New Y2K Question: Key Business Relationships
Corrections or additions?
(These articles were published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on December 2,
1998. All rights reserved.)
Dreams of Bonuses More Meaningful Than Money
During the holiday season, it’s easy to see the value
of gift giving, but for Bill Dorf of Special Recognition the
trick is to get clients to give gifts all year long. That’s because
the Whitehouse Station-based firm specializes in putting together
motivational and incentive programs of all types for employees and
business clients.
Dorf will conduct a seminar on non-monetary incentives at the
Middlesex
Chamber of Commerce Business Over Breakfast series Wednesday, December
9, at 8 a.m. at the Brunswick Hilton in East Brunswick. Cost: $30.
Call 732-821-1700.
Special Recognition is a distributor of incentives from major
electronics
companies, gift ware companies and sporting goods companies. Service
and “lifestyle” based incentives such as trips, maid services,
sauna/spa, and landscaping services are also part of the non-monetary
mix.
Dorf contends that a non-monetary item won by an employee recipient
as part of a corporate incentive program has more lasting value than
cash for both the company and the recipient. “Money is spent once
and then forgotten,” says Dorf, “but a gift like a television
will be enjoyed not only by the recipient, but by his or her family
as well. Every time they turn the set on, they’re going to remember
where it came from.”
Dorf cites four reasons why cash as an incentive does not work as
well as a long term non-monetary reward program:
Cash is considered part of income.Cash has no trophy value. “When was the last timeyou showed someone your paycheck,” says Dorf.Cash has a poor perceived value. “People will spendcash like it’s nothing. They’ll go out and buy lottery tickets.”)Cash programs generally lack specific goals.”Incentiveprograms create a situation where the participant `goes for the gold.’Each time another hurdle is crossed there is always that next levelof incentive items to go for.”Incentives are useful for encouraging what Dorf calls”optionalbehavior,” which he defines as “creating a situation wherepeople will do something that they ordinarily won’t.” Take theexample of the dairy company that had a real problem with plasticmilk crates not being picked up by their dairy truck drivers. Eachcarton was worth $38. An incentive program was developed that rewardedthe drivers the equivalent of about $1 per crate for bringing in aset number of crates. The program worked so well, “that theystartedbringing back competitors’ crates.” The company, “went froma $70,000 loss to an actual gain over a six-month period,” saysDorf.Dorf, 53, was one of the original founders of Rickel Home Centersand also started a warehouse home center in Florida, which eventuallybecame Home Depot. He got involved in the incentive business througha friend. “I saw a definite need in corporate America to motivateemployees, salespeople and customers,” says Dorf.He has worked with corporate giants J.C. Penney and SupermarketGeneraland has been at Special Recognition since 1985. He majored inpoliticalscience and business administration at C.W. Post and has an MBA fromthe University of Michigan. He is married with two grown daughters.The journey towards building a quality incentive program begins bysitting down with the client to see what the problems are at aparticularcompany. Many questions are asked of clients and prospective clientsas to industry status, competitive information, and client strongand weak points. “Everything is customized for each client,”says Dorf. “Every single company has its own situation due tothe industry, employee base, the working environment.” The packagethe firm puts together for real estate offices to motivate real estateagents to work longer hours to increase listings and sales will bevery different from the program it develops for a large pharmaceuticalmanufacturer that is concerned about safety in its packaging area.Small business owners sometimes feel that planned incentive programsare something only large corporations can afford to do. But Dorf feelsthat is not the case at all. “Motivating employees is motivatingemployees is motivating employees, it doesn’t matter how large orsmall you are.