Corrections or additions?
These articles by Melinda Sherwood and Barbara Fox were published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on June 2, 1999.
All rights reserved.
Don’t Fight, Mediate
If there is one thing Americans agree on, it’s that
we don’t like to agree. A majority of us would rather air our grievances
in court — or the Jerry Springer Show — than lose an inch
of ground with compromise.
When the culture of dispute seeps into the workplace, however, it
can obstruct goals and destroy morale. Thomas A. Fee, a professional
mediator by trade, says that, all too often, companies do not even
recognize that they are headed for trouble. “What we often witness
is `I don’t have a conflict,’ or `I don’t have a problem,'” he
says. “Usually it’s the board of an organization that will call
in mediators before a company starts to lose ground.”
Third party mediation — or Alternative Dispute Resolution —
is a growing field and Fee will be the keynote speaker at the conference
sponsored by the New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators on Friday, June 4, at 9 a.m. at
the Hilton in East Brunswick. Robert A. Baruch Bush, a professor
of Alternative Dispute Resolution Law at Hofstra University School
of Law, will be the luncheon speaker. Attorneys, mental health professionals,
accountants, business executives, human resource people and others
who can benefit from user-friendly methods of conflict resolution
are invited to attend the day of workshops and discussions on issues
of security, divorce, employment, and the future of Alternative Dispute
Resolution. Call 609-799-8898. Cost: $199.
Fee, a native of Livingston and resident of Freehold, holds a BA in
comparative religion from Rutgers, Class of 1977, and went to law
school at Rutgers. In 1995 he opened the Agreement Zone, an independent
mediation consultancy firm that partners with national organizations.
During the 1980s, Fee worked in the country’s first statewide office
of mediation, the Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution in New
Jersey. He also spent six years with the National Institute for Dispute
Resolution in Washington, D.C., where he was executive vice president,
director of research and development, and the senior program associate.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), Fee explains, is “a return
to what lawyers used to be called: Counselors of Law. The belief behind
it is that there is a whole spectrum of ways to address a problem,
only one of which is litigation.”
Although initially used to alleviate scheduling logjams in courtrooms,
third-party mediation has become prevalent in the past 20 years. “The
area that is still growing is the mediation of complex public disputes,”
Fee says, citing as an example the various federal and state agencies
that jockey for resource allocation. “When there are many stakeholders
then there’s a need for a team of people who are impartial to manage
and facilitate the conversation.” Fairness, says Fee, is the ultimate
goal.
For those attempting to work out their own disputes, Fee offers the
following advice:
Admit conflict. Find an area of agreement, he says. “Ourinstincts seem to take us to where we have a great argument. The bestthing to do is find where we have a common ground first.”Share Information. A lot of disputes result from “misunderstandings.”It may not be a matter of communicating the wrong things; it may bethat we’re not communicating enough. “We’re trained to withholdinformation because we think we’ll show our cards too quickly,”Fee says. “Maybe we need to rethink that premise.”Clarify the power structure. Misunderstandings concerninghow decisions are made can be extremely disruptive, Fee says.Although Americans will always cherish their right to speakup, Fee believes that there is a deep yearning among people for respectful– rather than spiteful — conversations and debates. “Peopleare in search of an etiquette for living within a society that hasso many different kinds of people,” he says. One day, he hopes,the tools of mediation may get us beyond adversarial democracy, litigation,and maybe even Jerry Springer.