The following are articles written by Alliance partners and others of particular interest to family businesses.
Taking the Headache Out of Succession Planning
Rural Telecommunications
David Gage
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. (read more)
Family Matters: Succession of Family Businesses
Vive
Judy Martel
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. (read more)
Families Prevent Second and Third Generation Business Failure through Sensitive, Provocative Dialogue
The Club Insider
Richard Yocum
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. (read more)
Family Business: Fine Line
Entrepreneur
Patricia Schiff Estess
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. (read more)
Resolving Disputes in Family Businesses
Chesapeaker Bay Organization Development Newsletter
David Gage
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. (read more)
Strictly Business: Taking the Personal Out of Personnel Isn’t Easy when You’re Talking about Family
Entrepreneur
Patricia Schiff Estess
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. (read more)
Bossy Kids: Parents Reverse Roles with Children Turned Employers
Journal Star
Bear Jack Gebhardt
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. (read more)
Choosing Between Siblings in a Family Owned Business
Nation’s Business
David Gage
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. (read more)
Therapy for the Family Business
The New York Times
Julie Lawlor
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. (read more)
It’s All Relative — And Sometimes That’s the Problem
The Washington Post
Amy Joyce
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. (read more)
Marital Charters and Prenuptial Agreements
American Journal of Family Law
David Gage, Edward Kopf & John Gromala
This article describes how the Partnership Charter process, developed over the past 15 years to help family and non-family business partners, can be adapted to help those entering a marriage. Many couples need to address issues concerning business or other assets brought to the marriage by one or both parties. The Marital Charter goes beyond traditional prenuptial agreements by endeavoring to manage the often complex economic aspects of a marital union in ways that will not detract from the couples loving commitment to one another. (read more)
Successor Partners: Gifting or Transferring a Business or Real Property to the Next Generation
ACTEC Journal
David Gage, John Gromala and Edward Kopf
Published by the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, this article explores ways to overcome the risks that arise whenever a business or other asset is transferred from one generation to more than one member of the next. It focuses on various strategies, utilized by the authors, for the successful transfer of operating businesses when the beneficiaries will be partners in the ownership and/or operation of the bequest. (read more)
Estate Planning and Family Business Mediation
Bureau of National Affairs, ADR Report
Larua Bachle, Contributing Editor
In this ADR Report for the Bureau of National Affairs, Laura Bachle, writes, “The benefits of using mediation for estate planning and disputes arising from a family business are many. Key among them is the usefulness of confidentiality, as illustrated in the ‘Dallas’ example-a factor usually not present in estate or business planning. Only mediation holds a promise of reconciliation. Only a mediator is impartial and non-judgmental. Only mediation provides for self-determination.“ The article highlights the use by John Gromala and David Gage of mediatiion in estate planning. (read more)
