Common Ground International
The world's leader for top-quality, highly
customized negotiation training.
Common Ground International is a consortium of leading
organizations and individuals with an expertise in the fields of negotiation and conflict
resolution. We focus
our talent on a single goal: giving our clients the
skills they need to make rewarding and profitable agreements with their customers, employees, vendors, partners, unions, regulators, colleagues, and countless others. Our clients count on us for practical, no-nonsense, cost-effective solutions. We offer seminars, workshops, speakers,
consulting, coaching, negotiation, arbitration, mediation,
training programs, and more.
The Secret of Our Success
Why have our
negotiating programs been so extraordinarily well received? In a nutshell, because they work. People
negotiate significantly better immediately after attending our sessions. Happily for us, when something works the word gets around. Common Ground's
clients are our best salespeople. Our swift and continued growth is due in no small part to the enthusiastic
word-of-mouth promotion of a rapidly-growing army of graduates.
Why You Need Us
It's not just your imagination–things really are getting tougher. It's harder than ever to manage a business, make a profit, or run a government. And the tougher things get, the more important good negotiating becomes. Today, the average net after-tax profit margin of the S&P 500 companies is a razor-thin 4 percent. Margins of 10 to 20 percent and more used to be typical; only grocery chains and a few other high-volume businesses had 4 percent margins. Margins do constantly fluctuate with economic cycles. But on average, they've been steadily shrinking for the past half-century. The global economic landscape has changed,and probably forever. We share a future of constrained resources and low profit margins where ever smaller advantages will determine who succeeds and who doesn't. This is a future where better negotiating will make all the difference.
A Brief History

Common Ground International is the global leader in negotiation skills training. Unlike our competitors, we customize our program to meet your specific needs. The wellsprings of our success are our celebrated NEGOTIATE to WIN workshop, and our Founder and Principal of Common Ground International, Jim Thomas.Jim is the renowned author of the best-selling business book NEGOTIATE TO WIN, HOW TO GET THE BEST DEAL EVERY TIME!

has received numerous awards for excellance. It traces its roots to a short
briefing Jim delivered nearly thirty years ago. One of
Jim's clients needed to drastically and quickly improve the negotiating
skills of its personnel. The client's employees were sent to every
other negotiating seminar and given every other negotiating book, but to no avail.
Nothing worked. The client, familiar with Jim's reputation
as a talented negotiator, offered Jim the opportunity to train his employees, but with the added caveat: "No touchy-feely stuff! I don't want
to hear about 'Maslow's Hierarchy." Jim's briefing
went extremely well; the negotiating skills of the employees improved
dramatically. The client was pleased and word got around. The rest is history.
In 1982, Jim expanded
his original briefing material into a workshop, gave it the title
of NEGOTIATE TO WIN and offered it for the first time
to the general public. Since then, our seminars, workshops, retreats,
consulting, coaching and other products have become the leading negotiation training programs in the world.
The Principles That Guide Us
"Just Tell Me What Really Works!"
Practicality and Effectiveness
While Common Ground has come a long way from its early years, our original mandate: "Just tell me what really works!" still guides us today. Every program, product and service we offer passes through the same, simple filter: Does it work, consistently and reliably, under real-world conditions?
Win-Win—and Profitable—Outcomes
We strongly believe
that everyone's best interest is served by win-win solutions that
maximize the gain of all parties. Today's problems are too complex and interconnected to be settled on an adversarial basis.
Neither the Earth, nor the nations, corporations, and interest groups
that populate it, have the resources or recuperative power for the
wasteful and prolonged conflicts of the past.
Affordable Programs That Provide Immediate Results
Because our instructors
have negotiating careers outside of Common Ground, we're
able to keep our full-time staff to a minimum. We don't advertise;
we don't have to. Referrals provide us an average 50 percent
annual growth rate. This allows us to keep our prices low—far lower than our major competitors, and so low that our clients
find it's not cost-effective to develop their own negotiation training programs.
Our Guarantee
We guarantee you'll
recover the cost of a Common Ground in-house session within two
weeks of the training through more effective negotiating, or
we'll refund your money!
Jim Thomas
Jim is a negotiator, attorney and standup comedian.
A day with Jim is an unforgettable event!

