Mike Wheeler joined the HBS faculty in 1993 and has taught extensively in its MBA, Executive, and distance learning programs. His highly interactive 8-week/40-hour HBS Online Negotiation Mastery course, has now been taken by leaders, managers, and students from more than 160 countries around the world.
Over the years, Mike served as faculty chair of the MBA first-year program and headed the required Negotiation course. He has also taught The Moral Leader, as well as Leadership, Values, and Decision Making.
In 2001 he was appointed MBA Class of 1952 Professor of Management Practice. In 2004 Mike received the Greenhill Award for his contributions to HBS’s mission. He also has been a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. In 2015 he was named Editor Emeritus of the Negotiation Journal, having been its Editor for twenty years.
Mike’s current research centers on negotiation dynamics, ethics, and the growing impact—for better or worse—of AI and other technology is having on negotiation. He cheerfully admits that over the years he’s become something of a contrarian. Specifically, he’s skeptical about popular one-size-fits-all approaches, whether they’re of the “win-win” or “take no prisoners” variety.
Instead, his view is that great negotiators are also great improvisors. They are agile strategically and quick on their feet moment-to-moment. After all, the people we deal with have their own hands on the steering wheel, too. We can’t dictate where they want to go and how best to get there, any more than we’d let them dominate us. From start to finish, real-time learning and adapting are essential for negotiation success.
Mike’s framework is laid out in his book The Art of Negotiation: How to Improvise Agreement in a Chaotic World. It is now available in a dozen different languages. His other negotiation books include What’s Fair? Ethics for Negotiators (with Carrie Menkel-Meadow), Business Fundamentals in Negotiation, and On Teaching Negotiation. His text, Environmental Dispute Resolution (with Lawrence Bacow) won the CPR-ADR’s annual award as best book on negotiation.
Mike has written numerous articles in both scholarly journals, among them the Yale Journal of Regulation, the Harvard Negotiation Law Review, and The Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies. He has also written articles for the Harvard Business Review, the Atlantic, and the New York Times. He has created scores of teaching cases, exercises, and videos, for Harvard Business Publishing. Here is a full list of his publications.
In recent years, Mike has moved beyond print to share his work in a variety of other forms, including a newsletter, The Jazz of Negotiation. He also developed a self-assessment/best practice app—Negotiation 360—available on both Apple and Android devices. And there is a web-based version for classroom use, distributed by Harvard Business Publishing.
Mike also has short audio books on the Scrbd platform which cover topics from preparation to when the time is right for saying yes to a deal. LinkedIn Learning hosts his micro video course, Negotiating with Agility, accessible in several languages. As a LinkedIn Influencer, he has more than 230,000 followers.
Working with HBS’s Baker Library, Mike created Negotiate 1-2-3, an online, multi-media resource that spans openings, critical moments, and closing in negotiation. It is available to the public at no cost. Collaborating with Professor Chis Dede and others at Harvard’s School of Education, Wheeler’s current priority is developing an online negotiation course for disadvantaged and marginalized people.
Mike holds degrees from Amherst College, Boston University, and Harvard Law School. He is a member of the Massachusetts bar, as well. He has been a panelist for the American Arbitration Association, served as a mediator in a variety of business and regulatory disputes. He also chaired the board of the Consensus Building Institute. He has advised corporate clients, not-for-profits, trade organizations, and government agencies on negotiation issues in the United States and abroad.
