Program on Negotiation

Program on Negotiation
Name	Program on Negotiation
Type	Academic research center
Location	Cambridge, Massachusetts
Parent organization	Harvard University
Established	1983

Program on Negotiation The Program on Negotiation is a transdisciplinary consortium based at Harvard University that focuses on negotiation, mediation, conflict resolution, and dispute systems design. It convenes scholars and practitioners from Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, and other institutions, producing research, training, and publications that influence practice in international diplomacy, corporate bargaining, labor relations, and public policy.

History

Founded in 1983, the Program on Negotiation emerged amid growing interest in alternative dispute resolution and negotiation studies associated with Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Early collaborations connected scholars who had worked on landmark events and frameworks such as the Camp David Accords, Oslo Accords, Good Friday Agreement, and Treaty of Maastricht, and drew on theories associated with figures like Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton who were influential in shaping modern negotiation practice. Over time the Program expanded partnerships with institutions including Harvard Business School, Stanford University, Columbia University, Yale Law School, Oxford University, and University of Chicago to publish case studies on disputes ranging from the Iran hostage crisis aftermath to corporate negotiations surrounding General Motors and Ford Motor Company mergers, and to advise on international mediation efforts involving actors like United Nations envoys and the European Union.

Mission and Structure

The Program's mission emphasizes improving negotiation outcomes through rigorous scholarship and practical training, linking academic research at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology with practitioner networks including American Bar Association, International Association for Conflict Management, and non-governmental organizations such as International Crisis Group and Mediation Center of the United States. Structurally, it operates as a consortium with affiliated faculty from Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School, MIT Sloan School of Management, Tufts University Fletcher School, and visiting scholars from institutions like Yale University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, London School of Economics, and University of Cambridge. Administrative coordination involves collaborations with legal clinics, executive programs at Harvard Business School Executive Education, and policy units that engage with entities such as the U.S. Department of State, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and regional bodies like African Union and Organization of American States.

Academic Programs and Courses

The Program offers seminars, clinical courses, and cross-listed classes with Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School, and MIT including curriculum drawing on canonical texts and cases linked to negotiators and mediators like Henry Kissinger, Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, and Eleanor Roosevelt-era diplomacy. Courses explore negotiation tactics used in historical negotiations such as the Yalta Conference, Treaty of Versailles aftermath studies, and modern commercial negotiations involving corporations like Microsoft, Apple Inc., Amazon (company), Boeing, and Airbus. Joint degree students and visiting fellows collaborate on projects with organizations including World Trade Organization, International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International, and corporate partners such as Goldman Sachs and McKinsey & Company.

Research and Publications

Research themes include distributive bargaining, integrative negotiation, mediation processes, cross-cultural bargaining, and negotiation pedagogy; outputs appear in journals and books alongside works by scholars connected to Harvard Law Review, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Negotiation Journal, and publishing houses like Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press. The Program's publications draw on historical episodes such as the Camp David Accords, Cuban Missile Crisis, SALT II Treaty negotiations, case studies involving firms like Enron and WorldCom, and analyses referencing arbitration under conventions like the New York Convention. Collaborations have involved scholars and authors associated with Roger Fisher, William Ury, Daniel Kahneman, Amos Tversky, Herbert Simon, and practitioners from Pierre Trudeau-era negotiations to post-Cold War diplomacy.

Training, Workshops, and Executive Education

The Program runs executive seminars, multi-day workshops, and negotiation clinics for professionals from corporations, non-profits, and governments, often partnering with executive programs at Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, and international institutes such as INSEAD, IMD (business school), Wharton School, and London Business School. Customized trainings have been delivered to delegations in contexts like Northern Ireland peace process delegations, corporate boards of General Electric, unions such as AFL–CIO, and international missions coordinated with United Nations Development Programme and European Commission teams. Workshops synthesize methods connected to influential negotiators and mediators including Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan, Dag Hammarskjöld, and strategists from RAND Corporation.

Notable Faculty and Alumni

Faculty affiliates and alumni include prominent academics, practitioners, and public figures associated with Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School, MIT, and other universities—individuals who have served in roles at the United Nations, U.S. Department of State, World Bank, and major corporations such as Google LLC, IBM, ExxonMobil, and Procter & Gamble. Many alumni have participated in high-profile negotiations and mediation efforts linked to the Camp David Accords, Oslo Accords, Good Friday Agreement, and trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization framework, and have published with presses like Harvard University Press and Oxford University Press.

Impact and Criticism

The Program's influence is evident in its role advising negotiators in diplomatic disputes, informing corporate negotiation strategies at firms like Microsoft and Goldman Sachs, and shaping curricula at law and business schools worldwide including Stanford Graduate School of Business and Columbia Business School. Criticisms have come from scholars and commentators who argue that academic negotiation training can overemphasize technical models relative to structural power dynamics seen in cases like Colonialism-era settlement negotiations, asymmetric disputes involving Russia and Ukraine, or imbalanced labor negotiations such as those involving United Auto Workers. Debates continue about balancing prescriptive techniques with critical approaches used in fields represented by Critical Legal Studies and scholars from institutions like University of California, Berkeley and New York University.

Category:Harvard University