"My job is to create a spellbinding event that is
so much fun that attendees can't help but learn!"
From its first day in
business, Common Ground has been privileged to be associated with
Jim Thomas, "The World's Negotiating Coach". Jim is Director Emeritus
of Common Ground, and is our advisor, counselor, teacher,
mentor and guide. Negotiation has been the focus of Jim's law practice for the past 30 years.Jim is the top choice
of U.S. presidents and their staffs for negotiating coaching and
advice. When Fortune 100 companies demand their people learn negotiation skills from only the best, they pick
Jim. His presentations on negotiating have been enthusiastically
received by tens of thousands in the U.S and around the world.
Before Jim started Common Ground, he founded The Cooper Management Institute in 1983. Jim's experience includes
mergers and acquisitions, domestic and international business transactions,
U.S. and international arms control, the environment, trade and diplomacy, real estate,
labor relations, and a host of other fields. Jim served the U.S. in the successful Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) negotiations with the former Soviet Union and GATT (now WTO) trade negotiations. In 1977, Jim wrote and
presented a pre-negotiation briefing for a client that dramatically
improved attendees' negotiating skills. He expanded this material
into a workshop, and in 1982 offered it to the general public.
Now 30 years later, the descendants of Jim's original workwhop
are among the leading negotiation programs in the world and are the
recipients of numerous awards for excellence.
Jim's current negotiating projects include some of today's most newsworthy domestic and international issues. His presentation style
is frequently described as a combination of negotiator, lawyer,
and standup comedian. "If I can make people laugh, I can
make them learn," says Jim. "While negotiating is an essential skill for success, it's not easy to do. In fact,
it's the only skill I know that can be technically and emotionally
demanding at the same time. Jim's energy and confidence
reaches even the most distant, resistant participant. He provides
each attendee a strong, personal sense of calling, responsibility,
and empowerment. His success can be seen in the towering marks
his attendees give him.
Jim is the author of the best-selling business book NEGOTIATE TO WIN and scores of articles
about negotiating. He is a frequent guest on national and international television and
radio, and is a popular speaker and trainer for corporate, government,
trade and professional groups. Jim is a graduate of the University of California at Los
Angeles (magna cum laude) and The GeorgetownUniversity
Law Center. For more information about
Jim Thomas, please visit: http://www.jimthomas.info
Our Faculty
Unlike Other Negotiation Training Companies,
Common Ground's Faculty Members
Are Experts Who Negotiate for a Living.
Our faculty is without peer among negotiation training organizations. If one principle defines
Common Ground, it's our rule that all programs must be taught by negotiators
who happen to be trainers. We owe much of our success to our extraordinary international team of instructors.
Each member of Common Ground's global network of program
leaders is a distinguished negotiator with an active, full-time
negotiating practice. Our internationally recognized experts are frequently seen on news programs and talk shows, and quoted
in national news magazines, newspapers, and journals. Our network of instructors have broad experience in mediation, arbitration, and other
forms of international dispute resolution.
Some of our instructors
have participated in GATT, WTO, INF, and MBFR negotiations. Others have represented or assisted the U.S. government
in diplomatic, trade, and arms control negotiations. Still
others are "area specialists" with particular expertise in specific
areas of the economy. All are exceptional teachers with considerable
training experience and first-rate platform skills.Because our instructors negotiate for a living, you'll get the answers you need
from experts who deal with negotiation issues every day. The instructor for your program will be selected on the basis of
your requirements, schedule, and preference. If your selected instructor is unavailable, we will
provide a substitute instructor with comparable skills, experience,
and background.
When you're good the word gets around!
More than 1,000 of the
most successful organizations throughout the world enjoy the tangible, benefits of Common Ground programs. Our client partners are a virtual "Who's Who" of business, industry, government and Fortune 500 companies.
3M
AAR
Alcatel-Lucent
Alcon
American
Electric Power
American
Honda
Anheuser-Busch
Alcoa
ARCO
Assoc. of University Technology Managers
Bank of the West
Bell Canada
Bell South
Bell Textron
Binney & Smith
Biogen Idec Inc.
Black & Decker
Bridge Bank
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Canon
Caterpillar
Central
Pacific Bank
Certainteed
Christensen Farms
Ciba
CIGNA
Citicorp
Coldwell Banker
Comerica Bank
Compaq
Computer Sciences Corporation
COMSAT
CUNA
DePuy Spine
Dominion
Power
DS Brown
Elada International
Eureka
Exide
Exxon-Mobil
Fannie
Mae
Federal Express
Ford
Forrester
Construction
Foth & Van Dyke
Freeport-McMoRan
Frigidaire
General Dynamics
|
General Electric
Gillette
GlaxoSmithKline
Global
Entertainment
Group DEKKO
HHS
Hallmark
Hayneedle
Hewlett-Packard
Hoffman-LaRoche
Hughes
Hyatt
IBM
Idaho Conservation
Innerseats
Inverness
Medical
JC Penney
Johnson & Johnson
JohnsonDiversey
Johnson Wax
Keebler
Kellogg
Kexxel Inc.
Kraft
Lennox
Lexis Nexus
Lexus
Lifenet
Life Options
Lockheed-Martin
Marriott
McCormick
Mechanics Bank
Mellon Bank
Merck
Micron Technologies
NSA
Nabisco
Nat. Conservation League
Nat. Railway Labor Conference
NSA
Navistar
NC Speaker's
Ngen
Norfolk
Southern
Oak Bank
Orkin
Ortho
OSHA
Pacific Coast Banking School
Parke-Davis
Perkin Elmer
|
Perrigo
Pfizer
Phillips Electronics
Phillips Petroleum
Pillsbury
Pirelli Tire
Pizza Hut
Pratt & Whitney
Prudential
Rollins
Rolls-Royce
Ryder
Safeway
San Juan Citizen's Assoc.
Scott Paper
Searle
Sears
Sephora
Southern Company
Speaker's Platform
Sprint
Teledyne WaterPik
The World Bank
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Travelers
TREK
Triumph Foods
True Temper
Unilever
Union
Bank
United Technologies
US Bank
US NAVY
US West
Valvoline
Warner-Lambert
Washington Bankers Association
Wells
Capital
Wells Fargo Bank
Western Fuels
Westin
Westinghouse
Xerox
Young President's Organization
--and hundreds more*
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We've limited
this list out of respect for our clients' wishes about the use of
their names in marketing literature. However, if you'd like
specific referrals to satisfied clients in virtually any business,
professional, trade, or governmental area, please give us a call.
The Common Ground team's track record of thousands of
successful programs delivered to loyal business, industry,
and government clients assures you of an outstanding event.
Click
here to read testimonials from some of our clients.

Common Ground International
Office Address
8300 Greensboro Drive, Suite 800
McLean, VA 22102
Mailing Address
PO Box 6810
Ocean Isle Beach, NC 28469
Phone
703-287-8753
703-795-3578
703-783-0083 (Fax)
Email
jthomas@negotiatetowin.com

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