Amid Market Basket fiasco, family businesses discuss keys to success

AUGUST 17, 2014

Market Basket power struggle shows what could happen when families, businesses are linked

TARYN PLUMB

As we all know, family can be one of the greatest and most enriching facets of our lives — but also, in some cases, one of the biggest stresses.

And, as we're seeing with the ongoing standoff with the family-owned Market Basket grocery store chain, the stakes are even greater and the results of disagreements can be even more calamitous when family and business are intertwined.

"Whenever you have more than one family member involved in a business, there's a fairly high opportunity of conflict," said Ted Clark, executive director of The Center for Family Business at Northeastern University. "It's either going to be a nuclear bomb, or a nuclear power plant. There's the same level of energy, but one is harnessed and one is destructive."

So what, exactly, does it take to maintain a family-run business that's both successful and satisfying for all parties involved?

Keep to success

Clark cites three key factors: engaging in ongoing strategic planning, holding regular family meetings dedicated solely to issues outside the business, and establishing an independent board of advisers.

The latter can provide "unbiased opinions," a "degree of common sense," and a "voice of reason" from a group with no stake in the business," said Clark, whose organization provides education, networking opportunities and support to family businesses. "That's critical."

Of course, keeping open lines of communication is also vital, he said.

As is simply cultivating healthy relationships among the core members of the business, according to Wayne Rivers, president of the Raleigh, N.C.-based Family Business Institute.

"Most businesses can survive the threats of competition, economic cycles, changes in technology or other factors, but the deterioration of interpersonal relationships will devastate the business and tear apart the family," he writes in an article on the website for the institute, which helps families and "closely held" businesses manage issues around succession, communication and management.

Other essential elements for prosperity, Rivers says, are agreeing on common values and expectations, establishing shared visions, understanding the decision-making process, maintaining accountability and identifying roles clearly.

The latter can be achieved by implementing an employment policy, Clark noted.

"Treat family members as employees," he said, "so very clear expectations are set, and there are very clear understandings."

Still, he acknowledged, all of that is easier in principle than in practice.

"When you're looking at it from a very unemotional perspective, you think 'This is pretty simple, isn't it?'" he said. "It is extraordinarily difficult to keep these things under control."

Even so, many family ventures have been able to flourish. One such example is the Coghlins, whose fourth-generation, nearly 130-year-old enterprise has become somewhat of an institution in Worcester.

Brothers Edwin "Ted" Coghlin Jr., and James Coghlin took over the business from their fathers, then made the tactical decision to split it.

Ted's daughter, Susan Coghlin Mailman, now serves as president of Coghlin Electrical Contractors, Inc. and Coghlin Network Services, Inc., while James and his sons, Chris and James Jr., run Coghlin Cos., Inc., the parent of Columbia Tech and Cogmedix.

"The separation of the businesses was a brilliant idea by my dad and my uncle," Mailman said. "We were able to split the businesses and still maintain a good relationship, which is probably no easy feat."

And as she put it, if a point of contention arises, they handle it "direct, face to face," and "we don't let others in the middle of those conversations."

"We do have a way to deal with it," she said. "It doesn't mean we avoid all conflict."

She suggested that other businesses could learn from her family's example by dividing control and decision-making.

"That's a tactic that can help," she said.

Getting beyond the spats

"We fight and scream," said Celeste Maykel-Zack, who runs Evo Dining in Worcester with her brother, Albert Maykel III. They also have roles at the Living Earth, which their parents, Al and Maggy, have run for more than 40 years. But Maykel-Zack added, "At the end of the day, we always know we only want what is best for each other and all have the same common goal."

Their formula for success has been conserving close family ties, while sharing the same vision. "We each want the businesses to be successful while maintaining the core family unit," she said.

But whatever happens, she said, family absolutely comes first.

"Nothing else can take the place of it," she said. "Businesses will come and go, but family is what made you who you are and brought you to what you have become together. You would never be who you are without each other."

Families that might not have such a tight bond, meanwhile, could consider bringing in non-family executives, Clark suggested, which provides a separation between ownership and management for the relatives invested in the business.

An outsider brings "new perspective," he said, and "opens up a whole new talent tool, as opposed to just the gene pool."

Perhaps due to the bellicose nature of the Market Basket situation, a number of local family businesses, including Coghlin Cos., who were contacted for this article but declined to respond.

