from Harvard’s Program on Negotiation and university scholars finds that women are generally less likely to employ deceptive tactics in negotiations, with 11% using deception compared with 25% of men. The studies link this gap to stronger moral...
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Techniques: Negotiating Conditions
The article explains how adding explicit conditions to an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process can turn a stalemate into a deal. It contrasts conditions—process‑based “if” statements that parties control—with contingencies that depend on uncertain future events. Real‑world examples include a...
Power in Negotiation: Examples of Being Overly Committed to the Deal
The article warns that negotiators often fall into an escalation‑of‑commitment trap, illustrated by three real‑world cases—a Boston couple’s home sale, a car buyer forced to negotiate in person, and a telecommuter dealing with a carpenter. It explains how one side...
Leading Vs. Managing: What’s the Difference?
Harvard professor John Kotter distinguishes leadership from management, defining management as the discipline of planning, budgeting, organizing, staffing, and controlling to keep an organization on time and on budget. Leadership, by contrast, creates movement through vision, alignment, and motivation, driving...
Individual Differences in Negotiation—And How They Affect Results
A Harvard‑based study led by Hillary Anger Elfenbein found that individual differences explain roughly 49% of the variance in negotiators’ performance and satisfaction. The research categorizes these differences into personality traits, cognitive‑emotional‑creativity factors, and underlying motivations. Extroversion, mood, openness, cognitive complexity,...
Conflict Management Skills When Dealing with an Angry Public
The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School argues that handling an angry public requires treating the situation as a negotiation rather than a pure public‑relations crisis. Executives should acknowledge the audience’s concerns, use empathy, and search for trade‑offs that...
What Is Alternative Dispute Resolution?
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) offers parties a way to settle conflicts without going to court, using neutral third parties such as mediators or arbitrators. Mediation focuses on collaborative, non‑binding agreements, while arbitration results in a binding, confidential decision. The article...
Salary Negotiation Strategies in the NBA and Beyond
The NBA’s 2016 nine‑year, $24 billion TV contract tripled league revenue, prompting a 32% jump in the salary cap to $94.1 million per team. Teams responded with a spending spree, signing roughly 150 free agents to $3.6 billion in contracts, many of which...
Employment Negotiations: To Poach or Not to Poach?
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is personally courting OpenAI engineers for his new Meta Superintelligence Labs, reportedly extending compensation packages as high as $300 million over four years. OpenAI has responded with counteroffers, including signing bonuses up to $100 million and expanded responsibilities,...
The Star Wars Negotiations and Trust at the Negotiation Table
In October 2012 Disney announced a $4.05 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm, split evenly between cash and stock, after a year‑and‑a‑half of direct negotiations with founder George Lucas. CEO Robert Iger personally led the talks, using trust‑building tactics such as high‑level involvement, patience, and...
How to Deal with Threats: 4 Negotiation Tips for Managing Conflict at the Bargaining Table
Negotiators frequently encounter threats—walk‑away warnings, lawsuits, or reputation attacks—that can derail talks. The Harvard Program on Negotiation recommends the DEAL framework: Diagnose the threat, Express understanding, Ask probing questions, and Label the behavior. By pausing, assessing motives, and responding strategically,...
Ripeness Theory in Dispute Resolution: Seizing the Day
The Minnesota Orchestra faced a financial crisis in 2012, prompting CEO Michael Henson to propose a 32% salary cut for musicians, from $113,000 to $78,000. Musicians rejected the offer, leading to a lockout that lasted over a year and the...
Directive Leadership: When It Does—And Doesn’t—Work
Directive leadership, often viewed as outdated, remains valuable in contexts demanding clear guidance and rapid decisions. Research from the 1970s to recent studies shows it excels when tasks are ambiguous or crises familiar, delivering faster, more accurate outcomes. However, the...
Dealing with Challenging Negotiators
Harvard’s Program on Negotiation synthesizes recent research on handling tough counterparts. A study shows mixed‑motive pairs—one competitive, one cooperative—outperform pure cooperatives in profit and long‑term relationship metrics. Separate experiments reveal that insincere negotiators use stalling tactics and that sellers who...
