Negotiation
The Negotiation Campaign
October 21, 2014
Negotiations are like political campaigns. It is an organized effort to influence decision makers. “How” and “When” to begin the campaign are fundamental questions to examine before actually engaging in the formal negotiation. Consider the first presidential campaign of Barack Obama. While the election was in 2008, the campaign began before 2004 when the Democratic Party identified Obama as a rising star and selected him do the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. It was in that...
October 21, 2014
Negotiations are like political campaigns. It is an organized effort to influence decision makers. “How” and “When” to begin the campaign are fundamental questions to examine before actually engaging in the formal negotiation. Consider the first presidential campaign of Barack Obama. While the election was in 2008, the campaign began before 2004 when the Democratic Party identified Obama as a rising star and selected him do the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. It was in that...
Women and Negotiation: Permission to Skip the Chit-Chat?
October 16, 2014
Negotiators are often advised to engage in small talk before getting down to business. Indeed, the benefits of chit-chat for rapport building have been well documented. In her research, for example, Professor Janice Nadler of Northwestern University found that pairs of strangers who engaged in a casual five-minute phone chat before participating in a negotiation simulation via e-mail were four times more likely to reach a beneficial agreement than were pairs who didn’t have a chance to chat. But...
October 16, 2014
Negotiators are often advised to engage in small talk before getting down to business. Indeed, the benefits of chit-chat for rapport building have been well documented. In her research, for example, Professor Janice Nadler of Northwestern University found that pairs of strangers who engaged in a casual five-minute phone chat before participating in a negotiation simulation via e-mail were four times more likely to reach a beneficial agreement than were pairs who didn’t have a chance to chat. But...
Women and Negotiation: When Identities Clash—or Click
October 12, 2014
Female bosses in the United Kingdom earn only three-quarters as much as their male colleagues, despite the fact that the Equal Pay Act outlawed inequitable pay between men and women more than 40 years ago, the British daily newspaper the Guardian reported in August. A study by the Chartered Management Institute found that the salary gap between men and women increases as they age and get moved up the professional ladder. Women executives were also found to earn significantly lower bonuses than...
October 12, 2014
Female bosses in the United Kingdom earn only three-quarters as much as their male colleagues, despite the fact that the Equal Pay Act outlawed inequitable pay between men and women more than 40 years ago, the British daily newspaper the Guardian reported in August. A study by the Chartered Management Institute found that the salary gap between men and women increases as they age and get moved up the professional ladder. Women executives were also found to earn significantly lower bonuses than...
Powerful Conflict Resolution Games To Help You Teach Negotiation
October 12, 2014
From complicated negotiation strategies to artful subterfuge, conflict resolution games are one of the very best ways to prepare for the challenges of real-world negotiation. Games that employ a Prisoner’s Dilemma structure (where rational parties may not cooperate despite their best interests) enable participants to analyze negotiations, make strategic decisions, and anticipate their counterpart’s next move. Drawing on a wide-range of disciplines including game theory, microeconomics, social...
October 12, 2014
From complicated negotiation strategies to artful subterfuge, conflict resolution games are one of the very best ways to prepare for the challenges of real-world negotiation. Games that employ a Prisoner’s Dilemma structure (where rational parties may not cooperate despite their best interests) enable participants to analyze negotiations, make strategic decisions, and anticipate their counterpart’s next move. Drawing on a wide-range of disciplines including game theory, microeconomics, social...
In Business Negotiations, Restraint Can Be Key—Even in High Fashion
October 9, 2014
When employees leave an unsatisfying job, the feeling of relief they feel sometimes motivates them to explain their decision to whomever will listen. But that tendency can backfire and necessitate tense business negotiations, as a recent story from the world of high fashion illustrates. In November 2012, designer Nicolas Ghesquière startled the fashion world with his decision to leave his position as the creative director of design house Balenciaga, a job he had held for 15 years. The two sides...
October 9, 2014
When employees leave an unsatisfying job, the feeling of relief they feel sometimes motivates them to explain their decision to whomever will listen. But that tendency can backfire and necessitate tense business negotiations, as a recent story from the world of high fashion illustrates. In November 2012, designer Nicolas Ghesquière startled the fashion world with his decision to leave his position as the creative director of design house Balenciaga, a job he had held for 15 years. The two sides...
