Additional Reading List
 
Aside from the express representations made on this page, we make no general or implied representations as to the quality of information in these books. If you have any favorite books on negotiation, bargaining or conflict resolution please contact us and let us know. We are always looking for new ideas and new publications.

In General

 Negotiation- in General
Conflict Resolution
Dealing with Difficult People
Ethical Negotiation
Negotiation for Women
 
 Specific Negotiations

 Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Buying a Car
Buying a Home
Commercial Contracts
Construction
Cross-Cultural Negotiation
Customer Relations
Diversity
Family Relations
Game Theory
Government Contracts
Health Care
Labor-Management
Law Enforcement
Legal Negotiation
Project Management
Purchasing
Resource Allocation
Salary Negotiations and Career Advancement
Sales
Sports


Negotiation in General
       These are, in my opinion, the best general books on negotiation. Reilly's How to Out-Negotiate Anyone focuses on bargaining skills as the title suggests. Raiffa's Art and Science of Negotiation is used as a textbook in most college negotiation courses. It's a bit long, but worth the work. Fisher and Ury's Getting to Yes is a classic on the subject of negotiation.. However, it lacks the depth of Raiffa's text.

Conflict Resolution

      The best books on conflict resolution tend to be written by people at the Harvard University Program on Negotiation. The most famous book to come out of Harvard is Getting to Yes, although any book by Roger Fisher or William Ury is easily worth the money.
 Dealing with Difficult People

       In our opinion, Ury's book Getting Past No is the best book on how to deal with difficult people. It provides a practical, no nonsense approach to the subject.

Ethical Negotiation

       Ethical negotiation is not only good for the soul, but it is also good for your business. We enthusiastically recommend this book, and the attendant audiotape. If you know of other good books on this subject, please contact us.
Negotiation for Women

      We would love to hear about any book, article or research paper on a woman's approach to doing business in the Middle East, India or Africa. If you know of any, please contact us.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

      People are always looking for better ways of resolving disputes than going to court. The following books deal with the burgeoning business of alternative dispute resolution, also known as ADR. The two methods of ADR are arbitration and mediation. Arbitration is simply a trial without the normal rules of court being applied. There are reasons for going to arbitration, and reasons for avoiding it. Trial in a courthouse takes longer and is more expensive. Arbitration is quicker and cheaper, but its decisions can sometimes be arbitrary and unfair. Sometimes arbitrators have a bias in favor of a particular side. This is especially true in the health industry. Mediation is a completely different approach to dispute resolution from arbitration. It is voluntary and usually non-coercive. Mediators try to persuade. Arbitrators decide for you.

Buying a Car
Buying a Home

      The single most important financial transaction that most people enter into is the purchase of a home. Don't rely on your broker for your negotiation strategy. And remember to take your time. Even in a frenzied sellers market (such as we see in Northern California from time to time) you can find great homes at bargain prices.

Commercial Contracts

      This is the only text on negotiating commercial contracts that we have found that was worth buying, which is a pity. If you know of any others please contact us.

Construction

      When you consider how much negotiation occurs on a construction site, it is amazing that there aren't 10,000 books on the subject. Project managers negotiate contracts, change orders, retentions and a million other issues. They negotiate with clients, colleagues, vendors, suppliers and subcontractors. These are among the best books on the subject that we could find. If you know of any others, please contact us. For a whole slew of interesting articles on team building and project management check out the articles on our links page.

Cross-Cultural Negotiation

      The following is a representative list of what is in print on cross-cultural negotiation. We start with a few general books on negotiating abroad. We recommend the Dynamics of Successful International Business Negotiation. Then we list books that cover negotiating in specific countries such as Singapore, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, France, Russia, and others. Unfortunately, we have found no authoritative, well written books in print on negotiating with Africa, the Middle East or the Indian subcontinent. If you know of any please contact us. Our favorite book on negotiating with Japan is called "Getting Your Yen's Worth." It was written by Professor Robert T. Moran. It is currently out-of-print, however, we have worked out an arrangement with the author where you can purchase it directly from him through us. If you are interested in purchasing it, contact us .

