Publications

September 2017 (Revised March 2019)
Supplement

Henry Kissinger: Negotiating Black Majority Rule in Rhodesia (B)

By: James K. Sebenius and Laurence A. Green

In 1976, United States Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger conducted a series of intricate, multiparty negotiations in Southern Africa to persuade white Rhodesian leader Ian Smith to accede to black majority rule. Conducted near the end of President Gerald Ford’s... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Race; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Participants; Negotiation Deal; Government and Politics; Africa; United States

2011
Working Paper

From Single Deals to Negotiation Campaigns

By: David A Lax and James K. Sebenius

Negotiation scholars typically take the individual deal, or a few linked deals, as the unit of analysis. While analyzing one deal requires a familiar conceptual framework, doing the same for a broader "negotiation campaign" calls for a different focus and set of... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Deal; Framework; Business Subsidiaries; Agreements and Arrangements; Mergers and Acquisitions; Information Management; Finance; Business and Shareholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Business and Government Relations; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

Read Now

March 1998
Case

Bumper Acquisition (B), A

By: James K. Sebenius and David T. Kotchen

Picks up the negotiation between Thermo-Impact and Medallion Capital where the (A1) and A2) cases leave off. The companies began talks in 1995 when Medallion offered to buy Thermo-Impact. This case brings the negotiation through May 1996. Students view developments... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics; Negotiation Participants; Decision Making; Entrepreneurship; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Illinois

December 1985
Case

Salty Dog: Snowytown (B): Confidential Instructions for Snowytown

By: David A. Lax and James K. Sebenius

November 2004
Article

Anchoring the Big Picture

By: David A. Lax and James K. Sebenius

1983
Chapter

Incentives for Ocean Mining Under the Convention

By: James K. Sebenius and Lance Antrim

Keywords: Mining; Natural Environment; Motivation and Incentives; International Relations; Trade; Mining Industry

November 2021
Supplement

Steve Schwarzman on Dealmaking II: When They Hold All the Cards (B)

By: James K. Sebenius and Alex Green

This case describes, largely in his own words, how Schwarzman dealt with the eight negotiation challenges in the (A) case (922-007); with respect to each challenge, a series of generalizations follows to enhance one's effectiveness in negotiation. View Details

Keywords: Dealmaking; Bargaining; Conflict Resolution; Negotiation; Private Equity; Entrepreneurship

July 2021
Case

Amazon HQ2

By: James K. Sebenius and Ben Cook

Amazon’s failed bid for a second headquarters location (“HQ2”) in Long Island City, New York offers many lessons for negotiators looking to avoid similar high-profile defeats in strategically important deals. The company’s project – which promised to bring billions of... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Negotiation; Public Opinion; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Problems and Challenges

May 2021
Case

Career at a Crossroads? (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Alex Green

A career professional at a major consumer goods company, Kym Lew Nelson is hoping to negotiate a promotion to vice president, which would make her one of the senior-most African American women in the organization. But when Nelson’s white German boss arrives in the... View Details

Keywords: Culture; Negotiation; Race; Gender; Organizational Culture; Prejudice and Bias; United States

January 2020
Case

High Drama in Milford (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Farzana Mohamed

January 1986
Article

Interests: The Measure of Negotiation

By: James K. Sebenius and David Lax

Keywords: Negotiation

November 2009
Supplement

Steven Scheyer: Renegotiating the Newell Rubbermaid Relationship with Wal-Mart

By: James K. Sebenius and Ellen Knebel

Keywords: Negotiation; Relationships; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry

February 24, 1997
Article

A Better Way to Go on Strike

By: James K. Sebenius and David Lax

Keywords: Labor; Disruption

2008
Other Teaching and Training Material

Great Negotiator 2004: Ambassador Richard Holbrooke

By: James K. Sebenius and Ellen Knebel

The Program on Negotiation honored Ambassador Holbrooke in events in October 2004. These began with an in-depth faculty-moderated discussion with an invited group of students, faculty and guests at Harvard Business School and concluded with Ambassador Holbrooke... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Negotiation

November 2006
Supplement

The Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B)

By: James K. Sebenius and Ellen Knebel

Keywords: Negotiation; Family Ownership

fall 1982
Article

Risk-Spreading Properties of Common Tax and Contract Instruments

By: James K. Sebenius and Peter Stan

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Taxation; Contracts

February 2006
Supplement

Smartix (D): Reflections from the Other Side of the Table

By: James K. Sebenius and Andrew Wasynczuk

1981
Article

Insecure Contracts and Resource Development

By: James K. Sebenius and David Lax

Keywords: Contracts; Growth and Development

March 2001
Case

Charlene Barshefsky (B)

By: James K. Sebenius and Rebecca Hulse

Details former U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky's strategic and tactical approach to surmounting the barriers laid out in the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Trade; International Relations; Copyright; Negotiation Style; Negotiation Tactics; Alliances; Business and Government Relations; China; United States