Publications

September 2008
Article

What T. R. Took: The Economic Impact of the Panama Canal, 1903-1937

By: Noel Maurer and Carlos Yu

The Panama Canal was one of the largest public investments of its time. In the first decade of its operation, the canal produced significant social returns for the United States. Most of these returns were due to the transportation of petroleum from California to the... View Details

Keywords: History; Development Economics; International Relations; Investment Return; Negotiation Deal; Panama; United States

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January–February 2025
Article

What People Still Get Wrong About Negotiations: They Assume the Size of the Pie Is Fixed—and So Miss Opportunities to Create Value

By: Max H. Bazerman

Most executives leave value on the negotiating table, for two main reasons: First, many executives mistakenly believe that they’re negotiating over a fixed pie and that gains for one side necessarily mean losses for the other. Second, they focus exclusively on how to... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Offer; Negotiation Tactics; Value; Communication; Trust

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January 1994 (Revised July 1998)
Case

Repligen Corporation: January 1992

By: Josh Lerner and David Kane

Sandford Smith, CEO of Repligen, faces the breakdown of negotiations about a proposed joint venture with a large pharmaceutical firm. He must decide whether to proceed using his firm's internal resources or whether to seek to revise the proposed collaboration. If the... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Decisions; Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Value

Research Summary

3D Negotiaton

By: James K. Sebenius

In articles and books, often with David Lax, I have been developing a broad approach to effective negotiation that encompasses three "dimensions." In this "3D" approach, our first dimension — "tactics"-- is the most familiar territory. Tactics are the persuasive... View Details

March 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch

By: Guhan Subramanian and Nithyasri Sharma

In September 2008, as Lehman Brothers struggled to survive, John Thain, CEO of Merrill Lynch, realized that his bank was also on the brink of failure. Throughout the weekend of September 13–14, 2008, Thain successfully negotiated a deal with Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Crisis; Financing and Loans; Negotiation Deal; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; United States

30 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

Your Crisis Response Plan: The Ten Effective Elements

Organizations inevitably face crises, but few are well prepared to deal with them. The following elements summarize the findings of research and experience about what it takes to respond effectively in crisis situations. The accompanying... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Watkins

2009
Simulation

Finance Simulation: Blackstone/Celanese: No. 3712.

By: Nabil N. El-Hage and Timothy A. Luehrman

The Finance Simulation: Blackstone/Celanese is based on the landmark acquisition of Celanese AG by the Blackstone Group in 2003. Students play the role of either Celanese or Blackstone and conduct due diligence, establish deal terms, respond to bids and counter-bids,... View Details

Keywords: Bids and Bidding; Finance; Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Leveraged Buyouts; Negotiation

October 2006 (Revised September 2014)
Case

Summit Partners - The FleetCor Investment (A)

By: Michael J. Roberts

Part of a 3-case series in which students get to see the unfolding of due diligence on private equity (buy out) deal. In this, the A case, the deal team has negotiated a letter of intent with FleetCor, a firm that operates a fuel payment network for vehicle fleets.... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Preparation; Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Investment; Negotiation Offer; Service Industry

07 May 2012
Research & Ideas

The Art of Haggling

I think we're obliged to give our students a realistic picture of how the world can sometimes work." To be effective, he says, negotiators must be adept at both styles of negotiating. That doesn't need to mean going for the jugular,... View Details

Keywords: by Katie Johnston

October 2009
Case

A Big (Double) Deal: Anadarko's Acquisition of Kerr-McGee and Western Gas Resources

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Curtis Rising

On June 23, 2006, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation announced that it was simultaneously acquiring two public companies, Kerr-McGee and Western Gas Resources, in all-cash deals. The total price was about $24 billion, a figure close to Anadarko's market cap at the time.... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Model; Transformation; Negotiation; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Business and Shareholder Relations; Alignment; Valuation; Energy Industry; United States

26 Jul 2004
Research & Ideas

A Better Way to Negotiate: Backward

then negotiated successfully with Philips and used the agreement to forge a complementary deal with Sony. With Sony and Philips onboard, Perlman was able to negotiate for VC... View Details

Keywords: by James K. Sebenius

05 Dec 2016
Research & Ideas

How To Deceive Others With Truthful Statements (It's Called 'Paltering,' And It's Risky)

indicates that many people who palter see nothing wrong with it, whereas people on the receiving end feel scammed. People who palter may gain some ground in negotiating a better deal for themselves in the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

12 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 12, 2008

http://ssrn.com/ Beyond Gender and Negotiation to Gendered Negotiations Authors: Deborah M. Kolb and Kathleen L. McGinn Periodical: Negotiation and Conflict Management Journal... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 11, 2023
Article

Russia and Ukraine Are Not Ready for Talks: But They Might Get There If Ukraine Keeps Winning

By: James K. Sebenius and Michael Singh

While there are many calls for negotiation between Ukraine and Russia to end their war, there does now (early 2023) not appear to be a zone of possible agreement (ZOPA), since each side's best no-agreement option ("BATNA") likely appears superior to any mutually... View Details

Keywords: Diplomacy; Agreements; Ukraine; International Relations; War; Negotiation; Ukraine; Russia

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May 1998
Case

Integral Vision Ltd. (A)

A stop-action simulation case takes participants through the process whereby four people (three young entrepreneurs and an investor) take a machine vision company from start-up to acquisition by a major publicly-traded company. Over several years, they have to... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Business Growth and Maturation; Acquisition; Business Startups

26 Oct 2010
First Look

First Look: October 26, 2010

http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-magazine/articles/2010/fall/52111/selling-to-many-cultures-within-the-us/ Building Intercultural Trust at the Negotiating Table Authors:Sujin Jang and Roy Y.J. Chua Publication:In View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2012 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Preem (A)

By: Bo Becker, Annelena Lobb and Aldo Sesia

High yield bond fund Proventus Capital Partners (PCP) has invested in underwater bonds issued by Preem, a large oil refinery. As maturity approaches, in the midst of financial crisis, Preem appear unlikely to be able to refinance. Meanwhile, Prreem has a complicated... View Details

Keywords: Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Liquidity; Restructuring; Courts and Trials; Negotiation; Bonds; Mining Industry; Energy Industry; Europe

2024
Book

Deals: The Economic Structure of Business Transactions

By: Guhan Subramanian and Michael Klausner

Drawing on real-life cases from a wide range of industries, two acclaimed experts offer a sophisticated but accessible guide to business deals, designed to maximize value for your side.

Business transactions take widely varying forms—from multibillion-dollar... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Contracts

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October 2008 (Revised September 2011)
Supplement

PepsiCo's Bid for Quaker Oats (C)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

Third in a series of PepsiCo's bid for Quaker Oats. Describes the auction for Quaker Oats including terms of the bids. After winning the auction, Coke's stock price fell dramatically. Coke's Board then refused to approve the deal and withdrew. Quaker then approached... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Stocks; Governing and Advisory Boards; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Negotiation Tactics; Valuation; Food and Beverage Industry