Rethinking Negotiation Strategy
October 2, 2014
The charisma of the designation “trial lawyer” is not shared by “negotiator.” However, since less than 5 percent of civil cases go through trial, enhancing your negotiating repertoire will likely reap rewards. In contrast to trial, where control of the outcome rests with the Court and/or Jury, a skilled negotiator can retain control of the outcome for the client. Therefore, it behooves the prudent litigator to augment your negotiator prowess. In the past, negotiation was not a part of law school...
October 2, 2014
The charisma of the designation “trial lawyer” is not shared by “negotiator.” However, since less than 5 percent of civil cases go through trial, enhancing your negotiating repertoire will likely reap rewards. In contrast to trial, where control of the outcome rests with the Court and/or Jury, a skilled negotiator can retain control of the outcome for the client. Therefore, it behooves the prudent litigator to augment your negotiator prowess. In the past, negotiation was not a part of law school...
When Negotiating, You May Need to Tighten Up or Hang Loose
October 2, 2014
Studies of cultures in different countries have concluded that cultural differences often arise from different ecological and historical conditions. Tight countries have endured a wide range of ecological and historical threats with loose countries having gone through fewer. The strong norms in tight nations help humans coordinate their social action in the face of numerous survival threats. Loose nations are more able to ”afford” more latitude and permissiveness because they face far fewer...
October 2, 2014
Studies of cultures in different countries have concluded that cultural differences often arise from different ecological and historical conditions. Tight countries have endured a wide range of ecological and historical threats with loose countries having gone through fewer. The strong norms in tight nations help humans coordinate their social action in the face of numerous survival threats. Loose nations are more able to ”afford” more latitude and permissiveness because they face far fewer...
How Do You Talk About That Weasel?
October 1, 2014
According to new research, the words you use when describing an event can have a dramatic impact on how the actions of a person are perceived. When surveying jury-eligible adults, investigators varied animalistic descriptions of a violent crime and examined its effect on the severity of the punishment for the act. Compared with non-animalistic descriptions, animalistic descriptions resulted in significantly harsher punishment for the perpetrator due to an increase in perceived risk of recidivism.
October 1, 2014
According to new research, the words you use when describing an event can have a dramatic impact on how the actions of a person are perceived. When surveying jury-eligible adults, investigators varied animalistic descriptions of a violent crime and examined its effect on the severity of the punishment for the act. Compared with non-animalistic descriptions, animalistic descriptions resulted in significantly harsher punishment for the perpetrator due to an increase in perceived risk of recidivism.
Cynicism in Negotiation: When Communication Increases Buyers’ Skepticism
October 1, 2014
This paper investigates whether certain contexts can lead buyers to be too skeptical and miss beneficial opportunities. We focus on a seller-buyer interaction in which the buyer has limited knowledge about the seller’s offer. The offer is abstracted as two cards, drawn randomly from a deck of 100 cards that are marked consecutively from 1-100. The buyer is presented with the lower card (and knows that she sees the lower card) and must decide whether to buy the cards at a price of 100. The product’s...
October 1, 2014
This paper investigates whether certain contexts can lead buyers to be too skeptical and miss beneficial opportunities. We focus on a seller-buyer interaction in which the buyer has limited knowledge about the seller’s offer. The offer is abstracted as two cards, drawn randomly from a deck of 100 cards that are marked consecutively from 1-100. The buyer is presented with the lower card (and knows that she sees the lower card) and must decide whether to buy the cards at a price of 100. The product’s...
Negotiating Games — Using Anger in Mediation, A Researched Analysis
September 30, 2014
In mediation, it is often common for parties to use a anger or emotions strategically. In fact, many people will intentionally have an emotional outburst in an attempt to try to strategically alter the other side’s position. Some may say that using such emotions is a long time strategy going back towards ancient days. But can exaggerating emotions backfire? Researchers Eduardo B. Andrade and Teck-Hua Ho (University of California, Berkeley) evaluated whether exaggerated sense of anger or “emotion...
September 30, 2014
In mediation, it is often common for parties to use a anger or emotions strategically. In fact, many people will intentionally have an emotional outburst in an attempt to try to strategically alter the other side’s position. Some may say that using such emotions is a long time strategy going back towards ancient days. But can exaggerating emotions backfire? Researchers Eduardo B. Andrade and Teck-Hua Ho (University of California, Berkeley) evaluated whether exaggerated sense of anger or “emotion...
