Time Zone Risk: A Hidden Headwind in Global Business
May 12, 2025In an increasingly interconnected world, businesses span continents, customers never sleep, and teams are more global than ever. But behind the glossy narrative of international reach lies a persistent and underappreciated operational friction: time zone risk. When I was working on a Silicon Valley California -based company owned by a European parent organization, the time […]
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Winners and Losers in Luxury: 50 Years of Fashion, Fortune, and Forward Thinking
May 12, 2025In the world of luxury, brands rise, fall, adapt—or fade away. Over the last 50 years, the luxury fashion, accessories, and jewelry industries have undergone seismic shifts—shaped by global economic cycles, technological disruption, and generational changes in consumer behavior. While titans like LVMH and Richemont continue to dominate, others have struggled to maintain relevance in […]
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Nurture Your EQ
May 11, 2025Daniel Goleman’s seminal book On Emotional Intelligence (part of the HBR series) is, simply, required reading in every turnaround and restructuring we engage in. And, in every pre-exit transformation where a company has engaged us to prepare them for sale. In many cases, the latter is a much heavier lift. Why? The egos of the owners, senior […]
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An Interim CEO Can Clean Up Your Mess
May 10, 2025Hiring an interim CEO with experience outside the target company’s industry can provide unique advantages for a manufacturing or service business facing challenges. Here’s how such a move can help save the company: Freshening Perspectives Innovative Ideas: An interim CEO from a different industry can bring new ideas and innovative approaches that may not have […]
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Noteworthy Turnarounds
May 9, 2025Several businesses and brands have successfully turned their fortunes around, showcasing resilience and effective strategies. Here are some of the most notable turnaround stories: Apple Inc.: In the late 1990s, Apple was struggling with declining sales and market share. The return of Steve Jobs led to innovative product launches, including the iMac, iPod, and eventually […]
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Marcus Aurelius – Lectiones in Negotio (Lessons in Business)
May 8, 2025(this post is dedicated to one of the business leaders who inspires me, Mr. Vin Lee of Grand Metropolitan, a modern day Marcus Aurelius.) Marcus Aurelius – Meditations Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and is best known as a Stoic philosopher. His writings, particularly “Meditations,” provide insight into his […]
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La Famiglia – Generational Continuity Is Hard
May 8, 2025Why Most Family Businesses Don’t Survive—and What the Oldest Ones Get Right Running a successful family business is an incredible achievement. Sustaining one across multiple generations? That’s a rare and complex feat. Statistics paint a sobering picture: 70% of family businesses fail or are sold before reaching the second generation. 90% don’t make it to […]
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Why Turnaround Pros and Interim CEO’s Make Great Buy-Side Deal Room BS Detectors
May 8, 2025The Best BS Detectors in the Deal Room: Why Turnaround & Transformation CEOs Make Exceptional Buy-Side Advisors In today’s M&A environment, it’s not enough to have smart bankers and lawyers in the room. If you’re looking at acquiring a company—especially in the middle market or in distressed or underperforming situations—you need a different kind of […]
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Go With The Flow
May 7, 2025Running A 13-Week Cash Flow Can Keep You Monitor Your Company’s Piggybank Developing a 13-week cash flow forecast is critical for turning around a business for several key reasons: Short-Term Financial Visibility Immediate Insights: A 13-week forecast provides a clear picture of cash inflows and outflows, helping management understand the company’s immediate financial position. This […]
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Most Businesses Have Dragons That Need Slaying
May 6, 2025Sometimes the dragons are guarding the castle, sometimes the dragons are chasing you up the tallest tower of the castle, and sometimes, inside the tower is where the dragon resides. Sometimes you don’t know where the dragon is, but it’s waiting for you when you get to where you think it’s not. There may be […]
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What’s This Art of War Business?
May 5, 2025The Art of War is often cited as a military treatise, even a blueprint for competition. But, exactly who was Sun Tzu? And how is any of his doctrine related to running a company, or interacting with people in business? Background: Sun Tzu, also known as Sunzi, is believed to have lived during the Eastern Zhou […]
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The Problem With Recruiting Firms
May 4, 2025Ever wonder who cuts the barber’s hair? There is a proliferation of recruiters, and I found out recently, a growing specialty of recruiters who recruit recruiters, which is a bit of an ouroboros. In our view, the recruiting firm industry has tangled itself up a bit, fighting over what frequently is a thin number of searches, […]
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Are You Dedicated or Committed?
May 3, 2025One morning last year I was meeting a prospective client for breakfast, and he was very vocal about the challenges he was facing – he was lamenting the struggles with his company, his bank, his employees. competition, supply chain, pricing, freight, people, margin pressure. On and on. I asked him to look down at his […]
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Too Many Chiefs…
May 2, 2025Too Many Bosses, Not Enough Leaders: The Hidden Risk of a Broken Span of Control In today’s fast-moving business world, speed matters. Clarity matters. Accountability matters. So why do so many organizations bury their people under layers of supervision, approval bottlenecks, and managerial redundancy? When the span of control (SOC) is too narrow—meaning too many […]
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Porosity.
May 2, 2025Bricks are not sponges. Sponges are not bricks. Don’t believe me? Throw a sponge at your large screen TV, then throw a brick. (please don’t). Then, try washing your car with a brick. Then build your house like a bricklayer, but using sponges held together with concrete mortar. They aren’t the same. Different textures, weights, […]
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Fumble: Why “Execution Risk” Is The Silent Killer of Strategy
May 1, 2025In the business world, it’s not uncommon to hear that “execution eats strategy for breakfast.” Yet too many companies fail to act on this truth. They focus on crafting ambitious plans, commissioning expensive consultants, or talking up transformation in town halls—only to watch their strategic intent collapse under the weight of inaction, dysfunction, or sheer […]
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Apple Inc.: From Garage Startup to Global Icon
May 1, 2025The Founding of Apple Computer Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) was founded on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Waynein Cupertino, California. At the heart of Apple’s origin story is the synergy between Jobs’ visionary drive and Wozniak’s technical brilliance. The pair met through mutual friends and the Homebrew Computer Club, […]
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Fire. Ready. Aim…Jump. Does Your Business Need a Parachute or a Fire Hose?