As is the case with Market Basket, one of the most prevalent issues with family businesses is "goal conflict," Clark said. Invested and dedicated family members might have vastly different ideas for the company. For example, the second generation might want to ramp up growth, while the first may look to maintain the status quo so they can have a comfortable base on which to retire, he said.

Begin with trust, forgiveness

Then there are the inevitable battles for control.

As Rivers noted, the very same factors that secure any healthy relationship ultimately translate into the business world. Trust and forgiveness are paramount, as are maintaining a mutual respect and a willingness to compromise.

"Constantly being on the short end of a win-lose relationship will only encourage problems between family members," Rivers says on the Family Business Institute website.

Despite all this, though, as Clark pointed out, the Market Basket debacle is a bit of an anomaly.

"I firmly believe that family businesses, when they run well, are unbeatable," he said.

That's even true with Market Basket, he said. When the conflict was managed, "it was an incredibly powerful mechanism" that generated great dividends for the family.
"More often than not, public corporations could learn more from a family business," he said. "People have loyalty to people. That's what the family business can bring."

Original story link. 

Daily Herd: Got Game?

Got Game?
Posted Aug. 12, 2014 in “Students”

Mass DiGI taps students’ game development skills

One moment you’re swatting flies, the next you’re spinning records – and at any other time you could be flying a plane, making a sock puppet sing, or simply washing a window.

Successfully achieve these various tasks, and you win virtual capsule toys (like the sort that come tumbling out of coin-op machines).

Such is the simple but addictive premise of Many Mini Things, a motion-controlled game created by students from WPI and other local colleges as part of the annual MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program.

“It’s funny, zany humor,” says lead producer Pat Roughan ’15. “It turns mundane stuff into a fun game.”

The prestigious program, which challenges its student participants to create a fully functional game in 11 weeks, was held at Becker College from May 20 to Aug. 7, culminating with an open house at the school’s Weller Academic Center.

Twenty-two students from 11 schools – including Roughan, Owen West ’15, and Sienna McDowell ’17 – were chosen from a pool of 150 applicants. As they broke into groups and worked on creating four games, they were housed at Becker and given a stipend for their work.

“It was our literal job for 11 weeks straight,” said Roughan, a double major in game design and professional writing. Unlike during the school year, “we had no other distractions.”

Several game ideas were brainstormed during orientation, she explained, then four were ultimately chosen and participants were split into groups based on their strengths. Drafting, designing, building, and numerous rounds of testing followed.

The four games that resulted were Many Mini Things, Midnight Terrors (players ward off nightmarish creatures in a little boy’s bedroom), Cat Tsunami (players guide a surfing cat through whimsical landscapes, earning coins and thwarting enemies), and Limbs.

McDowell, a Philadelphia native, worked on the latter, which challenges players to match up zombie limbs on a grid and inevitably create a new body out of them.

As she noted, the program helped her get a grasp of her own potential. “I’ve learned that, even if you’re convinced you won’t be able to do something, just go at it,” says the interactive media and game development major. “If you try, you’ll get at least halfway there, which might just be enough.”

Meanwhile, Many Mini Things makes use of a Leap Motion controller, a relatively new technology that senses finger movements without the need for touch. Players grab, hit, and move objects on the screen by performing the motion in mid-air.

As Roughan explained, the development process could be tough at times, given the need to create digital objects that would prompt natural reactions (such as a fly that needs swatting). With a multi-player function, the game is “bright, colorful, and cartoony,” she said, and fits into the “party game” genre.

“It’s been a great experience,” said Roughan, who is from Wilton, Conn. “It’s not what I expected at all, which is a good thing.”

Most of all, it helped her gain an understanding of how to begin a career in the indie gaming field, her end goal.

West, a game design major and art minor who served as tech artist for Many Mini Things, says he would also ultimately like to end up in the indie market, although he notes that it’s difficult to break into, because you need to be self-managing, work quickly, and have a “really good idea.” Cultural phenomenona such as Candy Crush Saga and Flappy Bird are “1 in 100,000,” he says.

So, he notes, he’ll likely start by trying to get into a AAA studio (the top tier) as a QA game tester, a position he says should help him gain a wider understanding of the overall business and members of the company.

“It was eye-opening,” West, of Northampton, Mass., says of the Summer Innovation Program. “I can pretty easily build upon the skills I learned this summer.”

- BY TARYN PLUMB

Original story link. 

