Michael Watkins

• Professor (Full) at International Institute for Management Development

The move from CEO to Chairman is a major role shift. Success requires a set of leadership qualities which few CEOs have exercised in their previous roles. In this article, the authors elaborate on the qualities of great Chairmen and how executives can prepare for this new governance role.

Purpose – The author believes that it is crucial to follow a comprehensive framework for making transitions, one that distills the experience of many leaders facing a diverse range of situations when taking on a new job or a promotion. Design/methodology/approach – The author, an internationally known consultant, has distilled the experience of ma...

These case studies in multilateral trade policymaking and dispute settlement explore the changing substance of trade agreements and also delve into the negotiation process--the who, how, and why of decisionmaking. They allow the reader to see how trade policy actually works and are an ideal way to bring the reality of trade policy into the classroo...

Leaders in transition reflexively rely on the skills and strategies that worked for them in the past. That's a mistake, says Watkins, whose research shows that executives moving into new roles must gain a deep understanding of the situation at hand and adapt to it. To help them accurately assess their organizations and tailor their strategies and s...

Although important work is being done in the emerging field of negotiation architecture and “shaping the game,” little of it has found its way into the classroom. Simulation exercises are among the most powerful pedagogical tools available to negotiation educators, but most existing exercises have static architectures in the form of fixed parties,...

Between 1992 and 2000, US exports rose by 55 percent. By the year 2000, trade summed to 26 percent of US GDP, and the United States imported almost two-thirds of its oil and was the world's largest host country for foreign investors. America's interest in a more open and prosperous foreign market is now squarely economic. These case studies in mult...

At first glance, one might expect great similarities between the approaches of two U.S. third parties, both white male Democrats, who acted during the 1990s to resolve two ethnic and religious-based conflicts in Europe. Yet, although each man achieved a substantial measure of success, at least in the short to medium term, a closer comparison of the...

The actions taken during the first three months of a new job will largely determine whether you succeed or fail in the long term. The goal should be transition acceleration, not just failure prevention. This article offers a blueprint for addressing the linked challenges of personal transition and organizational transformation that confront all lea...

Los signos de una crisis inminente suelen estar a nuestro alrededor aunque no los veamos; afortunadamente, hay medios para detectar el peligro antes de que sea demasiado tarde. Para preveer y evitar desastres en la empresa es necesario seguir una serie de pasos: reconocer la amenaza, darle prioridad en la organización y movilizar los recursos neces...

Leadership research relating top management team (TMT) demographics to firm performance has produced mixed empirical results. This article suggests a new explanation for these inconsistencies. We first note that a given TMT is likely to face a variety of different situations over time. Thus, while TMT demographic composition is relatively stable, t...

Think hard about the problems in your organization or about potential upheavals in the markets in which you operate. Could some of those problems--ones no one is attending to--turn into disasters? If you're like most executives, you'll sheepishly answer yes. As Harvard Business School professors Michael Watkins and Max Bazerman illustrate in this t...

Using Richard Holbrooke's negotiations in Bosnia as an instructive example, this article examines structural complexity as a barrier to agreement and proposes approaches to "strategic simplification" that are inspired by research on modular design of new products. This article represents an initial step toward development of a broader theory of com...

Much of the negotiation literature involves two parties that are each assumed to behave in a unitary manner, although a growing body of knowledge considers more complex negotiations. Examples of the latter include two parties where one or both parties do not behave in a unitary manner, multiple parties on one or both sides, parties on multiple side...

Drawing on the literatures on negotiation, communication, and persuasion as well as his research on organizational transformation, the author proposes a framework for understanding and enacting the persuasion process in organizations. He lays out key goals of persuasion and ways that skilled leaders can manage the process. The framework focuses att...

Drawing on the literatures on negotiation, communication, and persuasion as well as his research on organizational transformation, the author proposes a framework for understanding and enacting the persuasion process in organizations. He lays out key goals of persuasion and ways that skilled leaders can manage the process. The framework focuses att...

Botched leadership transitions occur with alarming frequency--a fact that's laid bare regularly in the business pages of the nation's newspapers. The headlines trumpet the premature departures of designated successors--leaders such as Merrill Lynch's Herb M. Allison and AT&T's John Walter, who left their respective companies before they could claim...

Drawing on the literatures on negotiation and conflict resolution as well as research on international diplomacy, the author proposes a framework for understanding complexity in real-world negotiations. Rejecting models of the process that are simplistic, sterile, or static, he argues that complexity is inherent in negotiation. In ten propositions,...

Using the recent Wye Memorandum negotiations between Israelis andPalestinians as a case example, the author applies a framework foranalyzing momentum-building processes previously presented in the July 1998issue of this journal. Focusing on the impact of action-forcing events, heexamines the factors that led the parties to come to the table at Wye...

Using the negotiations over the future of Northern Ireland and other case examples, the author develops a conceptual framework for analyzing how negotiators seek to build momentum and overcome stalemate. The framework focuses on the choices negotiators face between taking action and waiting in the hope that counterparts will make concessions, explo...

Using the negotiations over the future of Northern Ireland and other case examples, the author develops a conceptual framework for analyzing how negotiators seek to build momentum and overcome stalemate. The framework focuses on the choices negotiators face between taking action and waiting in the hope that counterparts will make concessions, explo...

Using the secret Middle East peace talks in Oslo, Norway as a case example, the authors develop a conceptual framework for analyzing prenegotiation processes in negotiation. The framework focuses on understanding changes in the balance of geopolitical, internal, political, and group psychological forces that lead parties to negotiate. The framework...

This article presents a framework for understanding the roles that interested and powerful intervenors play in resolving disputes. Called an intervention role grid, this framework can be used to analyze the dispute resolution functions that third parties can perform. It may also be used to shed light on the difficult choices that confront interveno...

This article presents a conceptual framework for analyzing the structure and dynamics of what the authors call linked systems of negotiations. Even such seemingly straightforward transactions as the purchase of a family car tend to involve linked negotiations. The framework highlights the importance of internegotiation processes in shaping Zones of...

This article analyzes the coalition-building tactics employed by the Bush administration during the Persian Gulf crisis of 1990–91. To provide a basis for generalization to other situations, we have developed a conceptual framework for understanding sources of power in coalition building. This framework draws upon research in the social psychology...

An ongoing research project with a large international manufacturing company has uncovered many critical issues for the development and introduction of systems that supportconcurrent engineering. Several of these issues can be solved through careful interface design, while others require significant technical and organizational changes. To reduce t...

The effectiveness of a firm's design processes is dependent upon the validity of its design theories. The designs of products, processes and procedures embody implicit or explicit theories about the nature of real world processes which shape their performance. The performance of a firm's value creating systems will meet expectations only to the ext...

Trade policy has moved from the wings onto center stage. Between 1992 and 2000, US exports rose by 55 percent. By the year 2000, trade summed to 26 percent of US GDP, and the United States imported almost two-thirds of its oil and was the world's largest host country for foreign investors. America's interest in a more open and prosperous foreign ma...

Traducción de: The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels Contiene: Introducción: Los primeros 90 días; 1) Asciéndase; 2) Acelere su aprendizaje; 3) Cómo adaptar la estrategia a la situación; 4) Cómo garantizar las victorias iniciales; 5) Negocie el éxito; 6) Consiga la alineación; 7) Construya su equipo; 8) Crear...