– Jeff LippincottTop Of PageNew Y2K Question: Key Business RelationshipsIn dealing with the Year 2K problem, a business mustcarefully examine all key business relationships and then”considerhow the Y2K problem could disrupt those relationships,” saysCalvinA. Jones, an attorney with Reed Smith Shaw & McClay at ForrestalVillage.Jones co-hosts a workshop presented at the Hyatt on Thursday, December3, at 8 a.m. Geared for health care and insurance firms, it is partof a series sponsored by Technology New Jersey. Call 609-419-4444.Jones is experienced in representing health care providers in disputeresolution, reimbursement and regulatory matters. He will bediscussingmethods for limiting liability and how critical business relationshipsmay be soured or destroyed by the Y2K problem.Jones will be joined by Stephen L. Grimes, a biomedical engineerwho has assisted in the development of clinical engineering sharedservices for hospitals and established risk management systems formedical technology in 150 hospitals, will speak on the implicationof the Year 2000 problem as it relates to the use of medical devicesin hospitals and other health care organizations.It is not enough to simply determine how the systems in one’s owncompany will be affected, Jones says, it’s important to consider howthe systems of key business partners will be affected. “The issuefor most companies isn’t so much who is going to sue us or even whocan we sue, but a more practical problem is will this Year 2K problemcause a commercial divorce to occur for me,” says Jones.Jones contends that it is a firm’s legal duty to conduct internalinvestigations to determine what could go wrong for them and externalinvestigations of the companies they do business with. “Amongthe things a firm should be doing, and they should consult an attorneyon this, is determine whether business partners can get out of theircontract if there is a Y2K problem,” says Jones. “If there’sa big enough problem, people are going to look at their contractsand say `hey can I get out of this thing.’ People are going to getmad at each other and the question is will they be able to get outof their contract.”Another factor to consider: Y2K could be a convenient scapegoat forany number of other business difficulties from which a company mightwant to extricate itself. “There may be strains in existingbusinessrelationships, maybe market conditions have changed so that somebodyis not getting the kind of deal they thought they were getting, andthey’re looking for a way to get out of a deal,” said Jones.Getting to know your customers and suppliers and keeping them happyare vital considerations in successfully meeting Year 2000 challenges.Companies who really investigate their key business relationshipsfrom the perspective of identifying potential Y2K snafus early onwill be able to ideally solve the problem and at the very least beable to say, “I didn’t ignore this problem, I did everything Icould and look at what I did.”Jones, 37, has been with Reed Smith for a year and a half. Beforethat he practiced law with a North Jersey firm, Sills Cummis, andwith Stroock Stroock and Lavan on Wall Street. A New Hampshire native,he majored in accounting at Northeastern University and has a lawdegree from Boston College.For hospitals, Jones says, “the key relationship is therelationshipbetween the hospital and the physicians who practice there.”Withoutthe referrals from physicians, the financial health of the institutioncould be threatened. With a few exceptions, doctors in New Jerseyhospitals are not employees of a hospital and are free to referpatientsto any of a number of hospitals. “If the physicians have a serious(Y2K) problem with a particular hospital, they could very well refertheir patients to another hospital, and that would have seriousbusinessconsequences for the hospital,” says Jones.Because of the importance of this business relationship, hospitalsare looking for ways to develop relationships with physicians. Oneway hospitals accomplish this is through the formation of separatelegal entities for medical billing purposes called physician hospitalorganizations (PHO). If there is a serious Y2K problem at the PHOthat delays doctor reimbursement, the doctors could blame thehospital.”The PHO has to be sensitive to those issues,” says Jones.Physicians need to be concerned with the management serviceorganizations(MSO) that many of them subscribe to. MSOs typically provideadministrativefunctions for a physicians group. Jones feels that doctors need tobe cognizant of how the MSO will deal with the Y2K issue. Conversely,MSOs need to be concerned for the same reasons. “If the physiciansdon’t get paid or if there is some other problem that causes concernto the physicians, the physicians may say, you know what, can we getout of this contract,” said Jones, “or maybe the physiciansthink they can get a better deal someplace else and along comes theY2K problem and gives them an excuse.”