No cliches here; group dedicated to accurately portraying Vikings

Group brings to life Vikings’ ancient lore

By Taryn Plumb | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

JULY 31, 2014

Mark Lorenz for The Boston Globe

There’s Ragnar, exceptionally accurate with a spear.

Rurik is master of the ax, taught among the Danes.

Olaf is a beast with a sword, powerful and unpredictable.

Rauda Bjorn and Tofa are both delicate with handiwork but swift with weaponry.

“Leg-biter” is what they call Aelfi: as the second-in-command, she wrangles the men.

Jarl, the leader, earned the nickname “Schildknacker” (“cracker of shields”) while battling the Saxons.

This band of Viking warriors called the Draugar Vinlands — explorers, duelers, and conquerors — is so meticulously dedicated to accuracy, its members seem like imports from the first millennium (until one sneaks out a smartphone after a bout of fighting, that is).

“I wanted to make sure I filled the ranks with people not only interested in and passionate about the combat, but the history, the culture,” said Marc Svirtunas, 47, of Exeter, N.H., who formed the group last summer, and is the “Schildknacker” Jarl Ingvar.

Now a dedicated core of seven — an eighth, Siggur, was “lost at sea,” the fate of many a Viking — meets on Saturdays in a cordoned-off area of Stratham Hill Park in Stratham, N.H., to drill and spar. Preferring to call themselves “living history combatants” rather than reenactors, they focus on the eighth, ninth, and 10th centuries, when the Vikings were at their peak.

“I’ve always been really interested in history,” said one member, Max Niketic (the ax-throwing Rurik of Burka) of Newburyport, noting the particular appeal of Viking culture, ships, and armor. “It’s all fascinating.”

Using blunted versions of replica weapons, the Draugar Vinlands’ strokes and fighting techniques are based on ancient treatises and texts. They don period-accurate chain mail and helmets, and drink from vessels that resemble auroch (an extinct species of wild cattle) horns.

But unlike the dozens of Viking video games, movies, or the current TV series on the History Channel, this group doesn’t fantasize the ancient culture: The members live it, from researching clothing down to the belts (exact replicas of items dug up at such archeological sites as Birka in Sweden), to reading the sagas and legends, to speaking German (which evolved from the Vikings’ true tongue, Old Norse), to learning the meanings — and ultimately making their own etchings and stitchings on their clothing and leather wear — of runes, the Viking alphabet.

Similarly, their Viking personas have intricate back stories stretching across real Scandinavian sites and landmarks. For example, Svirtunas’ Jarl (a title that denotes “old successful warrior”) took his sword, “Draugr,” from the burial mound of a Saxon king, while Rauda Bjorn (Newburyport resident Dillon Mroz) “comes to us from Trøndelag,” in central Norway, according to the group’s website, which notes that his family’s good fortune went down with his father’s knarr (vessel) “on the shores of the isle of Frøya.”

Draugar Vinlands translates to “Ghosts of Vinland,” borrowing the name that the Vikings gave to a part of North America — perhaps including what is now New England — reached by Norse explorers more than 1,000 years ago.

After discovering Viking lore in high school, “I fell head over heels, immersed myself in it,” said Mroz, 21, standing in the shade at Stratham Hill Park as the group gathered on a recent humid Saturday.

A history major at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Mroz is of Norwegian ancestry, evidenced by his long red hair and his self-described “surprisingly red” beard (thus his nickname Rauda, or “Red’’ ). Like his comrades, he was dressed for the day in traditional warm-weather Viking attire: a light linen kyrtle (tunic) that he stitched himself; drawstring linen trousers with winnegas (legwraps); a hood; leather turn-shoes; and a chain-mail shirt.

“I really like the mythology. It’s very complex,” he said, explaining that Norse gods are not completely immortal and all-knowing, as is the case with most other polytheistic or monotheistic religions.

Fellow warrior Joey O’Neil, 21, of Waltham (also known as Ragnar the spear-thrower), said he’s also fascinated by the mythology — particularly Odin, the major god — and is likewise intrigued by the “thought of going into battle with a bunch of your brothers.”

Just then, the Jarl’s “stallari” (deputy in the field) called for attention.

“Hey, hey, guys, line up!” instructed Aelfi, 25-year-old Abbey Miller of Lexington.

