Dr. Michael Alan Sacks is Professor in the Practice of Organization & Management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, where he has taught for 25 years. He teaches the acclaimed Negotiations and Dispute Resolution course as part of Goizueta’s full-time MBA.
With a PhD in Organization Behavior and Sociology from Northwestern Kellogg, Dr. Sacks brings considerable expertise in negotiations, conflict management, leadership, and organizational change to his teaching. His style is consistently praised by students as engaging, interactive, and strongly informed by his research background.
He currently holds additional positions at Emory, including Professor of Sociology and Faculty Director of Woodruff Leadership Academy; and he carries out his own consulting work for major companies including Microsoft and Delta Airlines.
At Emory Goizueta, Dr. Sacks teaches courses including Negotiations and Dispute Resolution, Leading Organizations and Strategy, Leading People and Organizations, and Leading and Managing Change. He has has extensive experience and expertise in business negotiations, teaching at the MBA, EMBA, and BBA levels.
Dr. Sacks teaches negotiations from a behavioral perspective, using simulations to promote learning by doing. Students learn how to manage conflicts with competence, fairness, and sensitivity, with individual feedback from the professor. His teaching style integrates leadership topics with organizational culture and strategy execution. Specifically, Professor Sacks takes an applied, practical approach integrating negotiations with leadership, strategy and organizational behavior.
“[Negotiations with Dr. Sacks] has been one of the best classes I’ve taken at Goizueta! Today, we wrapped up our discussion on strategies for effective collaborative negotiations after participating in a negotiation simulation between a job recruiter and a candidate.”
Amber O’Donoghue, Emory Goizueta Class of 2025
Dr. Sacks also participates in a wide range of academic and service activities, having held titles such as Faculty Director of Healthcare Leadership Partnership Programs (2021–present); Co-director of Emory VR Negotiation Experimental Zone Initiative (2021–present); Vice Provost for University Strategies (2015–2017); and Academic Director of Woodruff Leadership Academy (2009–present).
“Professor Michael Sacks’ … teaching style uniquely provides a strong learning environment while still being fun and interactive. I was also able to work closely with Michael … on a team that was tasked with creating Emory’s next strategic plan.”
Brian Berkowitz, Emory Goizueta Class of 2016
Over the years, Dr. Sacks’s teaching has been commended with a number of awards, including the following:
Michael Sacks’s research interests include negotiations and conflict resolution, leadership development, organizational culture and firm performance, organizational change, strategic alignment, strategic planning, and expert witness.
Sacks has presented papers at international conferences and published his research in several international journals, including Negotiation Journal and American Behavioral Scientist. His research delves into topics such as how entrepreneurs use social capital to negotiate economic opportunities.
His work has been supported by grants from the Dispute Resolution Research Center, the Heizer Center for Entrepreneurship, the MacArthur Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He has also developed negotiation case studies and curricula from a behavioral perspective.
Dr. Sacks has authored a number of book chapters in reference works on negotiations, decision-making, and entrepreneurship, as well as academic journal articles. He has also been featured in a number of popular press outlets. Some examples are linked below:
Dr. Sacks carries out independent consulting work on topics such as negotiations, organizational change, and strategic thinking. He also designs and delivers custom negotiation training programs for corporate clients, customizing these programs based on client needs. His clients include Microsoft, Toyota, Delta Airlines, United Parcel Service (UPS), Federal Reserve, and the American Bankers Association.
Within academia, Dr. Sacks’s expertise is in demand around the world. He has held visiting professorships at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, WU Vienna, Helsinki School of Economics, and HEC Paris.
David White
Founding Partner
Education: BA
David studied at UC Berkeley and worked as a tech industry professional, including stints at Yahoo! and Efficient Frontier, before co-founding Menlo Coaching. He has been listed among Poets & Quants’ Best Admissions Consultants and featured for his expertise—and tell-it-like-it-is attitude—in publications like The Wall Street Journal and MBA.com.
