Publications

April 1995 (Revised June 1995)
Background Note

Anchoring and First Offers in Negotiation

Describes how first or opening offers can be used effectively in negotiation. Examines how opening offers serve as an anchor, changing one side's perception of the other side's bottom line and hence the set of possible outcomes. View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Tactics; Negotiation Offer

Educators

March 2017
Article

Artful Paltering: The Risks and Rewards of Using Truthful Statements to Mislead Others

By: Todd Rogers, Richard Zeckhauser, F. Gino, Michael I. Norton and Maurice E. Schweitzer

Paltering is the active use of truthful statements to convey a misleading impression. Across two pilot studies and six experiments, we identify paltering as a distinct form of deception. Paltering differs from lying by omission (the passive omission of relevant... View Details

Keywords: Deception; Lying; Paltering; Risk; Ethics; Negotiation Tactics

Read Now

October 1997 (Revised December 1997)
Case

Arrow Electronics: The Schweber Acquisition

The CEO of Arrow is about to negotiate the acquisition of a smaller competitor to achieve economies of scale. The case presents data to permit evaluation of prices to bid and negotiating strategy. View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Tactics; Acquisition; Electronics Industry

01 Mar 2013
News

Oil Rigs and Ripe Fruit

With 40,000 employees, Singapore-based Keppel Corporation is one of the world's largest manufacturers of offshore oil rigs, both floating deep-water semisubmersibles that anchor to the seabed and "jack-up" rigs that stand on legs on the ocean floor in shallower depths.... View Details

Keywords: Oil and Gas Extraction; Mining

August 1996 (Revised December 1996)
Background Note

Two Psychological Traps in Negotiation

Two psychological traps, anchoring and framing, and their role in negotiation are described. The anchoring section describes how first or opening offers can be used effectively in negotiation. Examines how opening offers serve as an anchor, changing one side's... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Tactics

Educators

April 1995 (Revised March 1996)
Background Note

Framing and Negotiation

How can framing--alternative description of an object, event, or situation--can be used effectively in negotiation? A real estate dialog is used to illustrate three common varieties of framing: losses versus gains; short and long horizons; and aggregation and... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Tactics

Educators

2017
Working Paper

BATNAs in Negotiation: Common Errors and Three Kinds of 'No'

By: James K. Sebenius

The best alternative to a negotiated agreement (“BATNA”) concept in negotiation has proven to be immensely useful. In tandem with its value in practice, BATNA has become a wildly successful acronym (with more than 14 million Google results). But the initial... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; BATNA; Bargaining; Zone Of Possible Agreement; Reservation Price; Reservation Value; Agreements and Arrangements; Negotiation Tactics

SSRN

Read Now

April 16, 2021
Article

A Playbook for Negotiators in the Social Media Era

By: James K. Sebenius, Ben Cook, David Lax, Ron S. Fortgang, Isaac Silberberg and Paul Levy

The disruptive effects of social media have been felt in virtually every corner of the world. Yet the information revolution has been largely ignored in the field of negotiation. Through a series of case studies we explore how savvy practitioners can ethically harness... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Analysis; Bargaining; Negotiation; Analysis; Negotiation Tactics; Social Media; North America

Fall 2024
Article

Redemption Mechanisms in Poison Pills: Evidence on Pill Design and Law Firm Effects

By: Olivier Baum and Guhan Subramanian

We present the first evidence on the incidence of “trip wire” versus “last look” poison pills. Using a hand-collected data set of 130 poison pills implemented and/or amended between January 1, 2020 and March 31, 2023, we find that pills are almost evenly divided... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Negotiation Tactics; Contracts

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09 Dec 2015
Research Event

How Do You Predict Demand and Set Prices For Products Never Sold Before?

in a digitally-transformed economy. “All of these decisions would be easy to make if I knew what consumer demand will be. The problem is that I have a lot of uncertainty in demand” All retailers face tricky tactical decisions related to... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Apparel & Accessories

June 2002 (Revised March 2011)
Supplement

Discount & Hawkins Openings: Highlights of the Transcript

By: Michael A. Wheeler

This case presents a transcript of a video that illustrates two possible ways that two professional negotiators might perform in a negotiation simulation. It ighlights two possible "openings" of the negotiation, displaying possible ways value might be created and/or... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Negotiation Tactics

2015
Chapter

Negotiations: Statistical Aspects

By: James K. Sebenius

'Negotiation analysis' seeks to develop prescriptive theory and useful advice for negotiators and third parties. It generally emphasizes the parties' underlying interests, alternatives to negotiated agreement, approaches to productively manage the inherent tension... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Preparation; Negotiation Tactics; Negotiation Participants