Works
- Applied Statistical Decision Theory (with Robert Schlaifer), Harvard Business School, 1961
- The Art and Science of Negotiation, Harvard University Press, 1982
- Post-Settlement Settlements, Negotiation Journal, 1985
In Tactics of Organizational Politics
Ideas
Post-settlement settlement. After the parties have reached and signed an agreement, they look together for a better one, with the signed deal kept as the default and changes adopted only if both sides prefer them. Because the signed deal stands unless both sides prefer a change, neither side risks what it already has.
What it explains
Raiffa explains how parties can improve a deal once the pressure of reaching one has passed. Proposing a second look, with the existing agreement safe, gives both sides a low-risk way to capture value they left on the table.
Tactics that draw on Howard Raiffa (1)
In Thinking Tools
Known for
A Harvard decision theorist who helped found decision analysis and negotiation analysis. His work with Robert Schlaifer laid Bayesian foundations for decision trees, and his 1982 book analyzed negotiation through each side's reservation price and the zone of agreement between them, now usually called the ZOPA.