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Business Mediation & Collaboration Services
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For Partners & Owners |
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"The process of mediation is such that we are able to guide negotiations in to allow both parties to be in control of their own destiny, rather than subject to a third party decision." Ed Kopf, Ph.D., Principal |
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Resources
Taking the Headache Out of Succession Planning Many companies in the telecommunications industry—both large and small—are family-owned. This article advises these families on how to transfer ownership from one generation to multiple-owners in the next. The key requirement is meticulous planning by the inheritors — ideally in the form of a Partnership Charter. Howdy Partner: Before hanging out a shingle together, advisors must
make their expectations well-known Insurance and financial advisors often consider whether to enter into a business partnership with another financial professional. David Gage tells author Lucretia DiSantos Jones that every potential partner needs to "honestly answer four critical questions" before entering a partnership that may be easy to get into but hard to get out of: Why do you want to own a business? Why do you want to have a partner? Are there better alternatives than taking on a partner? Is the person you are choosing the best partner for you? These questions and others of great importance should be answered as prospective partners prepare a comprehensive Partnership Charter to guide their business and relationship. Family Matters: Succession of Family Businesses A highly successful family business approaches a leadership succession from the founding father to one — or the other — of the two brothers working in the firm. Writer and advisor, Judy Martel, interviewed psychologist Lee Hausner and psychologist/mediator David Gage who each offer advice on how to make the transition a successful one for the business and the family. Helping An Elderly Business Owner Let Go Many failing businesses can be resuscitated and given new life. Not all companies can be saved, though this Business Week article examines what can happen when a founder refuses to acknowledge his business is failing and family members and advisors are too afraid to deliver the bad news. Business writer, Jill Coplan interviewed Professor Joe Astrachan from Kennesaw State University, Peter Calfee of of Family Business Advisory Partners and David Gage of BMC Associates. Calfee's view is that the core problem in this situation “is way beyond business management.“ Even if it would be painful to the founder, says Astrachan, he has to be brought out of his denial. Gage believes that it's a very sensitive conversation that needs to take place. “Whatever the owner's motivation for clinging to the company, that person stands a better chance of adjusting if he or she has a hand in the disposition of it, Gage advises.“ Having the key players involved is almost always the most advantageous method of resolving sensitive family financial and business situations. Calfee also maintains that this type of predicament requires action right away before it deteriorates further. “The meeting should be away from the home and the office and moderated by an outsiders-but not the company lawyer or accountant, Calfee says.“ They are already involved and would have trouble being a neutral outsiders. The article provides a service by addressing a situation that is rarely discussed. Families Prevent Second and Third Generation
Business Failure through Sensitive, Provocative Dialogue BMC Associate Richard Yocum writes about the many impediments to open, candid discussion among family members who work together and how a facilitator, or mediator, can structure a safe environment that allows people to have constructive dialog which produces written agreements. Family Business: Fine Line Because of the multiple roles and relationships that people must maintain in family businesses, the challenges they face are especially intense and complicated. Well known business author and reporter for Entrepreneur, Patricia Schiff Estess, interviewed David Gage and Bernard Kliska. They discuss the challenges that spouses and other family members face and the fine line they must walk in order to make it work well.
Resolving Disputes in Family Businesses At the 1991 Annual Conference of the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution in San Diego, David Gage and Tom Mierzwa gave the only presentation dealing with conflict within family businesses. It was hailed by many as a long neglected topic for the premier international organization that deals with every conceivable type of conflict from personal to workplace. This brief article is an abridged version of Dr. Gage's speech that was published in the newsletter of the Chesapeake Bay Organiation Development Network. Strictly Business: Taking the Personal
Out of Personnel Isn't Easy when You're Talking about Family In an interview with Entrepreneur columnist Patricia Schiff Estess, David Gage says, “Families don't need written guidelines to operate, but family businesses do.“ Making sure everyone knows the rules of operation and what is expected of them is an important aspect of a successful family-run business. Estess also writes about the critical importance of scenario planning among family members.
Partners, Fairness and Compensation People are often warned that too much money wreaks havoc and ruin. Nevertheless, people want to find out for themselves if its really true. The editors of Family Business Magazine invited David Gage to write about how some siblings in family businesses have faced the issue of their own compensation head on. This chapter in the Compensation Handbook tells a number of stories of siblings who recognized how intimately compensation is tied to many other issues partners must negotiate. “As challenging as it is for partners of the same generation to let go of external arguments for determining compensation and move into open discussions that explore these issues, the result is usually a much stronger, more motivated team.“ Bossy Kids: Parents Reverse Roles
with Children Turned Employers Can parents successfully work as employees in their children's businesses? Do these role reversals work? Syndicated columnist, Bear Jack Gebhardt, takes a quick peek at some of the pluses and minuses of such role swapping. He interviews David Gage, who claims that most parents want respect and appreciation — even more than money — when they go to work for their children. Choosing Between Siblings in a Family
Owned Business Will siblings make good business partners? That's frequently the $64,000 question. The editor of the Family Business Section of Nations Business, asked David Gage to describe how people can answer this question ahead of time. Gage explains that a structured process can help adult children answer this question for themselves and for the parents. The process provides a “road test“ and takes the guesswork out of this selection procedure which is often a guessing game. Therapy for the Family Business Three sibling co-owners of a $7 million storage management company agreed to be interviewed by Julie Lawlor of The New York Times about their work on a Partners' Charter with two BMC mediators. Along with other elements of the Charter, the siblings talked about how much they learned about each other by taking some personal styles tests. They used that information as the basis for in-depth discussions, which led to specific agreements about how they would work together more effectively on a day-to-day basis. The information on their styles also helped them grapple with issues around their roles and responsibilities and even compensation. It's All Relative — And Sometimes
That's the Problem Mediation among partners is extremely valuable when the partners are thinking that one or more of them should leave, not just when starting up or when having a dispute. The specific way that partners end their co-ownership relationship is extremely important and has long-term consequences. Mediators can help them discover the most mutually advantageous way possible. Rita Bloom, the founder of one of Washington's largest event planning companies, told Post business writer Amy Joyce that two co-mediators from BMC helped her and her two daughters figure out a way for one of them to leave the business in such a positive, creative way that they could continue not only enjoying each other as family, but continue a new type of business relationship as well — a strategic alternative to being actual co-owners. Mediators can help partners create better agreements among themselves at the beginning, middle, or end of their working relationship. Mom Always Like You Best This cover story for American Express's business magazine states, “Conflicts are a sure bet in any family firm. The trick is to confront problems before too much damage is done.“ Veteran business writer Shelly Branch gives many examples of siblings in family businesses who battled each other for control, including the Berkowitz brothers at Legal Sea Foods, who could not work out their disagreements peacefully and ended up in a very public, knock-down, drag-out legal battle in which “the family's laundry was spilled all over town, casting negative attention on the 14 location chains.“ As so often happens in such cases, the judge's verdict could not put the family back together again. Brothers don't speak and grandparents don't get to see their grand-children — collateral damage that the adversarial system breeds and is helpless to repair. How can such debacles be avoided? After a conflict develops, mediation is certainly a more preferable process than litigation or arbitration because it has the potential to heal strained relationships. Litigation and arbitration are known to work like acid on relationships. Branch closes the article by asking a couple pointed questions: “In the end, is it possible that families in business simply expect too much? Can they really hope for the business success of a Legal Sea Foods without the rancor? 'A family business doesn't require really wonderful personal relationships,' sums up David Gage, a consultant in Washington, D.C. 'But you do have to have mutual respect and treat each other with dignity.'“ |
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