Negotiating a Salary When Compensation Is Public
Recent pay‑transparency legislation in New York City, Colorado and upcoming rules in California and Washington now require employers to disclose salary ranges in job postings. Major firms such as Citigroup, American Express, Amazon and Zillow have already begun posting minimum...
Contract Negotiations and Business Communication: How to Write an Iron-Clad Contract
The article explains why negotiators must grasp basic contract law to avoid costly misunderstandings. It illustrates the risk with a case where Jane edited a supply agreement by fax, leading Kevin to dispute the changes. The piece highlights the mirror‑image...
Learning From Ethical Leadership Failures at Boeing
Boeing’s recent safety crises—including a 2024 737 MAX fuselage panel failure and the Starliner astronaut stranding—have reignited scrutiny of its ethical leadership. Reporter Andy Pasztor links these events to a decades‑long pattern of corporate misconduct, from Pentagon document theft to quality‑control...
How Mediation Can Help Resolve Pro Sports Disputes
Professor Mark Grabowski argues that mediation is underused in U.S. professional sports, despite its success in past NHL and NFL labor disputes. He cites the 2012 NHL‑PA negotiation, where a federal mediator helped bridge a $200 million revenue‑sharing gap, and the...
Leveraging the Power of Emotions as You Negotiate
Harvard’s Program on Negotiation is offering a one‑day workshop on September 25, 2026, led by negotiation scholar Daniel L. Shapiro. The course teaches participants how to harness emotions as strategic assets rather than liabilities in any bargaining scenario, from labor contracts to...
How to Manage Difficult Staff: Gen Z Edition
A June 2023 ResumeBuilder.com survey of 1,344 managers found 74% consider Gen Z employees more difficult to work with than older colleagues, with 49% reporting frequent challenges. Managers blame perceived gaps in technology proficiency (39%), effort (37%) and motivation (37%). The...
Dispute Resolution Case Study: Conflict on the High Seas
In 2018 a heated dispute erupted between French and British scallop fishermen in the English Channel, culminating in a physical clash where roughly 35 French boats confronted five British vessels. The conflict stemmed from divergent national fishing rules—France bans scallop...
Make Job Negotiations Fairer in Your Organization
Harvard Kennedy School professors Iris Bohnet and Siri Chilazi argue that short‑term DEI training alone won’t fix inequitable job negotiations. They advocate systemic, behavioral‑design solutions such as anonymized applications, structured interviews, and algorithmic tools to curb bias. The authors cite blind auditions...
Teaching Contract Negotiation: Using the Mutual Gains Approach
The Program on Negotiation’s Teaching Negotiation Resource Center (TNRC) offers a suite of contract‑negotiation simulations that teach the mutual‑gains approach, moving participants away from positional bargaining. Featured exercises include the GE International Contract, Flagship Airways restructuring, and Ad Sales, Inc....
How to Counter a Job Offer: Avoid Common Mistakes
Receiving a job offer is exciting, but jumping to acceptance can cost you future earnings. The article outlines three common pitfalls: accepting too quickly, fixating solely on salary, and failing to justify counter‑offers. It advises candidates to request time, consider...
Notable Business Negotiations of 2024
2024 proved a paradoxical year for corporate negotiations: overall deal activity slowed, with M&A volume dropping 18% while total dollar value rose 9% to $3 trillion. High‑profile negotiations spanned sectors, from Google’s antitrust‑driven Android app‑store opening and Amazon’s $12 billion AI partnership...
Ask A Negotiation Expert: The Surprising Benefits of Negotiating with Your Kids
Terri R. Kurtzberg and Mary C. Kern argue that parents should treat negotiations with children as a problem‑solving tool rather than a power play. By seeking a child’s perspective and planning questions, parents can secure genuine buy‑in, leading to stronger...
AI Negotiation in the News
OpenAI has become the focal point of multiple AI‑negotiation disputes, ranging from high‑profile copyright lawsuits by fiction authors and the New York Times to an internal board crisis that saw CEO Sam Altman ousted and reinstated. The legal actions allege that OpenAI...