Customer Relations

      One of our clients recommended this book to us. Unfortunately, we have not read it yet. If you have read this text and would like to submit a review, please contact us.
Diversity

      With our increasingly diverse society and our global economy, negotiating cultural differences is becoming an increasingly important and popular topic in corporations around the world. Diversity is a broader topic that does not limit itself to negotiation per se. Nevertheless, we couldn't resist listing our favorite book on this important topic.

Family Relations

      The first four items on this list deal with saving your marriage. The remaining books focus on how to have a good divorce.

Game Theory

       Game theory was created in 1949 by one of America's greatest mathematicians, John Von Neumann. Since then, game theory has been used by the U.S. State Department to formulate a strategy for negotiating arms control agreements with the Soviet Union, by economists to describe the behavior of companies engaged in competition with each other, by evolutionary biologists to describe how certain species survive while others don't, and by negotiators to develop new bargaining and negotiation strategies. Game theory can be complicated stuff, especially when academicians get their hands on it. Unless you are interested in reading books with titles such as "Non-convex optimization and it's applications" we recommend that you stick to the list below. If you are interested in more esoteric material, contact us, and we'll e-mail you an advanced reading list. If you are new to the subject we suggest that you start with Prisoner's Dilemma/John Von Neumann, Game Theory and the Puzzle of the Bomb. This book gives you the history of game theory and explains it in detail. It is simple to read, yet comprehensive. Robert Axelrod has broken new ground in game theory with his computer simulations. Axelrod's The Evolution of Cooperation shows why "tit-for-tat" is the best strategy for forging cooperative arrangements while protecting yourself from the hardball negotiator. We have also included in this reading list our favorite biographies on John Von Neumann, and one of his most colorful protégés, John Forbes Nash, Jr. The eccentric Professor Nash has lived an amazing life. He is also the first game theorist to win the Nobel Prize. A Beautiful Mind is a recent, highly readable, and popular biography of Nash.

Government Contracts
      
These books are expensive, but essential texts for those who negotiate government contracts.

Health Care

      It is a sign of the times that there are an increasing number of negotiation books dealing with health care. These books are all written for the practitioner. We have not found any written for the patient. If you know of any, please contact us.

Labor-Management

      Labor-management disputes usually have to be negotiated within the constraints of federal law. These books cover the negotiation process from both management and labor's perspectives. We prefer David Weiss's book, Beyond the Walls of Conflict, because of its "win-win" approach to negotiation. The books on arbitration focus more on advocacy than on negotiation per se.

Law Enforcement

      We found the first two texts to be fascinating reading. The last text is written for attorneys who practice criminal law.

Legal Negotiation

      Each of these texts is written for the legal practitioner, but clients should also read them. After all, it is your money they are negotiating with! Legal Negotiation in a Nutshell is a part of The Nutshell series. These are short books that briefly, but concisely, cover the subject. They are popular with law students and lawyers on the run. Kritzer's book, Let's Make a Deal, provides a good overview of what happens in a lawsuit. We recommend it for the layperson. Whatever book you choose, remember that no matter how strong your case is, settlement conference judges love to split the difference. Position your opening offer accordingly. Never open with your best and final offer and expect it to hold.

Project Management

      In addition to this book check out the articles on team building and project management on our links page.
Purchasing

 Resource Allocation

      Whether you are disagreeing over who gets the stereo in your divorce, fighting with your relatives over who gets grandpa's antique samovar, or arguing with other department heads over limited budgets, Brams and Taylor's books will help. Steven J. Brams is a Professor of Politics at New York University. Alan D. Taylor is Marie Louise Bailey Professor of Mathematics at Union College. They have come up with a procedure for resource allocation called "adjusted winner" that is simple and easy to implement. Their book The Win-Win Solution not only explains how "adjusted winner" works, but also discusses other resource allocation strategies such as "strict alternation" and "balanced alternation." We highly recommend it to you.

Salary Negotiations and Career Advancement

      Looking for a raise or a promotion? Uncertain what you are worth in a changing market? These books can help. You might also check out our links page for some valuable resources that are available on the web to help you determine how much you are worth. If you are an employer who is trying to keep a valued employee from leaving, then you might want to purchase the last book by Reda.

Sales
Sports

       If you are as obsessed with baseball as we are, you will find this book both illuminating and entertaining. Show me the money!



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