– Jeff LippincottTop Of PageManufacturing Year 2KManufacturers: You may find yourself unprotected fromassaults on your business-critical site processes if you concentratedyour Year 2000 efforts on code remediation and spent little efforton business-risk analysis. John C. O’Connor, Year 2000 projectmanager for Philips Lighting Company in Somerset, will give thiswarningat a Technology New Jersey seminar on Tuesday, December 8, at 8 a.m.at the Hyatt. Cost: $30. Call 609-419-4444.O’Connor will talk about risk identification and analysis and showhow a business continuance plan can be created. The seminar isco-sponsoredby the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program Inc. andManufacturingMarketplace.Steven E.C. Sroczynski, director of channel, sales, andmarketingat Visionet Systems Inc., will discuss how Time Dimensional Analysiscan be used to make sure an application is Year 2000 compliant. Inhis presentation “Testing Across the Millennium.” Sroczynskiwill explore date fields within an application, critical dates, andwhy testing a system is so important.Learn about the Y2K Self-help Tool, a computer-based process developedby the Manufacturing Extension Partnership to help manufacturers inY2K efforts, from Mitchell Darer, director of the Center forInformation Age Technology at NJIT. In his presentation “Y2K andthe Manufacturer,” Darer will discuss the best approaches todealingwith Y2K such as inventory, mission-critical systems assessment,contingencyplans development, and remediation project planning and management.Top Of PageTechnology DialogueWhat works for Video Valley can also work for biotechand medical research, as three electronics firms (Siemens, Sarnoff,and NEC) have demonstrated (U.S. 1, November 18). But more needs tobe done, says Dan Tripodi of the Sage Group, to linktelecommunicationsfirms with biotech researchers.”AT&T has so much technology that is applicable to biotech, andit is untapped,” says Tripodi. “That is true with many ofthe companies throughout New Jersey.” Tripodi is a foundingpartnerof the Bridgewater-based Sage Group, which provides biotechnologyconsulting services for early stage companies.A football player at the University of Delaware, Class of 1960,Tripodihas a PhD in immunochemistry from Temple and spent 20 years with J&J,most recently as vice president of R&D for Therakos. He co-foundedthe six-partner Sage Group in 1995. His current venture is a companyhoping to use data on brain function to more effectively diagnosecentral nervous system diseases and choose which drug to prescribe.”My recommendation would be to come up with some ways to forcethe dialogue. The dialogue is not occurring,” says Tripodi.”NewYork State, Delaware, and Utah have done a pretty good job, evenCalifornia.There is no mechanism in New Jersey to do that.”Here’s how Tripodi says his plan would work: Quarterly or semi-annualmeetings would be held for an invited group of R&D directors,differentgroups each time, with an agenda tailor-made for the particular group.”You limit it to 10 or 12 people and pick six or seven peopleon each side. I found out that by locking these guys up together,and really going through five or six key issues, they come away witha hell of a lot more understanding of what each other is doing, andperhaps how they could cooperate.””Biotechnology Council of New Jersey would love to be involvedwith something like that,” says Debbie Hart, BCNJ’sexecutivedirector.Individual companies can’t do it on their own, Tripodi says. Sarnoffis doing some of this video-to-biotech transfer, he admits, butSarnofflimits itself to its own in-house technology. R&D directors areusuallytoo busy to think about networking. “If I were running thedivisionfor Bell Labs, I would be busy putting out fires. The same thing istrue for a guy with a biotech company who is not aware of thetechnologyto be tapped.”Top Of PageBiotech’s YearBiotech is almost impossible to define, says DonaldDrakeman, CEO of Medarex and president of the Biotechnology Councilof New Jersey (BCNJ). Drakeman compares it to the definition ofpornographyproduced by the supreme court judge. The judge ended up not beingable to define pornography, though he “knew it when he sawit.””The strictest definition is the use of biological sciencesderivedfrom living cells (such as recombinant DNA or monoclonal antibodies)for the development of products in any field,” says Drakeman.”But that would exclude a lot of people. Anyone who wants topursuethe kind of goals we are pursuing is more than welcome,” saysDrakeman.At BCNJ’s annual meeting on Thursday, December 3, at 5:15 p.m. atthe Nassau Inn. Robert S. Esposito and Gordon V. Ramseierwill present their annual biotech industry report. Esposito is theLenox Drive-based national director of biotechnology and life sciencesat KPMG Peat Marwick. Ramseier is executive director of theBridgewater-basedSage Group. Their report will cover the stock market downturn, Celgenebringing a product to market, and the multi-million dollar deal thatMedarex made with Novartis. An “Industry Executive of theYear”will be named. Cost: $85. Call 609-890-3185.Drakeman will talk about how BCNJ has worked to provide newopportunitiesto access capital for the biotech industry. BCNJ helped engineer anunusual way for young companies to sell tax credits to larger, oldercompanies. It goes