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Negotiation
Madonna Sued for Late Concert Start
November 29, 2019
"There's something that you all need to understand," Madonna said during her Las Vegas concert, "and that is, that a queen is never late." Maybe so, but concertgoer Nate Hollander is suing her and concert promoter Live Nation for breach of contract. Hollander claims that first announcing the concert start time to be 7.30 p.m. and then changing it to 10.30 is a breach of contract. No refund has been offered, he alleges, and attempts to resell the tickets will not make up for the money...
November 29, 2019
"There's something that you all need to understand," Madonna said during her Las Vegas concert, "and that is, that a queen is never late." Maybe so, but concertgoer Nate Hollander is suing her and concert promoter Live Nation for breach of contract. Hollander claims that first announcing the concert start time to be 7.30 p.m. and then changing it to 10.30 is a breach of contract. No refund has been offered, he alleges, and attempts to resell the tickets will not make up for the money...
Negotiating the American Constitution (1787-1789) Coalitions, Process Rules, and Compromises
November 11, 2019
This essay describes the multi-party, multi-issue negotiations of the American Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia...
November 11, 2019
This essay describes the multi-party, multi-issue negotiations of the American Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia...
Like A Dog
October 5, 2019
Where do dogs come from? Where do human beings come from? Recent research suggests a single answer: domestication. The various characteristics of dogs, distinguishing them from wolves, appear to be byproducts of domestication and (as recently shown by Richard Wrangham) a reduction in “reactive aggression.” It has long been thought that human beings domesticated dogs, but it is more plausible to think that that dogs domesticated themselves. As dogs are to wolves, so is the less robust but more...
October 5, 2019
Where do dogs come from? Where do human beings come from? Recent research suggests a single answer: domestication. The various characteristics of dogs, distinguishing them from wolves, appear to be byproducts of domestication and (as recently shown by Richard Wrangham) a reduction in “reactive aggression.” It has long been thought that human beings domesticated dogs, but it is more plausible to think that that dogs domesticated themselves. As dogs are to wolves, so is the less robust but more...
Deconstructing Henry: Negotiation Lessons from Kissinger’s Career
October 1, 2019
This review essay (this is the unedited version of the essay to be published in 35 Negotiation Journal 337-361, 2019) reviews the book, Kissinger the Negotiator: Lessons from Dealmaking at the Highest Levels by James Senbenius, Nicholas Burns and Robert Mnookin, (Harper Collins, 2018). The essay uses the book’s trope of a camera lens of “zooming out and zooming in” to analyze different lessons about preparation, the wide scope of negotiations, expanding issues, parties and coalition formation,...
October 1, 2019
This review essay (this is the unedited version of the essay to be published in 35 Negotiation Journal 337-361, 2019) reviews the book, Kissinger the Negotiator: Lessons from Dealmaking at the Highest Levels by James Senbenius, Nicholas Burns and Robert Mnookin, (Harper Collins, 2018). The essay uses the book’s trope of a camera lens of “zooming out and zooming in” to analyze different lessons about preparation, the wide scope of negotiations, expanding issues, parties and coalition formation,...
Optimism Key to Living Longer? This Study Says So
September 28, 2019
A study of more than 69,000 female health professionals ages 58 to 86, and more than 1,400 male veterans ages 41 to 90, who were followed for 10 to 30 years, concluded that a sunny disposition may indeed lengthen your life. The participants who reported the highest levels of optimism were 50% to 70% more likely to live to age 85 or beyond. The results were steady even when researchers took into account other factors including health conditions such as heart disease, cancer or depression. But other...
September 28, 2019
A study of more than 69,000 female health professionals ages 58 to 86, and more than 1,400 male veterans ages 41 to 90, who were followed for 10 to 30 years, concluded that a sunny disposition may indeed lengthen your life. The participants who reported the highest levels of optimism were 50% to 70% more likely to live to age 85 or beyond. The results were steady even when researchers took into account other factors including health conditions such as heart disease, cancer or depression. But other...
Guided Choice Mediation – A Better Way To Settle Disputes
September 27, 2019
Guided Choice substantially expands the mediator’s role to that of a full partner with both parties in getting to the heart of their dispute and the most efficient route to its resolution. It empowers the mediator to work closely with both parties’ counsel well before any mediation session is scheduled, and to guide the parties along the path to settlement. I recommend the more complete description of Guided Choice and related resources available on the Guided Choice website. The key elements...
September 27, 2019
Guided Choice substantially expands the mediator’s role to that of a full partner with both parties in getting to the heart of their dispute and the most efficient route to its resolution. It empowers the mediator to work closely with both parties’ counsel well before any mediation session is scheduled, and to guide the parties along the path to settlement. I recommend the more complete description of Guided Choice and related resources available on the Guided Choice website. The key elements...
An Offer You Can’t Refuse: How A.I. Is Poised to Transform Negotiations. Eye on A.I.
September 12, 2019
Jared Curhan is a professor at M.I.T.’s Sloan School of Management who specializes in negotiation. His particular...
September 12, 2019
Jared Curhan is a professor at M.I.T.’s Sloan School of Management who specializes in negotiation. His particular...
Hypothetical Questions as Strategic Devices in Negotiation
August 28, 2019
In this article, we analyze the use of hypothetical questions in integrative negotiation. We argue that hypothetical questions are useful devices for advancing implicit proposals and can also provide strategic argumentative support for the acceptance of a particular solution. To explain why negotiators prefer to use hypothetical questions when putting forward implicit proposals and to demonstrate how these questions fulfill negotiators' argumentative purposes, our study uses the pragma‐dialectical...
August 28, 2019
In this article, we analyze the use of hypothetical questions in integrative negotiation. We argue that hypothetical questions are useful devices for advancing implicit proposals and can also provide strategic argumentative support for the acceptance of a particular solution. To explain why negotiators prefer to use hypothetical questions when putting forward implicit proposals and to demonstrate how these questions fulfill negotiators' argumentative purposes, our study uses the pragma‐dialectical...
Taylor Swift to Re-record Her First Albums in Contractual Dispute
August 25, 2019
For artists, master recordings — the original recordings of musicians' work — are vital musically, historically and financially. In most situations, labels own those masters. But many musicians, both prominent and independent ones, have tried to hang on to their masters. As Prince famously told Rolling Stone back in 1996, "If you don't own your masters, your master owns you." Taylor Swift is the most recent major artist to want to own her own masters, but can’t because...
August 25, 2019
For artists, master recordings — the original recordings of musicians' work — are vital musically, historically and financially. In most situations, labels own those masters. But many musicians, both prominent and independent ones, have tried to hang on to their masters. As Prince famously told Rolling Stone back in 1996, "If you don't own your masters, your master owns you." Taylor Swift is the most recent major artist to want to own her own masters, but can’t because...
Inter-School Negotiation Exercise
July 28, 2019
FFOI Debra Berman offers to organize a fabulous practical DR Skills exercise that goes beyond the classroom and normal competitions. She writes: In recent times of declining class sizes, shrinking budgets, and extra focus on the bar exam, practical ADR skills training may not receive the attention it deserves. Students may leave law school without ever practicing a single negotiation or engaging in some form of legal communication with another law student or lawyer. ...
July 28, 2019
FFOI Debra Berman offers to organize a fabulous practical DR Skills exercise that goes beyond the classroom and normal competitions. She writes: In recent times of declining class sizes, shrinking budgets, and extra focus on the bar exam, practical ADR skills training may not receive the attention it deserves. Students may leave law school without ever practicing a single negotiation or engaging in some form of legal communication with another law student or lawyer. ...
