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New research on negotiation from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including negotiation strategy, style, and tactics.
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Shaky Business: How Handshakes Win Negotiations

by Michael Blanding

A handshake before a negotiation can have a surprisingly strong effect on the outcome, according to Michael Norton, Francesca Gino, and colleagues. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Why Ethical People Become Unethical Negotiators

by Dina Gerdeman

You may think you are an ethical person, but self-interest can cloud your judgment when you sit down at the bargaining table, says Max Bazerman. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Henry Kissinger's Lessons for Business Negotiators

by Sean Silverthorne

Much has been written about Henry Kissinger the diplomat and United States secretary of state, but surprisingly little about Kissinger the dealmaker. A trio of Harvard scholars remedies that with Kissinger the Negotiator: Lessons from Dealmaking at the Highest Level. Co-author James Sebenius discusses what business negotiators can learn. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Transaction Costs and the Duration of Contracts

by Alexander MacKay

When buyers transact with sellers, they select not only whom to transact with but also for how long. This paper develops a model of optimal contract duration arising from underlying supply costs and transaction costs. The model allows for the quantification of transaction costs, which are often unobserved, and the impact of these costs on welfare.

For Women Especially, It Pays to Know What Car Repairs Should Cost

by Wendy Guild Swearingen

Consumers can negotiate cheaper auto repair prices by convincing service reps they know something about market rates—helping women overcome gender discrimination, according to recently published research by Ayelet Israeli and co-authors. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

How To Deceive Others With Truthful Statements (It's Called 'Paltering,' And It's Risky)

by Dina Gerdeman

Presidential candidates do it. Business leaders do it. You probably do it, too. Paltering is a gentle form of lying, but is reviled by negotiators on the receiving end. Research by Francesca Gino, Michael Norton, and colleagues. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

How The 2016 Presidential Candidates Misled Us With Truthful Statements

by Dina Gerdeman

Paltering, a subtle form of lying where an almost true statement is used, is not unknown in the world of politics. Here are several examples. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

A Little Understanding Motivates Copyright Abusers to Pay Up

by Michael Blanding

Many Internet users don't give a second thought to copying and reusing an image. Hong Luo and Julie Holland Mortimer explain how copyright holders can gently persuade abusers to do the right thing. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Fix This! Why is it so Painful to Buy a New Car?

by Sean Silverthorne

Car-buying sends shivers up the backbones of American consumers, so why hasn’t the industry stepped up to create a better experience? Leonard Schlesinger, Jill Avery, and Ryan Buell tell their own war stories and talk about how the battle might yet be won. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The Cost of Leaning-in

by Carmen Nobel

Women who are forced to negotiate tend to fare worse than if they hadn’t negotiated at all, according to research by Christine Exley, Muriel Niederle, and Lise Vesterlund. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Knowing When to Ask: The Cost of Leaning-in

by Christine L. Exley, Muriel Niederle, and Lise Vesterlund

The popular push for women to “lean in” holds that women should negotiate on their own behalf to overcome the gender wage gap. This study, however, shows the importance of choice in successful negotiations. Women usually choose to enter negotiations leading to financial gains and avoid negotiations that would result in financial losses. Regardless of the reasons for avoidance, leaning-in is not automatically the best advice for women.

How to Negotiate Situations That Feel Hopeless

by Carmen Nobel

In Negotiating the Impossible, Deepak Malhotra outlines key lessons for negotiating sticky situations, with examples that include the Cuban Missile Crisis, disputes in the National Football League and National Hockey League, and several instances of high-stakes deal-making where companies found themselves negotiating against the odds. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

When Negotiating a Price, Never Bid with a Round Number

by Carmen Nobel

Investors who offer “precise” bids for company shares yield better outcomes than those who offer round-number bids, according to research by Petri Hukkanen and Matti Keloharju. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

What Happens When Zambian Schoolgirls Receive Negotiation Training

Re: Kathleen L. McGinn

Research by Kathleen McGinn and colleagues shows how teaching negotiation skills to young Zambian women can greatly improve their health and educational outcomes. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

These Employers Pay Higher Salaries than Necessary

by Michael Blanding

Some employers using online freelance marketplaces for the first time pay more than they have to for workers. Why? An information imbalance that job seekers can exploit, as explained in research by professor Christopher T. Stanton. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

How Do You Grade Out as a Negotiator?

by Michael Blanding

Most negotiation training focuses on what happens before and during the talks. Michael Wheeler's new app helps users improve their skills after the deal is completed. Open for comment; 2 Comment(s) posted.

Tommy Koh and the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement: A Multifront ‘Negotiation Campaign’

by Laurence A. Green & James K. Sebenius

Sophisticated international negotiators don't just do a number of separate deals, hoping that they somehow add up to the ultimate result; instead, they design and wage carefully structured "negotiation campaigns." As the USSFTA case illustrates, it is useful in complex, multiparty situations for negotiators to think in terms of multifront campaigns that must combine to generate enough support for ultimate target agreements. The authors of this paper further outline steps involved in orchestrating a successful negotiation campaign. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Henry A. Kissinger as Negotiator: Background and Key Accomplishments

by James Sebenius & Laurence A. Green

This paper describes three of the most pivotal negotiations of statesman, scholar, and public intellectual Henry A. Kissinger, born in 1923 to a German Jewish family in Fuerth. These negotiations include the historic establishment of United States diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, the easing of geopolitical tension with the Soviet Union, and the mediation of the agreement on Sinai disengagement between Egypt and Israel. Additionally, the authors of this paper provide a brief summary of Kissinger's biography and career as well as an appendix of his involvement in other important diplomatic negotiations. In a forthcoming paper, the authors will examine these and other major events in which Henry Kissinger played leading roles in order to extract their most important insights into the principles and practice of effective negotiation. Key concepts include: Henry Kissinger played key roles in many important diplomatic negotiations. This paper outlines three in depth. Throughout his time as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, Kissinger exerted a strong influence on American foreign policy. In tandem with working for détente with the Soviet Union, he played a central role in helping to end 23 years of diplomatic isolation and mutual suspicion between the United States and China as well as, after the 1973 Yom Kippur war, to orchestrate disengagement agreements between Egypt and Israel as well as Syria and Israel. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Sharpen Your Negotiation Skills

by Sean Silverthorne

Everyone negotiates, but few negotiate well. Here is a collection of Working Knowledge articles and faculty working papers that detail some of the the skills needed to negotiate successfully. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Teaching The Deal

by Dina Gerdeman

In his Negotiation and Deals courses, Kevin Mohan uses his VC experience to teach students that showing emotion, asking questions, and understanding your own strengths and weaknesses can be key to a successful agreement. Open for comment; 2 Comment(s) posted.