into effect next year. “A couple of years agowe worked so that the state pension funds could invest in biotech.And now we’ve got this. This is really pathbreaking,” saysDrakeman.”Other states are looking to model it.”Cash flow is even more important for biotech companies than for mostother technology-based firms, in part because biotech products takean inordinate length of time to develop. Wall Street has beenrelativelyuninterested in biotech for the last couple of years, says Drakeman.”Especially for companies with market values of less than $500million, there have been no IPO opportunities to speak of, and scantfew secondary opportunities.” Yes, he admits, the market ingeneralis unkind to IPOs, but the biotech segment has been lower for longerthan most.Says Drakeman: “The way the industry has tended to define itself– if you are in the drug development business and are losingmoney,you are doing biotech.”Top Of PageProspect’s NetworksProspect House, the former residence of Woodrow Wilsonwhen he was president of Princeton University, serves as the facultyclub for Princeton University and, as such, it is closed to thegeneralpublic. But at least twice during December the general public cangain admission — with appropriate payment of course — to seeProspect House decked out in all its holiday glory.The Mercer Chapter of the New Jersey Association of Women BusinessOwners will host its holiday celebration at Princeton University ArtMuseum and the historic Prospect House on Tuesday, December 15, at4 p.m., starting with at tour of the museum and continuing withcocktailsand dinner at Prospect. Cost: $37. Mail checks by December 6 to NJAWBOHoliday Party, Box 2384, Princeton 08543. Include your address, andtickets will be mailed to you. Call 609-924-7975 for information.The second opportunity is less cut-and-dried. You may have to anteup a nice contribution, but it would be to a worthy cause. VivianShapiro is on the board of Isles Inc., which will kick off its$3.5 capital campaign on Thursday, December 3, 4:30 to 6 p.m. atProspectHouse. She will speak at the event, and so will her husband HaroldShapiro the university’s president. Other honorary co-chairs ofthe event are Paul Volcker, Federal Reserve chairman, andBillBradley, former U.S. Senator. Actual co-chairs are ThomasBrackenof First Union Bank, Barbara Coe, and Sam Hamill. Lotsof heavy hitters are helping this 17-year-old charity.Call Debby D’Arcangelo, Isles’ campaign director, at609-393-5656,extension 14, to find out how to get on the heavy hitters list andget an invitation to this event. Money raised will create an endowmentplus establish an urban Environmental Education Center in Trenton’sCadwalader Park.For the third chance to see Prospect House you need to be able toget something out of a lecture entitled “Design and Developmentof an Angiotensin II Receptor Antagonist: a Case Study in DrugDiscovery,”by John Primeau of Wyeth-Ayerst Research. The Princeton chapterof the American Chemical Society starts its meeting on Thursday,December10, at 6 p.m., with a $20 dinner at Prospect House, then moves toFrick 324 for the lecture. Call 609-258-3922 for reservations.Top Of PageReporting on BiasThe New York Times did indeed discriminate against itswomen reporters, as Nan Robertson documented in her 1992 book”The Girls in the Balcony: Women, Men, and the New YorkTimes.”Robertson appears on a panel with two women who sued the Paper ofRecord, Betsy Wade (Boylan) and Grace Glueck. “TwentyYears Later: Women’s Progress in Journalism since Boylan v. The NewYork Times,” will be presented on Wednesday, December 9, witha reception at 5 p.m. and the panel at 5:30 p.m., at Rutgers Centerfor Women and Work, Crockett Building, 162 Ryders Lane, DouglassCampus.It is free to those who register. Call 732-932-1463.Boylan v. the New York Times was a class-action discrimination suitfiled by women journalists at the New York Times. The suit was settledout of court 20 years ago; it led to wage equity and increasedpromotionand hiring of women at the Times, while heightening public awarenessof women’s roles in journalism. Boylan was the Times chief copy editoron the foreign desk at the time of the suit and is now its travelcolumnist; Glueck retired as a Times’ art critic in 1991.The panel is co-sponsored by Rutgers School of Communication,Informationand Library Studies, and the Institute for Women’s Leadership. Boylanand Glueck will be joined by Robertson, a Pulitzer Prize winner whoteaches journalism at the University of Maryland, and Kathy BarrettCarter, a Star-Ledger reporter who covers education issues andthe appellate court. Journalism professor Linda Steiner willmoderate.Top Of PageIEEE SarnoffThe latest in wired and wireless communications willbe on display at the 14th annual IEEE Sarnoff Symposium, scheduledfor the College of New Jersey on Wednesday, March 17. Area