Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(475)
- Faculty Publications (297)
- 2019
- Working Paper
How Rupert Murdoch Outfoxed Larry Tisch: Ten Enduring Lessons from the Negotiations that Wrested the NFL from CBS
A remarkable 1993 negotiation rocked the world of American football with aftershocks that have directly shaped today’s entertainment and media landscapes and even our polarized politics. In December of that year, Rupert Murdoch’s fledgling Fox Network unexpectedly... View Details
- 2018
- Book
Kissinger the Negotiator: Lessons from Dealmaking at the Highest Level
By: James K. Sebenius, R. Nicholas Burns and Robert H. Mnookin (with a forward by Henry A. Kissinger)
As professors and practitioners with careers devoted to negotiation, we are often asked “Who are the world’s best negotiators? What makes them effective?” Inevitably Henry Kissinger’s name comes up as an elite, if controversial, negotiator from whom we can learn a... View Details
- Spring 2018
- Article
Henry Kissinger and Robert Mugabe: The Forgotten Connection via Remarkably Creative Negotiation
When Robert Mugabe was forced out of office in late 2017 after 37 years of increasingly brutal rule in Zimbabwe, he had been in the job so long that few recall how he got there. Fewer still remember that it was Henry Kissinger, whose complex, if unlikely, negotiations... View Details
- Article
Howard Raiffa: The Art, Science, and Humanity of a Legendary Negotiation Analyst
Rightly known as the “father of negotiation analysis,” Howard Raiffa was my thesis advisor, colleague, and friend for over 30 years. The bulk of this article develops an account of his intellectual trajectory from game theory to statistical decision theory to decision... View Details
- September 2017 (Revised March 2019)
- Case
Henry Kissinger: Negotiating Black Majority Rule in Rhodesia (A)
By: James K. Sebenius and Laurence A. Green
In 1976, a growing crisis in Southern Africa drew the attention of United States Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger. White Rhodesian leader Ian Smith's refusal to accede to black majority rule threatened to widen into a regional conflict involving apartheid South... View Details
- 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
- 2017
- Chapter
High Stakes Negotiation: Indian Gaming and Tribal/State Compacts
By: Gavin Clarkson and James K. Sebenius
Although Indian tribes and the surrounding states were often bitter enemies throughout much of the history of the United States, recently tribes and states have been able to work cooperatively in a number of areas. In some instances, Congress has mandated such... View Details
- April 2017
- Article
BATNAs in Negotiation: Common Errors and Three Kinds of 'No'
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
- 2017
- Working Paper
BATNAs in Negotiation: Common Errors and Three Kinds of 'No'
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
- 2016
- Working Paper
Henry Kissinger's Negotiation Campaign to End the Vietnam War
By: James K. Sebenius and Eugene B. Kogan
President Richard M. Nixon was elected in 1968 with the widespread expectation that he would bring about an end to the costly and unpopular war in Vietnam. The task largely fell to National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger. When the negotiations began, North Vietnam... View Details
- December 2015
- Case
Negotiating the Path of Abraham, 2015 Progress and Challenges
The Abraham Path board reviews the last five years and seeks to frame and act on its major strategic, negotiating, and operational challenges going forward. The Abraham Path Initiative seeks to revitalize a route of Middle East cultural tourism following Abraham's path... View Details
- 2015
- Chapter
"Level II" Negotiation Strategies: Advance Your Interests by Helping to Solve Their Internal Problems
Many negotiators have constituencies that must formally or informally approve an agreement. Traditionally, it is the responsibility of each negotiator to manage the internal conflicts and constituencies on his or her own side. Far less familiar are the many valuable... View Details
- Article
Dualities in Negotiation: Introduction
Richard Walton and Robert McKersie's closeness to practice, disciplinary rigor, and successful search for powerful generalizations help explain the lasting impact of their 1965 book, A Behavioral Theory of Labor Negotiations. Central to their argument are three... View Details
- Article
Why A Behavioral Theory of Labor Negotiations Remains a Triumph at Fifty but the Labels 'Distributive' and 'Integrative' Should Be Retired
Richard Walton and Robert McKersie's closeness to practice, disciplinary rigor, and successful search for powerful generalizations help explain the lasting impact of the Behavioral Theory of Labor Relations. Ironically, the names they chose for the fundamental... View Details
- 2015
- Report
The Iran Nuclear Deal: A Definitive Guide
By: Gary Samore, Graham T. Allison, Aaron Arnold, Matthew Bunn, Nicholas Burns, Shai Feldman, Chuck Freilich, Olli Heinonen, Martin B. Malin, Steven E. Miller, Payam Mohseni, Richard Nephew, Laura Rockwood, James K. Sebenius and William Tobey
This report on a comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) provides a concise description of the agreement and the accompanying UN Security Council Resolution 2231. It also includes a balanced assessment of the agreement's... View Details
- Article
Ignore June 30: Time is on the Side of a Better Iran Deal
Prior to the "interim deal" reached in November 2013, Iranian nuclear negotiators could—and did—play for time while the regime rapidly added more centrifuges and increased production of enriched uranium. That is no longer the case. For the first time in years, the... View Details