For the government services industry, conflict of interest is a one-way issue. That is, don't expect to see any reversal in government concern, active scrutiny, and enforcement of conflict-of-interest policies and regulations. And, perceptions of conflicts, whether deserved or not, have a way of amplifying damage to your firm's reputation and freedom to do business.

Here are five things to avoid or do to stay out of trouble. (For legal advice, be sure to talk with your counsel rather than using the business advice in this article) .

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The boundary of impermissible organizational conflicts is in the eye of the beholder; what is harmless to you may be toxic in a politician's eyes. Last year, Rep.Henry Waxman, chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, pilloried Booz Allen Hamilton for alleged organizational conflict of interest (OCI) at a hearing on SBInet, a contract performed by Boeing. His investigators had found on Booz Allen's Web site that the firm had done work for Boeing's commercial airplane division.

The author, Michael Lent, is editor and publisher of Government Services Insider, a subscription-paid information service about the business strategies and methods of contractors. He can be reached at mlent@gsinsider.com, or at (202) 237-0765.

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Dynamics Research Corp. (NASDAQ: DRCO) completed its acquisition of privately held Kadix Systems, LLC. SBA certified Kadix Systems in the 8(a) program in April 2003. Its expected graduation date is 4/17/2012.

Arlington, VA-based Kadix Systems is a rapidly growing, high-end management consulting firm. Kadix maintains practice specialties in organizational change, human capital, information technology, public and environmental health and learning and organizational development. Founded in 2001, the company is focused on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Marine Corps information technology, military medical health, and federal civilian markets. About 95 percent of Kadix' contracts have been awarded as prime and approximately 40 percent are performance-based.

In addition to its Arlington headquarters, Kadix has additional offices in Greater Washington, Aberdeen, MD, and Fort Sam Houston, Texas — areas that are targeted for significant expansion due to the DOD BRAC.

DRC Chairman and CEO Jim Regan stated:

"Kadix Systems' high-end management consulting capabilities fully complement DRC's current core competencies in IT infrastructure, business intelligence, business transformation and training and enable greater access to key markets that we have targeted for growth. We look forward to welcoming Kadix employees to the DRC family of dedicated professionals serving our nation's highest priorities. We are committed to strategic growth that expands the mission-critical management and consulting work we provide to clients, fosters our long-standing culture of quality and excellence and enhances shareholder value."

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Closing/ AnnouncementDate	Buyer	Seller	Purchase Price	Seller Revenue
September 25, 2008	BAE Systems	Detica plc	$1.075	$405m
September 10, 2008	Northrop Grumman Corp.	3001 International, Inc.	N/D	N/D
September 8, 2008	iRobot Corp.	Nekton Research LLC	$10m (+$5m ptl.)	$6m (est.)
September 4, 2008	IHS, Inc.	Documental Solutions LLC	$24.5m	N/D
September 2, 2008	Constella Group (investors)	Constella Futures (part of SRA International)	N/D	N/D
August 26, 2008	Serco, Inc.	SI International	$510.3m	$510.8m
August 19, 2008	ManTech International Corp.	Emerging Technologies Group, Inc.	N/D	$20m (est)
August 6, 2008	Apptis, Inc.	Base One Technologies, Inc.	N/D	N/D
August 4, 2008	QinetiQ North America Operations LLC	Dominion Technology Resources, Inc.	$104.5m	$46.6m
July, 2008	Raytheon Co.	Telemus Solutions, Inc.	N/D	N/D
July 31, 2008	Logistics Management Institute(LMI)	Jasmah Consulting	N/D	N/D
July 31, 2008	Dynamics Research Corp.	Kadix Systems, LLC	$42m (+$5 ptl.)	270 employees
July 30, 2008	Cubic Corp.	Omega Training Group, Inc.	N/D	790 employees
July 15, 2008	MacAulay Brown, Inc.	KosTech, Inc.	N/D	N/D
July 15, 2008	MacAulay Brown, Inc.	Gray Research	N/D	175 employees
July 2, 2008	Bart & Associates, Inc.	Digital Solutions, Inc.	N/D	$14m
July 2, 2008	SRA International	Interface & Control Systems, Inc.	N/D	N/D
June 17, 2008	AEA Technology plc	Project Performance Corp.	$65m	300 employees
June 9, 2008	USIS	HireRight	$249m	N/D

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Venture Management, Inc. (VMI) is an investment bank that provides merger and acquisition advisory services to technology based businesses, their investors and lead executives. VMI is particularly known for its expertise in supporting consolidation strategies in the Federal Services market, especially for firms in the aerospace and defense, intelligence and homeland security sectors.

For more information regarding Venture Management's services, call Mark Shappee at (805) 644-5335 mark@venturemanagement.com or Paul Serotkin at (781) 750-8065 paul@venturemanagement.com

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