collegestudents are invited to submit poster presentations. Topics includeSystems on a Chip, Digital TV, Cable Systems, Small Office/Home OfficeTechnology, and Antennas. A cash prize will be awarded for the beststudent poster presented.The symposium will be co-chaired by John Riganati, technicaldirector of communications systems and networking, and StewartPerlow, head of wireless components, both of Sarnoff Corporation.Over 50 exhibitors from top communications companies will displaytheir technologies.The event is co-sponsored by IEEE Princeton Section, the College ofNew Jersey Engineering Department, the College of New Jersey IEEEStudent Branch, and the Sarnoff Corporation. For more informationon the student paper competition call Desiree McDermott at609-734-2430.E-mail: dmcdermott@sarnoff.comTop Of PageButtoning DownPartiesBoth hosts and guests need to prepare for holidayparties,say the spin doctors and the underwriters. Hosts need to keep fromserving too much alcohol, so that their guests not get involved inan accident. Guests, in addition to going slow on the booze, shouldremember to think of the party as a business opportunity.Prepare for a holiday party like you would get ready for a businessmeeting, says Peter Giulano of Executive Communications Group,based in Engleside. He has these tips on how to make an impact onyour cohorts and your bosses. These strategies are also useful atpurely social occasions.Know who your audience will be and their point of view.Show others that you are more than the person they see in the office– know what’s going on in the world and have a variety ofconversationaltopics in your head. Plan to discuss more than just “shoptalk,”office gossip, and gripes. Have an appropriate toast, anecdote, orfunny story to entertain your audience if called upon.Rehearse. People pay attention to those who speak crisply,complete their sentences and have a logical flow in what they say.If you want to make an impression, say “memorable” thingsin a memorable fashion. You can do this by rehearsing — say italoud, tape it, and listen how you sound.Avoid taboo subjects like religion, politics, or sensitivebusiness issues such as rumors of downsizing.Let your ears work harder than your mouth. When you simplylisten, you can be perceived as a brilliant communicator. You’llstrengthenand deepen your relationships by communicating through the way youlisten. Also, asking well thought out, open-ended questions showssincerity and interest.Have a positive attitude. People do not want to interactwith someone who spends time at a party crying in their beer abouta bad work situation at work, home, or in every day life, especiallyaround the holidays. Besides, having a positive attitude hasadvantagesfor life and business, and brings an upbeat tone to the party.Present yourself positively. Keep your posture erect butnot too stiff. Limit yourself to one drink. Remember you are thereto see and be seen.”Hosts have a double duty now more than ever,” saysAndrew C. Harris, President of Professional Insurance Agentsof New Jersey (PINJ), based at 28 West State Street in Trenton.”Hostsmust be courteous and entertaining, but they most also be responsibleand conscientious about the alcohol they serve.”He has these tips for hosts:Serve alcoholic drinks only upon request.Entertain with music, games, and dancing. Avoid makingalcohol the main focus of the social event.Always serve food when serving alcohol.Be careful about minors. Limit access to bar if minorsare on the guest list.Call the last call early. Switch to nonalcoholic beveragesand dessert one or two hours before the end of the party.Top Of PageCorporate AngelsB>IBM Corporation announced the donation of 12 IBMPentium desktop computers and one IBM Think Pad to support variousagencies throughout the greater Mercer County area. The donation ispart of a nationwide contribution being distributed through GiftsIn Kind International, the leading charity in the field of productphilanthropy (U.S. 1, September 2).Nationwide, IBM’s donation will provide over 2,700 Pentium desktopcomputers and 250 ThinkPads valued at $5 million to support more than1,000 charities nationwide. The computers were distributed tocharitiesthat provide youth education, adult training, literacy programs, andsupport for the disabled/disadvantaged.Comcast donated a total of $9,000 raised through its ThirdAnnualCharity Sports Tournament to six chapters of Literacy Volunteers ofAmerica/New Jersey Affiliates.”We are extremely gratified to be able to help Literacy Volunteersof America in New Jersey, as the financial contributions will funneltowards those adults most in need of strengthening their reading,writing, and speaking skills,” says Joseph J. Fischer, areavice president, Comcast, who presented the donations to the executivedirectors of the chapters.Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
