“We’re selling our company and trying really hard to be fair and reasonable, but the buyer with the most synergy is now being stubborn and taking a hardline on the tough financial issues. We’ve narrowed it down to them and have made excellent progress by exploring our...
One of former Chrysler president Lee Iacocca’s most formidable negotiation challenges occurred when Chrysler sought to avoid bankruptcy by negotiating with Congress in 1979 for a $1.5 billion loan guarantee. Most lawmakers initially believed government should not bail...
Impasses in three high-profile negotiations have recently focused the public’s attention on the nature of deadlock in negotiations – the Wisconsin Democrats’ walkout to Illinois, the federal budget showdown and just averted shutdown, and the NFL lockout. So how...
How many times have you heard ‘A picture is worth a thousand words?’ Interestingly, it’s largely true in the negotiation world. Remember the last time you bought a car and the salesperson offered you an extended warranty? I doubt he appealed to your analytical...
“I would love to do the deal, but my boss is being unreasonable. I really need you to move on this issue to convince my boss to sign. Can you help me out?” Here, I’m the good cop and my boss is the bad cop. Is this common? Yes. Effective? Sometimes....
Rarely does a day go by that I don’t read in a newspaper about a high-profile negotiation. Perhaps it is a union picketing when talks break down, or a board of directors trying to fend off an unwanted merger. It might even involve the possible settlement of a...
“Can’t we just cut to the chase if we know where the parties usually end? It’s a colossal waste of time and money to do the dance.” As my regular readers know, I usually recommend the dance. First, most negotiators truly haven’t done their...
“I couldn’t believe it,” he told me. “While I was an outside consultant, this company followed all my recommendations. Then I went full-time with them and my success rate plummeted to 50 percent. What happened?” “Excellent question,” I responded. “The answer? Status...
“What else can we do?” I asked my agent. “He sounds pretty stubborn on this point.” “I’m not sure,” my agent responded. “Let’s give it some thought. I pride myself on my creativity and coming up with nontraditional ways to resolve parties’ differences. Let’s put on...