– Melinda SherwoodTop Of PageSell It YourselfConsider selling your business yourself, says AlWarr, and if you do go to a broker, watch what you pay: “Thefees are totally unregulated, 5 percent, 10 percent, I have run into20 percent.”At the Business Owners Institute in Bridgewater, Warr hosts a seminaron how to sell your business. On Thursday, June 3, at 10 a.m. at 676Route 202/206 North, he will be joined by Sam Gallant, vicepresident of Business Management HELP Inc. The seminar is free; call908-526-1500 for reservations.Another “sell your company” workshop opportunity will be onTuesday, June 15, at 11:30 a.m. at the Westin in Morristown, whenthe Venture Association of New Jersey presents Daniel J. Donoghue,managing director at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray. Call 973-631-5680.Warr and two partners operate the institute to help businesses expandor enter the start-up phase. But, like Jeff Milanette of NewJersey Entrepreneurs Forum, Warr’s major job is to help businessesget funding. “Our main function is not seminars but to help peoplefind the money they need to start up or go public or sell it and retire,”says Warr.Through the Business Owners Institute he runs nuts-and-bolts workshopsfor entrepreneurs — some of whom will become his clients. Hismantra for the institute is that no one can give a class unless theyhave had hands-on experience in that topic. “We never have a sessiongiven by anybody who has not lived through whatever the subject is,”says Warr.Also, no one can be a director at the institute unless they have hadboth corporate experience and small business experience, says Warr,”because the entrepreneurs are most likely coming from corporatejobs and are about to lose all their money. They are in for the shockof their lives. It is a different world, a different language, withdifferent concerns.”A chemist, Warr went to Mercer University in Georgia and did rocketresearch during the Sputnik era. He left a job at an oil company atExit 8A to found a graphics company that pioneered in high-end computerizedtypesetting for Wall Street businesses. In 17 years he grew it tobe a $5 million firm and then sold it. He has also had a documentaryfilm company, a real estate firm, and a classical music publication.In the light of these experiences, here is his advice on selling abusiness:1.) If you can’t find the right person, continue looking,says Warr. “Selling a business is not like selling a house. Thereare not that many people looking, and you are looking for a specialtype of person.”Don’t be chauvinistic and limit your search to men, warns Warr: “Myopinion is that women make better business owners than men. Men aremore logical and tend to go out on a limb and saw it off, whereaswomen rarely make a bad business decision.”2.) Always try to write the money contract between youand the buying partner. “A lot of people say they want a milliondollars and to walk away, but you make lot more if you hold a greatdeal of the paper (the mortgage.)”You may be able take advantage of high-powered techniques usuallythought of as reserved for big companies. Holding the mortgage isjust one of the “stretch-out” mechanisms to increase saleprice, reduce taxes, or otherwise make the sale more in line withwhat you deserve.3.) Plan for a transition for the business. It’s a verycritical phase, and you need to help the owner, says Warr. “Thenthey are successful and you are better rewarded.”Other points to consider:Is your business ready to sell? Can you make changes aheadof time that will make it more attractive?What is the best time to sell, based on your industry,the economy, and the market? Also consider your personal tax liabilityand legal considerations.Can you sell just a piece of the business? From the pointof view of the marketplace, do you have more than one business?What types of buyers should you avoid? Maybe your nexthire could be someone that might buy your business.Top Of PageBiotech Hiring CrunchStock options may no longer be a trump card for luringcompetitive, executive leadership into growing biotech firms. Heavycompetition within the industry has caused stock values to dwindle,says Gene Mancino of Blau Mancino Associates, a 29-year-oldexecutive search firm at 12 Roszel Road. “Smaller companies havenot been able to get their products approved, therefore stocks havetaken a tumble,” he says. “There are too just many companiesand not enough qualified management.”How can companies lure the remaining few good men and women? Thinkcompetitive and think big, Mancino says.He will join the Biotechnology Council of New Jersey and representativesfrom Pricewaterhouse Coopers for “Compensation for a CompetitiveAdvantage: Benchmarks of Executive Compensation in the Life ScienceIndustry,” on Wednesday, June 9, at 8 a.m. at the Marriott. TomCarbone and Ed Speidel of PricewaterhouseCoopers will presentthe findings of a recent survey on executive compensation in biotechnologyand medical device and diagnostics fields across the country. JayMoorin, partner at ProQuest Investors, will also join the discussion.Cost $50. Call: 609-890-3185.A native of Guttenberg, New Jersey, Mancino received a BA in psychologyfrom Princeton University, Class of 1978, and worked in sales at Proctorand Gamble before joining Blau Kaptain Associates — the predecessorof Blau Mancino — in 1979. Blau retired in 1985, and Mancino becameprincipal owner of the firm in 1995.Today Mancino leads a headhunting agency with a niche market: pharmaceutical,biotech, diagnostics and medical products companies. For roughly one-thirdof a sought-after candidate’s salary, Mancino and his four staff memberslaunch a full-scale executive search.Benchmark salaries within the biotech industry have remained steadyover the last five years, Mancino says. “There are formulas outthere that most companies use, whether or not they are in an earlystage or late stage.” For example, CEOs of a medium-sized biotechcompany (between 15 and 30 employees) can expect $225,000 to $250,000base salary, plus a bonus opportunity of 30 percent to 50 percentbased on performance and milestones, with stock options between fourand six percent of outstanding stock. A vice president’s compensationis roughly $150,000 to $200,000 base salary, plus a bonus opportunityof 20 percent to 25 percent, and a half percent of outstanding stock.Since biotechs aren’t cash-rich, a generous stock package has typicallygiven a company a competitive advantage in recruiting senior-levelmanagement. Mancino says that may no longer be the case. “A lotof stock options granted to executives have become worthless,”he says.The reason: unnecessary competition. “They’re killing each otheras opposed to getting together,” he says. “They have a productor potential product, but that does not mean you can create a company.”Rather than dilute both stock value and the pool of qualified executives,Mancino suggests biotech firms be more realistic and team up:Underpromise and overdeliver. “Be brutally honestwith the investment community,” he says. “Companies are outthere today still making promises about their products or technologyand those promises are not being fulfilled.”Consolidate. Partnerships between the pharmaceutical companiesand smaller biotech firms, Mancino says, could be good for everyone.”Big pharmaceutical companies need to fund the biotech industryso that those companies can produce products that the big pharmaceuticalscan develop in order to get their research pipelines up and running.”As it is, both industries are competing for the same resources– manpower and a portion of the market.– Melinda SherwoodTop Of PageBank Hiring CrunchBanks are in the same boat as the rest of us — theyare having trouble hiring in a tight labor market. At a meeting designedfor the CEOs and officers of community banks, Paul Dorf willdiscuss how banks can attract and maintain high quality employees.Dorf, a Hofstra alumnus with a Ph.D. in human resource management,is on the faculty at Seton Hall. He has worked for three of the BigFive consulting firms and is now managing director of CompensationResources Inc.Sponsored by the New Jersey Bankers Association, the conference willbe Tuesday, June 8, at 8:30 a.m. at Forsgate. Cost: $125. Call 609-924-5550,extension 520.Another participant at this conference, Jay Singer of KPMG inShort Hills, will discuss how a bank can effectively use the Internet– the value and use of a Web page, and Internet security. An alumnusof Stevens Institute with an MBA from Rutgers, Singer directed dataprocessing operations for a big Manhattan-based thrift bank and wasvice president and operations manager for two multi-billion dollarbank holding companies.Theodore Rosen of Vertical Solution partners will teach howto identify and mitigate business risk — in the shadow of theY2K problem. An alumnus of Penn State, Rosen has trained federal bankexaminers on Y2K issues and had been president of a wholesale distributorfor RCA, Whirlpool, and Armstrong Flooring. Also touching on securityissues will be John Maher of Elizabeth-based Coin Depot Corporation.Maher went to Fordham and the Stonier Graduate School of Banking andused to work at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Two currentemployee of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, RichardLusk and Jim Hand, will tell how small banks can effectivelyhandle pressures of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).Top Of PageHigh Tech TrafficOr Road Kill?With all the traffic on the Information Highway, there’sbound to be more than a few accidents. Bill Ringle, managingdirector of StarComm Development Inc., is trying to help businessesstay on the road. The Web veteran (even at 31) travels around thecountry presenting his popular seminars on communicating via the Internet:Driver’s Education for the Information Highway and How To Be BrilliantUsing the Internet. Just because your company is on the road now,he says, doesn’t mean it can’t be left behind. “You pick up anynewspaper or magazine and you can’t avoid hearing about the Internet,”he says, “but there’s a lot of fundamental information that peoplestill don’t understand.”Ringle speak at the New Jersey Communications, Advertising and MarketingAssociation’s New Technologies Conference on Tuesday, June 8, at 8a.m. at the Forrestal