Charismatic Leadership: Weighing the Pros and Cons
Charismatic leadership, epitomized by figures like Jack Welch and Steve Jobs, once dominated corporate culture as the gold standard for driving vision and loyalty. Recent research shows its effectiveness peaks near average charisma levels, with overly charismatic leaders often perceived...
In Contract Negotiations, Agree on How You’ll Disagree
The article urges negotiators to embed dispute‑resolution mechanisms directly into contracts, outlining five practical measures: an ADR clause, liquidated damages, dispute‑prevention provisions, contingent agreements, and a hybrid of prevention and contingency. By anticipating disagreements early, parties can steer conflicts toward...
Salary Negotiation Strategies From Everyday Experts
A recent study by researchers at Dortmund University examined which salary‑negotiation tactics women are most likely to adopt. The experiment asked over 100 participants to pick a single strategy from seven options, revealing that more than half chose to request...
Mediation Training: What Can You Expect?
Mediation training is gaining traction as organizations seek faster, cheaper ways to resolve workplace disputes. By teaching managers and team members basic facilitation skills, companies can address conflicts early, before they require formal arbitration or litigation. The article outlines a...
Successes & Messes: A Notoriously Bad Business Contract
In 1999 No Limit Sports, founded by rapper Master P, negotiated a seven‑year, $68 million contract for rookie running back Ricky Williams that relied heavily on unrealistic incentives. The deal capped annual incentive earnings at $500,000 and included 26 milestones—many virtually unattainable—leaving Williams...
BATNA and Other Sources of Power at the Negotiation Table
Negotiation researchers Adam Galinsky and Joe Magee identify three core sources of power at the bargaining table: a strong BATNA, role‑based authority, and psychological confidence. A robust BATNA provides viable alternatives, enabling negotiators to walk away from unfavorable offers. Role...
10 Real-World Negotiation Examples
The Program on Negotiation article surveys ten high‑profile negotiation cases, ranging from the 2012 mortgage‑foreclosure settlement and Disney’s $4.05 billion Lucasfilm acquisition to pandemic‑era PPE scramble and the 2022 Western sanctions on Russia. Each example illustrates distinct tactics—multilateral bargaining, trust‑based deals,...
The Negotiator’s Dilemma: How MESOs Help You Create and Claim Value
The article explains the negotiator’s dilemma—the tension between creating and claiming value—and presents multiple equivalent simultaneous offers (MESOs) as a solution. MESOs involve presenting two to three equally valued packages that vary across issues, allowing negotiators to anchor discussions while...
Anchoring Bias in Negotiation: Should You Make a Single Offer or a Range?
The article examines how anchoring bias shapes negotiation outcomes and whether a single price or a price range is more effective. Research by Ames and Mason shows that a "bolstering" range—where the high end exceeds the target price—produces larger concessions...
What Hostage Negotiations Can Teach Business Negotiators
Hostage negotiators achieve a 94% success rate, far higher than typical business negotiations. George A. Kohlrieser, a former police psychologist and IMD professor, explains that the key lies in building an emotional connection and leveraging the “person effect.” He advises...
The First-Offer Dilemma in Negotiations: Should You Make the First Offer?
Negotiators have long debated whether to make the first offer, balancing the risk of revealing information against the power of anchoring. Recent research shows that making the first offer typically yields better economic outcomes but also raises anxiety and lowers...
How to Deal with Cultural Differences in Negotiation
Cross‑cultural negotiations often stumble over differing communication norms, but understanding the dignity‑face‑honor framework can turn cultural variance into a strategic advantage. Researchers identify three prototypes—dignity (e.g., US, Canada), face (East Asia), and honor (Middle East, Latin America)—shaped by historical population...
Is Humor in Business Negotiation Ever Appropriate?
Harvard Business School professor Alison Wood Brooks explains that humor, when used strategically, can shift emotional tone, build trust, and improve negotiation outcomes. Research shows jokes that elicit genuine laughter signal confidence, competence, and higher status, while also fostering creativity...