Dressed in a long wool tunic, her brown hair in a simple braid, she led them in a series of warm-up exercises. Then they paired off to sharpen their battle skills. Delicately leaned against a nearby fence were real — and very sharp — spears and swords, alongside numerous helmets and wooden shields, 2½ to 3 feet in diameter and colored with period-correct milk paint.

Their fenced-off drilling grounds have a historical feel: tiered benches on the hillside overlooking the field are slanted and swayed, overgrown with weeds and grass.

Mroz and Niketic squared off, tapping their shields with wooden practice swords when ready. They circled, shields held aloft slightly to one side, then struck: up, down, wheeling, doubling back. As the action moved across the grass, swords clunked shields, made contact with legs, helmeted heads, midsections.

In her role as second-in-command, Miller said, “I try to instill the idea of low blows and creative fighting,” explaining that traditional stories describe leg injuries as a common cause of death.

“Their level of enthusiasm is unmatched,” said Svirtunas, who takes his role as Jarl quite seriously, including providing his warriors with provisions after fighting. “You can’t teach enthusiasm and passion.”

Most of the members met by chance — either at Renaissance fairs, or performances by Viking metal bands, an offshoot of black metal whose themes often focus on the times, legends, and beliefs of the Norse seafarers.

Svirtunas became particularly intrigued after seeing “The 13th Warrior,” a 1999 film starring Antonio Banderas as Ahmad ibn Fadlan, a 10th-century Arab traveler known for his accounts of Vikings.

“I started reading the history and thought, wouldn’t it be nice to really do it right,” Svirtunas recalled, referring not just to combat but to authentic clothing and even mannerisms. “To really get a feel for what it was like to live back then, to fight back then.”

The group stresses that life as a Viking was not the cliche typically played out in most films or television shows, which depict dirty, vulgar, thunderous, horned-helmet-clad savages who wantonly killed and looted.

Vikings were expert fighters, but, as history teaches, the Draugar Vinlands members say, they had a purpose: To gain dominance, land and wealth, or honor. Many invaded England after the fall of the Roman Empire to settle and farm because their own climate in Scandinavia was too harsh.

Niketic, 22, who graduated from Randolph College in Lynchburg, Va., with a degree in history, said the Vikings’ shallow-draft boats, which could sail up rivers or close to shore where other vessels would get stuck, enabled them to invade deeper into a territory.

“No one had ships like the Vikings,” he said.

Mroz pointed out they bathed once a week, making them the “cleanest people of the time” (and a lure for women of other cultures).
Miller said they were also “decent” to their women, who were just as brave as the men, sometimes donning armor and fighting alongside them, while Roman wives of the time were essentially slaves.
“It’s strange to call them barbarians, because they had many things that out-civilized the civilized world,” said Niketic. “They thought the Romans were barbarians.”

Mark Lorenz for The Boston Globe

By Taryn Plumb | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

JULY 31, 2014

Of all the tribes through time, the Vikings are among the most feared, revered, and mysterious.

They raided for food and bounty from the eighth to the 11th centuries. Because their history was mostly oral, what we know of them comes principally from other cultures, whose portrayals weren’t always accurate or flattering.

Here are some essential (and perhaps surprising) details about the people known for their warring ways, ingenuity in shipbuilding, and restless nature, as told by Draugar Vinlands member Dillon Mroz in a presentation he gave in Newbury:

■Vikings were largely farmers, although their native Scandinavia was harsh and cold, so most harvesting was done on the coast.

■The first documented raid was in 793 on Lindisfarne, an island off the northeast coast of England.

■Their travels brought them across Europe, and west to Iceland and Greenland, and perhaps the North American mainland.

■Crimes among themselves were determined on levels: Murder was involved only if the killer didn’t tell anyone (otherwise it was manslaughter); robbing a person was looked on more harshly than robbing a house.

■Punishments included running a gantlet (two rows of people pelting the guilty with any number of items, including stones), beheading, and paying compensation.

■Vikings were polytheistic and believed in a “multiverse.” Their primary god was Odin, while the most popular one was the hammer-wielding Thor, who controlled the elements and protected mankind.

■Death was observed with funeral pyres, although some respected or wealthy individuals were buried in a longship along with their possessions and slaves.

Original story link. Photo slideshow by Mark Lorenz. 

