Dr. Nour Kteily teaches the acclaimed Negotiations Fundamentals and Advanced Negotiations courses on Kellogg School of Management’s full-time MBA program.
Having received many awards for his teaching and research, Dr. Kteily cofounded Northwestern’s Center for Enlightened Disagreement and oversees negotiations teaching at the school in general, having codeveloped the recently introduced Advanced Negotiations course.
To understand the unique perspective Dr. Kteily brings to Kellogg’s negotiations teaching, let’s explore his research, his approach to teaching, and the work of the Center for Enlightened Disagreement.
A prolific and highly respected researcher, Dr. Kteily holds a PhD in Social Psychology from Harvard and focuses on the ways in which tensions and disputes arise between different social groups. He considers conflicts that go far beyond the business world, investigating the motivations behind racial prejudice, political polarization, and violence.
Encompassing themes such as social status, dehumanization, inequality, and ideology, Dr. Kteily’s research has resonated with readers outside of academia, being picked up by publications such as The New York Times and The Washington Post.
He is concerned not only with how seemingly intractable conflicts emerge, but with how they can be de-escalated, mediated, and resolved. Central to his research is a careful consideration of the role played by people’s beliefs, conscious or otherwise, about one another, and the way they speak about—and to—their perceived opponents.
Such concerns are not central to the typical B-school negotiations class, but for Dr. Kteily, they inform the shape of all negotiations. His goal as a teacher is to distill the insights gained in his wide-ranging research into a toolkit that students can apply to the negotiations they will face in their own careers.
Dr. Kteily has published prolifically in a wide range of major academic journals and books, and his work is also featured frequently in the mainstream press. Some highlights (not an exhaustive list) are linked below:
Dr. Kteily is a Professor of Management and Organizations and Co-director of Northwestern’s Dispute Resolution Research Center (DRRC). The DRRC develops teaching materials that are in use at top business schools across the globe, and it oversees negotiations teaching at Kellogg.
Currently, Dr. Kteily teaches the greatest number of negotiations class sections at Kellogg. He takes two classes for the full-time MBA: Negotiations Fundamentals and Advanced Negotiations. The former is also taught by Dr. Victoria Medvec; the latter is a relatively new course codeveloped by Dr. Kteily.
Both courses are in high demand among students. They’re characterized by an immersive approach in which students engage one another in mock negotiations and consider case studies involving complex real-world deals and disputes. A wide range of situations are considered, including multiparty and multiround negotiations.
“I really enjoyed Advanced Negotiations, taught by Professor Nour Kteily. … I carry Professor Kteily’s mantra: ‘Negotiation isn’t about winning, it’s about designing outcomes where everyone leaves believing they’ve won.’”
Will Tan, Kellogg Class of 2025
In his classes, Dr. Kteily brings to bear insights from his research and his social psychology background. He challenges students to consider how steps taken before the negotiation itself (e.g., deciding which issues will be discussed, in what order, and who will participate) can be just as consequential as what happens at the negotiating table.
“Without his support and numerous individual meetings, I wouldn’t have ever tried to negotiate my offer with the firm I am joining after Kellogg. It felt like I had my own personal executive coach in my corner with Professor Kteily.”
Ladini Jayarante, Kellogg Class of 2018
On the Executive MBA, Dr. Kteily also teaches Advanced Negotiations and Negotiation Strategies; and he’s part of Strategic Capabilities for Emerging Business Leaders, an Executive Education program.
Beyond Kellogg, he regularly consults with companies across a range of industries, including a number of Fortune 500 companies, on critical negotiations. He also provides negotiations training for senior executives at these companies.
In addition to codirecting the DRRC, Dr. Kteily launched a one-of-a-kind new research center in 2024: the Center for Enlightened Disagreement. He is Founding Co-director of the Center alongside fellow Kellogg professor Dr. Eli Finkel.
The Center aims to identify productive ways to engage with those who hold opposing ideas. The initiative was taken in response to the trend of increasing polarization in politics and interpersonal tension in the workplace and academia.
Dr. Kteily sees a widespread tendency to “[spurn] the opportunity to learn and benefit from our differences in perspectives” and intends the Center to serve as a corrective to this harmful trend. Despite the difficulty of fostering constructive dialogue across partisan divides, he sees enlightened disagreement as indispensable for “any healthy group, organization or society.”
Housed at Kellogg, the Center aims to consult with CEOs and policymakers and partner with businesses to test its ideas in the real world—combining theoretical and practical contributions.
Its research will also have an impact on the curriculum at Kellogg, in negotiations and elsewhere, deepening students’ understanding of how to engage with those whose interests seem opposed to their own.
Learn more about the Center for Enlightened Disagreement.
Dr. Kteily has a long list of awards to his name, in recognition of both his research and his teaching. To name just a few:
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.