Hotel. The half-day program includes exhibits,networking opportunities for members of the advertising community,and unique insights from professionals in the marketing and advertisingfield. Nick Pahade, CEO of Beyond Interactive LLC, talks abouthow companies can boost their Web traffic and make an online mediabuy. Jamie Brooks of Indigo Inc. discusses the latest innovationsin customer specific marketing. Allan J. Jacobson gives legaltips for protecting creative work on the Internet. Cost: $45. Call609-890-9207.Ringle received a BS in computer science at Rennselaer, Class of 1985.Despite a leaning towards science, Ringle also minored in industrialpsychology and literature. He fused together the two disciplines –science and communications — at Drexel University, where he completeda master’s program in 1991.Ringle claims he spotted the business application of the Internetalmost immediately. “I had been using the Internet since 1980,”he says, “and I thought: how long is it going to take before businesseswake up to how cost effective this is as a medium?”Capitalizing on an unusual combination of technical and communicationsexpertise, Ringle founded StarComm Development, Inc. in 1989. Thecompany assists nearly 20 clients in the creation of “frictionless”websites. Most importantly, he says, StarComm approaches the companiesfrom a layman’s perspective. “Some consulting companies want toshow off how much they know,” he says. “We’re communicatingthe technology so that people really get it.”In How to Be Brilliant Using the Internet, a look at business applicationsof the Internet, Ringle points out what he calls the “Four I’s”of Web development:Information. Corporate websites should be information-rich,not just loaded with glossy marketing information, he says. They shouldprovide sound information about a given product and enable potentialcustomers to do searches.Interactivity. More of it, he says. “Too many websitesright now are first generation, with just text and graphics,”he says. People need as much control over the navigation process aspossible.Individualization. If customers are returning to a sitefrequently, marketing tactics should be personalized — customerspecific.Integration. “The biggest mistake a company can makeis to allow the information systems department to run the website,”he says. “It needs be integrated throughout the organization.”Customer service, technical support, product development, leadershipand management divisions should all be involved.As E-Commerce moves out of its infancy, companies will needto rethink who they are and how they should best present themselves,and that will mean the cooperation of everyone.Top Of PageOne Hand or Two:To Play the PianoB>Jay Schiller, a research scientist for TaylorTechnology at 301 College Road East, will demonstrate an award-winningprosthetic hand at the annual Discover Magazine awards for technologicalinnovation on Saturday, June 5, at Epcot at Walt Disney World Resorts.Schiller’s left arm was destroyed below the elbow after an electricalaccident 11 years ago, and he will use this hand to play the pianoduring the gala.The Tendon Activated Pneumatic (TAP) hand was developed by a Rutgersresearch team: Bill Craelius, associate professor of biomedicalengineering, postdoctoral researcher Rochel “Ricki” Abboudi,and Nicki Ann Newby, president of Somerset-based Nian-Crae Inc.The hand was selected from among 4,000 technologies to be one of threefinalists in its category.The TAP hand could replace the metal “claw” or soft plastichand in which only the thumb and first two fingers move. It harnessesthe movements of “phantom fingers,” finger muscles and tendonsthat extend up to the elbow. Sensors in the hand send the signalsin these muscles and tendons to a computer that relays the informationto the hand and directs the fingers to move. The TAP hand could becomecommercially available next year (https://opl.rutgers.edu orhttps://niancrae.com).The judges for these awards were astronauts Buzz Aldrin andWally Schirra; Marvin Minsky, the pioneer of artificialintelligence; Sylvia Earle, undersea explorer; futurist DannyHillis; and magicians Penn and Teller. The ceremony willbe televised.Top Of PageJob Book DirectoriesLast week three readers called to ask where they couldfind a directory, in any way similar to the U.S. 1 Directory, fornorth Jersey and Philadelphia. We referred them to the reference deskof the public libraries in those locations (a safe answer at any speed)but promised to review any farflung directories that came our way.The Adams Media Corporation’s “New Jersey JobBank” is a worthycontender, useful not only to jobseekers but to anyone looking forleads in companies located outside the Princeton area. (The U.S. 1Directory is, we think, still superior in Central Jersey, if –like the Adams