BMC Associates

BMC Associates Announces Addition of Stewart Christ as Principal

AmyP — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:32:49 +0000

BMC Associates is pleased to announce that Mr. Stewart Christ has joined the firm as a Principal. In joining BMC, Mr. Christ adds significant strength to a team comprised of… Read More

UPCOMING: Conversation with David Gage hosted by The Fort and Affinity Lab

admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:27:43 +0000

Event: Conversation with David Gage hosted by The Fort and Affinity Lab
Event Date: March 7, 2012
Location: Washington, D.C.

David Gage will be speaking and taking questions… Read More

“Am I My Brother’s Keeper?”: Brothers in Family Business

edkopf — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:56:00 +0000

Posting by Ed Kopf, Ph.D., Principal at BMC Associates

Sibling-partners’ relationships are among the most challenging in family businesses. Such siblings are often second-generation co-owners of an inherited business. This… Read More

Mediation Retreats: A Pre-Estate-Planning Strategy

admin — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:40:46 +0000

The estate-planning process can be an effective and satisfying experience for all involved and is less likely to result in legal battles if advisors would recommend a preliminary step for the family. Read More

Change Your Practice Successfully!

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:15:30 +0000

A comprehensive guide to partnership and/or sale of your medical/dental practice. Read More

Managing Conflicts and Family Dynamics in Your Family’s Philanthropy

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:16:40 +0000

Philanthropic families face challenges in managing their conflicts from a family dynamics perspective as well as from a philanthropic perspective. This issue paper explores the problem of conflict in family practicing philanthropy and describes how it typically surfaces. It offers advice and guidance from experts on how to manage these conflicts, shares stories of families who have experienced conflict, and describes how they have addressed this conflict. Read More

Mom Always Liked You Best

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:39:21 +0000

Veteran business writer Shelly Branch gives 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. As so often happens in such cases, the judge's verdict could not put the family back together again. 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. Branch asks: "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.'" Read More

Happily Ever After

admin — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:59:10 +0000

A business partnership is often just like a marriage—once the honeymoon is over, it takes work. When disagreements go unchecked, they can quickly turn into feuds. Then feuds can easily fester into stony silences. If things get sticky, it's often due to the same kind of head-butting that happens in romantic relationships, and psychologists and management experts say they have similar solutions. This article offers advice from partnership pros on how to work together happily ever after. Read More

Five Reasons Why You Still Need Scenario Planning

admin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:53:35 +0000

In his lead article in this Harvard Business School publication, David Stauffer gives five excellent reasons why scenario planning is more important than ever. He provides examples of numerous companies that owe their survival to this specific planning activity. Paul Schoemaker, an expert in scenario planning from Wharton, says, "Decision-makers who can expand their imaginations to see a wider range of possible futures will be much better positioned to take advantage of the unexpected opportunities that will inevitably come along." Arie P. deGenus, an originator of scenario planning who worked at Royal Dutch/Shell, is quoted in a 1997 speech, "We realized that the relevant question they can profitably address is not 'What will happen?' It is 'What will we do if this happens?'" Read More

Wealth and Family Finances

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 23:30:26 +0000

Some siblings who inherit assets from their parents have a challenge ahead of them: how to work together to handle what they've been given. Judy Martel writes that when assets are transferred within the family, "keeping them in the family or deciding what to do with them requires a dedicated effort at communication." She describes how more and more families are deciding to meet with mediators and consultants for assistance with this challenge. David Gage says, "Planning for the future should be a joyful process, one that is celebrated rather than feared." It is really about a gift from the parents to their children and their children's children. Read More