Renowned Inter-University Program On Negotiation at Harvard Selects booktech.com to Provide Education Materials for Students Worldwide

October 16, 2000

WOBURN, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 12, 2000–booktech.com (AMEX: BTC, news, msgs), a first mover in digital and on-demand custom-content publishing focused on the education market, has been selected by the prestigious Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School (PON) as the distributor of all PON publications and teaching materials, including its internationally recognized Role Simulation Exercises. This is the fourth contract awarded to the company over the past 3 months.

Using booktech.com’s soon-to-be-unveiled educator’s web portal, professors and negotiation trainers will be able to build and order customized anthologies of readings and Role Simulation Exercises on line, guided by the recommendations and annotations of master teachers from PON.

Based in Cambridge, MA, PON is an inter-university consortium including the schools of law, business, and government at Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University committed to improving the theory and practice of negotiation and conflict resolution.

According to booktech.com CEO, Morris Shepard, “The Program on Negotiation is the world’s authority on negotiation theory and practice. We’re delighted to be working with them to extend their reach by offering professors and corporate trainers an on-line method of building customized texts to suit their specific needs.”

At present, PON offers over 180 Role Simulations and continues to develop new ones. They are used in high school, college, and graduate school classrooms–as well as in corporate training–for the development of negotiation skills in business, law, international diplomacy, political analysis and policy making, and general conflict resolution. They range from simple, two-party negotiations that may be accomplished in a single class session to complex, multiparty issues that may take a day to resolve. Each is designed to help teachers and trainers demonstrate their lessons in a compelling way.

According to PON Executive Director Dr. Sara Cobb, “The booktech.com connection will greatly enhance PON’s ability to get its message and methods into the hands of international educators in the field of decision making.” booktech.com will use its state-of-the-art web technology to offer improved educator previewing, ordering, delivery, and payment methods for these exercises, both for traditional print versions and for delivery in other formats such as CD-ROM and copyright-secure digital files offered over the Internet.

In addition to the Role Simulations, booktech.com will distribute PON’s impressive list of books, working papers, and other materials including its collection of over 20 videotaped exercises, including an adaptation of the influential best seller Getting to YES by Professor Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton.

For more information about PON, contact: Sara Cobb, Executive Director, Program on Negotiation at Harvard law School (617) 495-1684 X 515

About booktech.com

booktech.com, founded in 1995 and headquartered in Woburn, MA, is a digital and on-line publisher of customized textbooks and other educational materials for higher education, K-12 schools, distance education, not-for-profit organizations, and corporate training. Company shares have traded on the American Stock Exchange since April 5, 2000 (AMEX: BTC, news, msgs). booktech.com has published 6,000 individual customized textbook titles for more than 2,500 professors on 500 campuses. It is becoming an important custom-publishing resource for K-12 schools with such noteworthy titles as: Breaking the Spanish Barrier, Breaking the French Barrier, Trade Routes and Choices. booktech.com is the custom-publishing partner to a growing list of leading institutions in distance education which value its capabilities for delivering customized and copyright-protected educational materials as electronic downloads, CDs, or printed books.

About PON

Based in Cambridge, MA, PON is a 15-year-old inter-university consortium, including the schools of law, business, and government at Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, committed to improving the theory and practice of negotiation and conflict resolution.

PON research and pedagogy are based on the concept of principled negotiation in pursuit of “mutual gain” solutions, a process also known as “Interest-Based Bargaining.” A fundamental goal of the Program is to improve and extend the teaching of negotiation. Under the direction of leading scholars in the field, the Program has developed internationally recognized teaching methods and tools. Over one million students worldwide have become better bargainers through exposure to PON’s Role Simulation Exercises. These modules are carefully crafted to highlight specific aspects and skills to be considered and mastered in decision making. The simulations reflect the complexities of real-life circumstances and are based on a wide range of experiences. Examples include negotiating international oil policies, reaching property agreements and divorce settlements, administering fair patent rights, enforcing arms control agreements, addressing accusations of environmental racism, and determining foster parent rights for gay couples.

Contact Info

booktech.com

Dr. Joe Short

Chief Education Officer

(781) 933-5400

Marly Rusoff

(914) 318-0558


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