Betting the Company: Complex Negotiation Strategies for Law and Business

by Andrew Trask, Andrew DeGuire

Overview

Where the fate of a company is on the line in a negotiation, legal and business teams must work seamlessly to reach a successful conclusion. Unfortunately, there's often a gap between lawyers, who are typically untrained in business strategy, and business executives, who lack basic knowledge of contract law and regulations. In Betting the Company: Complex Negotiation Strategies for Law and Business, Andrew Trask and Andrew DeGuire offer a thorough introduction to enable lawyers and business people to understand the theoretical concepts and to apply practical tools to conduct a successful, multi-faceted negotiation. The authors, both of whom have extensive experience conducting high-stakes negotiation, explain the different strategic considerations negotiators face, from the pressures on individuals representing a larger group to the difficulties that arise from clashes of corporate culture. They also discuss the specific challenges raised by negotiations that involve multiple parties, multiple issues, and take place over longer periods of time. Throughout this illuminating book, Trask and DeGuire provide concrete, practical advice on how best to guide companies through the most difficult negotiations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199323982
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	06/03/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	17 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Andrew Trask is counsel at McGuire Woods, LLP where he specializes in class-action litigation, including consulting on various complex litigation settlements. He frequently writes and speaks on litigation strategy and maintains the Class Action Countermeasures blog. He is co-author, with Brian Anderson, of The Class Action Playbook, Second Edition (Oxford University Press 2012). Andrew DeGuire is Vice President of Business Development & Global Growth at Johnson Controls, Inc. He has been involved in acquisitions and divestitures for more than 17 years. He has been a part of and led teams responsible for over $4 billion in value. He has been engaged in more than 40 deals that have closed successfully, and-just as important-more than 200 that have not.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments CHAPTER 1: ELEMENTS OF COMPLEX NEGOTIATION 1.1 When good deals go bad 1.2 The nature of negotiation 1.3 The problem of complex negotiations CHAPTER 2: NON-RATIONAL JUDGMENTS 2.1 Heuristics - When our mental shortcuts get us into trouble 2.2 Professional biases - How training colors our world 2.3 Personality and emotion - Nobody's Spock CHAPTER 3: MULTI-PARTY NEGOTIATIONS 3.1 Multi-lateral negotiations - More people, more problems 3.2 Team negotiations - None of us is as dumb as all of us. I love my team/I hate my team 3.3 Negotiations with organizational constituents - Behind the table 3.4 Practical suggestions CHAPTER 4 - MULTIPLE DECISIONS 4.1 Multiple options 4.2 Multiple issues 4.3 Agendas - The Secret Weapon 4.4 Practical applications CHAPTER 5 - TRANSACTIONS OVER TIME 5.1 Path dependence - Starting points matter 5.2 Time asymmetries - Why someone prefers to go slow 5.3 Exogenous shocks - What happens when stuff happens 5.4 Learning - Why some conflict may not be so bad 5.5 Sequential strategy - Why it pays to be nice 5.6 Practical implications CHAPTER 6 - REGULATED NEGOTIATIONS 6.1 Information and disclosure - basic concepts 6.2 Obligations/duties to constituents (corporate law) 6.3 Conduct of negotiations 6.4 What written agreement looks like (contract law/rules of evidence) 6.5 Content of deal (tax/specific regulations) 6.6 Practical implications CHAPTER 7 - INTER-CULTURAL NEGOTIATIONS 7.1 Organizational culture - The Personality of the Organization 7.2 National culture - You can take the boy out of Iowa … CHAPTER 8 - GRAND STRATEGY 8.1 Primary purpose 8.2 Scorecard 8.3 Internal capacity assessment 8.4 Best alternatives 8.5 Materiality/leverage CHAPTER 9 - INTELLIGENCE 9.1 What to Look For 9.2 How to Find It. CHAPTER 10 - TACTICAL MOVES 10.1 Deploying resources 10.2 Process - The importance of project management 10.3 Putting things in motion 10.4 Approaching the Other Side 10.5 In the Room 10.6 Put into action Index

Editorial Reviews

"Invaluable! Full of ready-to-use advice, rooted in both theory and practice. This book goes well beyond traditional best-sellers in the field, and draws on the latest economic and legal thinking. It is written with a lively pen and illustrated with pointed examples. CEOs, line managers, and strategists in any organization will gain from it. Don't even think about negotiating without reading this book first."
—Ben Gomes-Casseres, Professor, Brandeis University

From the Publisher