Publications

October 2, 2000
Article

Interests, Value and the Art of the Best Deal

By: James K. Sebenius and David A. Lax

Keywords: Value; Interests

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 2008 (Revised June 2012)
Background Note

ADR Choices

By: Michael Wheeler, James Sebenius and Marjorie Aaron

Six different business disputes, all in the shadow of pending litigation, are described. Students are asked to recommend the appropriate method of dispute resolution (mediation, arbitration, mini-trial, etc.) for each one, depending on the circumstances, especially to... View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation; Managerial Roles; Negotiation; Agreements and Arrangements; Conflict Management

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

10 Aug 2022
News

Generosity Multiplied

Photo courtesy James Reed There’s little doubt that James Reed (MBA 1990) loves his job. After all, he’s the chairman and CEO of Reed—the United Kingdom’s first and largest jobs website—and he takes the... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

November 2021
Supplement

Steve Schwarzman on Dealmaking I: “Becoming a ‘Friend of the Situation’” (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 (922-005); 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; Conflict and Resolution; Problems and Challenges

May 2021
Supplement

Career at a Crossroads? (B)

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

Article

Three Ethical Issues in Negotiation

By: James K. Sebenius and David Lax

Keywords: Negotiation; Ethics

April 2010
Case

Bill Nichol Negotiates with Walmart: Hard Bargains over Soft Goods (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Ellen Knebel

CEO Bill Nichol must somehow negotiate a surprise ultimatum from Walmart, his largest customer, about his largest and most profitable product line: “We're dropping it.” Among its hosiery products, the Kentucky Derby Hosiery Co. produces and sells a branded line of... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Crisis Management; Negotiation Tactics; Conflict Management; Apparel and Accessories Industry; North America

October 2009
Case

Don Soderquist: Negotiating the Wal-Mart-P&G Relationship (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Ellen Knebel

This case describes the negotiations and strategic choices of Don Soderquist, who as Chief Operating Officer of Wal-Mart, helped to forge a major partnership with P&G in the 1980s and 1990s. The case chronicles the challenging barriers to success along with several of... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Style; Partners and Partnerships; Leadership; Value Creation; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Retail Industry

July 2009
Supplement

Tom Muccio: Negotiating the P&G Relationship with Wal-Mart - Video

By: James K. Sebenius and Ellen Knebel

Keywords: Negotiation

winter 1980
Article

Evolving Terms of Mineral Agreements: Risk, Reward, and Participation in Deep Seabed Mining

By: James K. Sebenius and Mati Pal

Keywords: Metals and Minerals; Risk and Uncertainty; Motivation and Incentives; Mining Industry

April 2007 (Revised January 2010)
Supplement

Tom Muccio: Negotiating the P&G Relationship with Wal-Mart (B)

By: James K. Sebenius and Ellen Knebel

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

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

March 1997
Case

Stone Container in Honduras (B)

By: Hannah Bowles and James K. Sebenius

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Preparation; Negotiation Types; Environmental Sustainability; Conflict of Interests; Globalized Firms and Management; Developing Countries and Economies; Government and Politics; Manufacturing Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Honduras; Chicago

20 Dec 2016
First Look

December 20, 2016

years, this paper presents a significant revision of the model of creativity and innovation in organizations published in Research in Organizational Behavior in 1988. This update focuses primarily on the individual-level psychological processes implicated in creativity... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

2014
Working Paper

Tommy Koh and the U.S.–Singapore Free Trade Agreement: A Multi-Front 'Negotiation Campaign'

By: Laurence A. Green and James K. Sebenius

Complex, multiparty negotiations are often analyzed as principals negotiating through agents, as two-level games (Putnam 1988), or in coalitional terms. The relatively new concept of a "multi-front negotiation campaign" (Sebenius 2010, Lax and Sebenius, 2012) offers... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Trade; United States; Singapore