Negotiation Columns & Blogs

Congratulations to Nance Schick for winning our Negotiation Story Contest!  Here is her winning entry which wonderfully illustrates the importance of taking the time to ask about and identify your counterpart’s interests: One of my favorite resolution stories occurred...

Last week, Judge Susan Nelson, the U.S. District Court judge hearing the NFL legal dispute, took control of the negotiation agenda.  She appointed Minneapolis chief federal magistrate judge Arthur Boylan as the new mediator, moved the mediation from Washington, D.C....

Motivational speaker Harvey Mackay recently wrote a column about discipline.  He states, “Most people aim to do right; they just fail to pull the trigger.  For whatever reason, they just don't have the wherewithal to finish the job.  They are lacking discipline.”  He...

We often get asked what to do about the negotiation games people play. For example, what should you do when your counterpart is a “nibbler” - someone who asks for or demands an additional concession after the deal appears done? Try to avoid it by asking during the...

NBC Universal, the owner of the television show, House, recently reached a deal with the show’s broadcaster, Fox, for an eighth season. At first glance, NBC Universal would appear to have strong leverage in this type of deal because it can always choose to broadcast...

Have you ever been in a negotiation where your counterpart manipulated the time, location or setting of the negotiation to attempt to make you feel less powerful? What should you do, for example, if your counterpart makes you wait for an hour after the scheduled...

Here are five psychological tendencies to keep in mind when tactically developing and/or negotiating an agenda (what issues to address and in what order): 1.  Listeners remember the beginning and end of a presentation more than the middle. 2.  Repetition of a message...

In a recent CBSSports.com article, Mike Freeman reported the meetings between NFL owners and players have changed to a polite environment where “jokes are exchanged... Handshakes are commonplace. So are smiles and chit chat;” much different from the previous...

A study by Wharton professors Alison Wood Brooks and Maurice Schweitzer found anxious negotiators made initial offers that were 7.5% lower on average than those from non-anxious participants.  From this, the authors conclude negotiators might be able to improve their...

Walgreens had been negotiating a new prescription pricing deal with Express Scripts, Inc. but recently announced the negotiation had failed and it would be ending its relationship with Express Scripts at year end.  Interestingly, Walgreens participated in a similar...

As a manager, how can you get your front-line negotiators to change their behavior from instinctive to strategic based on the experts’ proven negotiation research? Here are a couple of tips: 1. Take baby steps. Don’t ask your negotiators to do everything the research...

NBA Commissioner Daniel Stern, discussing the on-going negotiation between the NBA owners and players’ association, recently pointed out that, “The NFL, which is usually profitable as opposed to the NBA, which isn’t, got [a] double-digit [revenue] reduction from their...

New York Times science columnist John Tierney recently wrote: The more choices you make throughout the day, the harder each one becomes for your brain, and eventually it looks for shortcuts, usually in either of two very different ways. One shortcut is to become...