In 1978, Kenny Rogers wrote a song entitled “The Gambler”. Part of the lyrics include the memorable lines, You've got to know when to hold 'em Know when to fold 'em Know when to walk away And know when to run You never count your money When you're sittin' at [Read More]
During a mediation, one or more parties will often bring up the topic of managing expectations- usually in reference to the other party. The discussion will be to the effect that I, as the mediator, should go into the other conference room and have a “candid” conversation with that party [Read More]
The Harvard Program on Negotiation (PON) blog posted an article about deception in negotiations. Entitled, “Ethics In Negotiation: How tthe Articleo Deal with Deception at the Bargaining Table” by Pon Staff (August 9, 2022), the article provides four examples of situations in which one could be tempted to use “deception” [Read More]
Even though my students are training to become mediators, I raise the important issue of negotiation style with them; after all, as mediators, they are, in effect, negotiating with the parties. No doubt, these students did not give much thought to how their style of negotiating impacts their role as [Read More]
The American Bar Association recently posted an article in its ABA Weekly Newsletter (May 27,2022) about a patient signing an agreement with a hospital acknowledging that she will be charged $1300 for surgery but then being billed about $230,000. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the signed agreement prevailed; because [Read More]
The Harvard Program on Negotiation (PON) staff posted a blog on ethics in negotiation entitled “Ethics and Negotiation: 5 Principles of Negotiation to Boost Your Bargaining Skills in Business Situations” (April 21, 2022). Naturally, it caught my eye as I teach mediation ethics. The blog post poses 5 questions to [Read More]
No doubt, many of us have encountered the aggressive negotiator who in a distributive bargaining zero-sum situation makes an “outrageous” settlement demand in the hopes of acquiring as much of the pie as possible. Our response is typically to be angry and to rail against both the demand and the [Read More]
Russia has engaged in the ultimate hardball tactic: it invaded Ukraine. Watching this invasion unfold reminded me of hardball negotiations and tactics. As defined in The Business Professor, “hardball tactics”: …are measures used in a negotiation to set a competitive tone. It generally involves using some form or power, leverage, [Read More]