editors did — you can supplement our listings withinformation from home pages.)Founded by Harvard Business School graduate Bob Adams, the 65-employeeAdams Media Corporation (https://www.careercity.com) publishesbusiness self-help books and jobbank directories for 32 cities andtwo industries — computer/high tech and health care. The MetropolitanNew York book was selling so well, says Michelle Kelly, assistantmanaging editor, that her company branched off to do one for Connecticutlast year and for New Jersey this year. “We had a lot of peoplecalling in asking for a New Jersey book.”Among its good points are its sensible organization by industry (ratherthan by SIC codes) and inclusiveness. It prints what it has, evenif that is only the address and phone number. Sometimes that’s justwhat an upwardly mobile professional needs.”Since most professional job openings are filled without the placementof help-wanted ads, contacting the employers in this book directlyis still a more effective method than browsing the Sunday papers,”says the introduction.Each of the major listings has some of the following information:Company positions, a list of job titles that the companycommonly fills — not openings currently available.Educational backgrounds sought.Benefits.Special programs such as training programs, internships,and apprenticeships.Parent company. “Use this information to supplementyour company research before contacting the employer.”Number of employees.Some examples: Wang Global’s listing on Cranbury South RiverRoad is packed with information, whereas the listing for PrincetonSoftech is minimal, and Nettech Systems, a fast-growing 45-personwireless communication developer on Alexander Road, is not includedat all.The book has Princeton’s heavy hitters in the biotech and pharmaceuticalarea but mysteriously omits the contract research organizations (CROs)that are desperate for personnel. Covance, the CRO at the CarnegieCenter, is funding its own college-based training programs, but itis not listed here, nor are its competitors. And Bracco, which employs240 people on College Road, is included only in the “other smallemployers” and therefore does not show up in the index.The small print listings of “minor” employers are rather random.The chain restaurants listed are those in north Jersey, and the schoollistings are particularly disorganized.Each chapter opens with an industry summary that is useful for thosenot in the industry — but will probably evoke a big ho hum frominsiders. For instance, the computer introduction says that “computeroperators will see a decline in opportunities due to automation andadvances in user friendly software.” Also that “personnelwho can read old programming codes are needed, and many qualifiedworkers from other segments of the computer industry are leaving theircurrent jobs to work as Year 2000 consultants.” At the end ofthe chapter is a useful list of professional associations, onlineservices, and job-related magazines.Adams Media has started selling the information electronically, ninecents per company for one-time use and 15 cents for a year’s use,exported in a text format that can be used in a mail merge. A listcan be plucked by choosing a location, an industry, or specific positionsthat it hires for, but not by size of the company.The biggest difference between the U.S. 1 Business Directory and theJobBank book is in how the information is gathered. Adams takes informationfrom companies contacting them, and their editors also — in thiscyber information age — do research on large employers on theWorld Wide Web. They do a confirmation mailing and get a four percentresponse rate. In contrast, U.S. 1 gets some of its company informationfrom the team that delivers the newspaper, with followup calls fromreporters and a fax-out or mail-out. U.S. 1 gets more than a 30 percentresponse rate.If you want a good picture of New Jersey’s business scene, the Adamsbook is a price performer at $16.95 in bookstores. To order (paying$4.95 postage) call 800-USA-JOBS or fax 800-872-5687. For electronicformat listings call 800-872-5627, extension 5304 or E-mail jobsbank@adamsonline.com.– Barbara FoxTop Of PageCorporate AngelsThe annual Stark & Stark EMS Recognition Award –a plaque and a $500 check — was presented to Harry Towner,an emergency medical technician with the Plainsboro Rescue Squad.Albert M. Stark praised Towner for his 20 years of tirelesswork and service for the squad and the residents of Plainsboro.The Independent Insurance Agents of New Jersey raisedover $1,200 at its annual convention golf outing to benefit the Make-A-WishFoundation. Another golf outing will be held on October 5. Make-A-WishFoundation grants the wishes of children under 18 with life-threateningillness.Previous StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