© 2014 BOSTON GLOBE MEDIA PARTNERS, LLC

Pirates "arr!" on the loose

Shiver me timbers, pirates are on the loose
Reenactors, fans turn out for annual fair in Salem

By Taryn Plumb | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

JULY 31, 2014

Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff

SALEM — Their stories were numerous and terrifying. They robbed, murdered, bullied, and intimidated their way up and down the Atlantic Coast, and — in the end — usually met their own grim deaths.

There was the Boston pirate Rachel Wall, who, along with her husband, George, repeatedly feigned distress in a stolen boat off the Isles of Shoals, and then robbed and killed would-be rescuers.

Ruthless English pirate William Fly became infamous for castigating the hangman at his execution near Charlestown Bridge, undoing and properly tying the noose that was to go around his own neck.

“There were actual pirates who plundered these shores,” said historical reenactor C.J. Landram of Saugus. “It’s fascinating when you realize just how many were here in the golden age of piracy.”

Just last weekend, a band of buccaneers returned to seize Salem’s Forest River Park and exact revenge as part of the 10th annual New England Pirate Faire. About 1,300 revelers turned out over the two-day event.

Fittingly held among the thatched roof cottages and rambling trails traced with roots at the 1630 Salem Pioneer Village, it was a celebration of the swashbuckling, the intrigue, and the menace of pirates, and featured an overarching story line played out in several acts with duels, cannon fire, period music, and general merriment.

“I love their sense of adventure,” said David Stickney, a Revere resident who produces the pirate fair with his brother, Paul, through Pastimes Entertainment. “They were freebooters, free men of the sea.”

Tall and commanding, David Stickney played the part of Peter Pan nemesis Captain Hook, dressed in a long red coat, a gold earring in his left ear, thin glasses framing his eyes, and the notorious hook taking the place of his left hand.

“Pirates offer that freedom and adventure that people really desire,” he said.

Featuring 15 core cast members — including the infamous Calico Jack and Blackbeard — the event’s theme was “The Revenge of Red-Handed Kate,” a tale written by Paul Stickney that played out in six acts. Just as the title character was to be married, pirates slaughtered her family and husband-to-be. Distraught and outraged, Kate then learned pirating skills to repay the four cruel captains who ruined her life.

Bevin Ayers of Jamaica Plain played the vengeful Kate, dressed in a striped piratical “kilted up” skirt, corset, and bodice. She boasted that it was her first time fighting with a sword.

“Everyone’s like ‘Yay, pirates,’ ” said Ayers, a nanny by trade who participates in numerous reenactor fairs. “No, pirates were bad. They would steal, pillage, take what they wanted.”

She laughed, “Not that it’s not fun to be a pirate.”

Nearby, musicians were leading families and visitors fitting the era (classic pirates were most active from the 1680s to the 1730s, according to Stickney) in a sing-along. There were women in bodices, men in long coats, feathers tucked into caps, jingling coins on gypsy dresses, greetings of “Ahoy, mate!”

Little boys wielded cardboard swords and shields, families posed for pictures in a gibbet and stocks, and Captain Jack Sparrow, the quick-quipping, flamboyant character made famous by Johnny Depp in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, roved through the crowd.

“I was just going for the female captain look,” said visitor Simone Phillips of Waltham, dressed in a dark coat and pants, curly black hair wrangled beneath a brown cap.

Adopting the pirate name Tessa Rose for the day, Phillips said, “I think the best part is being inside this neat little village. And the back story is incredible.”

Landram, meanwhile, was playing the part of Captain Henry Morgan while overseeing a costume contest.

“Samantha the Bounty,” he said to a small crowd, presenting contestant Samantha Fadden, a Nashua resident dressed in a corset and red, flowing dress. He corrected himself, to titters from the crowd, “I mean, of the Bounty.”

She vamped a few steps back and forth, encouraged by David Stickney’s shouts of “work the garment, sell it, intimidate it!”

“It’s interesting to learn and research, bring these people to life in a way that’s engaging and fun,” said Landram, wearing an impeccably white top coat over a waistcoat, trousers, and tricorn hat sprouting an ostrich feather, with a flourish of a red lace jabot and a curlicue mustache.

Ultimately, Stickney noted, the goal of the event is to educate and involve the visitors.

Calling interaction a “dying art,” he explained, “When people come, I want them to feel they’ve walked into a movie, and they’re part of the cast.”

Original story link. Photo slideshow by Jessica Rinaldi.

© 2014 BOSTON GLOBE MEDIA PARTNERS, LLC