May 1, 2025Chris Stapleton’s “Parachute” is like an anthem for turnaround and transformation professionals. Street lights along the highway Throwing shadows in the dark And the memories keep on turning To the rhythm of a broken heart You only need a roof when it’s raining You only need a fire when it’s cold You only need a […]
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What’s Your Edge? 4S
April 30, 2025Edges. We’ve all heard the cliché’ expressions about edges. What kinds of edges does your organization have? Does your organization have cutting edges, bleeding edges, leading edges, dull edges, invisible edges or moving edges? Does your company have any edges at all? Does your company – and your team, have any real, meaningful competitive edge over the competition? Do […]
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When Tribal Knowledge Stifles Growth
April 29, 2025In many of the hundreds of companies we at Qorval have worked on, a frequent common denominator problem has been the overreliance on good old tribal knowledge. And for all of its institutional firewalling, its promise for always showering false pride on the “keeper of the tribal flame,” or what we call the BigMac, the consistent […]
Read MoreStaple Yourself…
April 28, 2025…to an Order Why We Always Recommend “Staple Yourself to an Order” at QORVAL Partners—Especially in the Age of ERP and CRM Integration At QORVAL Partners, we’re often asked what foundational thinking guides our approach when we help businesses navigate complexity, disruption, or large-scale transformation. One of the first things we recommend—regardless of industry, size, […]
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KAPOW! Hiring Experts To Help You Grow Or To Fix Your Company? Expect to Pay For The Value they Bring.
April 28, 2025The “its” of what we do sometimes requires a single superhero, sometimes a full league of people. The “its” – grow it, find it, fund it, fix it, turn it, exit – all require a range of hardened skills and proven people with exceptional networks. Up Up and Away There’s a lot of organizational Kryptonite […]
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The Comparative States of States
April 27, 2025A Little 3:00 A.M. Analysis Project Somewhere along the way in a flurry of graduate school work years ago, before earning an MBA, I received an MPA in Public Administration from The University of Rhode Island and while I do remember some of my professors in particular – Tim Hennessey, Fran Leazes, Victor Profughi – […]
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Climate and Risk
April 26, 2025What Businesses Can Learn from Storms Recently, several states were hammered by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. Weather changes quickly – and the overall climate of a business can be equally fickle. Like people and places, businesses are also exposed to threats that come from storms and inclement weather – but they are also threatened […]
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Communication Breakdown
April 25, 2025Clear, Frequent, Unbiased Communication: The Make It-or-Break It Factor in Organizational Performance In our work at Qorval Partners, we’ve helped hundreds of companies through moments of transformation, disruption, turnaround, accelerated growth, and strategic/financial exit. We’ve worked shoulder-to-shoulder with boards, C-suites, business owners, PE funds, family offices, hedge funds, and operations, finance and sales/BD teams navigating […]
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Why Dunning-Kruger Effect Causes CEO Failure
April 25, 2025If you need a king or a queen, don’t hire a pawn. The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where individuals with low ability or knowledge in a particular area overestimate their competence. Conversely, those with higher competence may underestimate their skills. This effect is named after social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger, who first […]
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Road Reality
April 25, 2025At QORVAL Partners, LLC, we don’t just advise—we immerse. We don’t just recommend—we serve, we lead, we transform, we share, we connect. Whether we’re serving as growth and exit advisors, turnaround counsel, or stepping in as interim executives, we enter organizations at moments of inflection – fulcrum points – often when the stakes are high, […]
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Send OFF the Clowns
April 24, 2025Who Are They? Where Did They Come From? Why Are They Here? Every so often, someone shows up in your organization who just doesn’t seem to fit. They make a lot of noise. They jump into projects they weren’t invited to. They seem oddly persuasive with leadership – perhaps they put leaders or owners in […]
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Implementing LEAN in Construction: 10 Ways to Improve Margins and Control Costs
April 24, 2025The construction industry is notorious for razor-thin margins, unpredictable timelines, and pressure from all directions — clients, vendors, subcontractors, and internal teams. In this environment, successfully implementing LEAN principles isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s essential. The goal? Drive out waste. Streamline processes. Elevate execution. Improve margins. As QORVAL CEO & Managing Partner Paul Fioravanti puts […]
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Rebuilding Years: What Companies Can Learn from Sports Teams About Transformation
April 24, 2025In sports, there’s an unspoken truth fans accept: sometimes, your favorite team is going to have a rebuilding year. Maybe the team has lost key players, changed leadership, or just endured a rough season that left morale in tatters and the scoreboard grim. But no one expects a last-place team to win the championship the […]
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Listen To Your Heart
April 24, 2025Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile The precious moments are all lost in the tide, yeah They’re swept away, and nothing is what is seems The feeling of belonging to your dreams –“Listen To Your Heart” – Roxette, 1988 Let’s face it, running a business is hard. Especially your own. We’ve counseled […]
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Managing Business Insurance and Risk
April 24, 2025When purchasing a comprehensive commercial insurance program, businesses often make several common mistakes and encounter pitfalls related to various types of coverage, such as general liability, auto, excess liability, property, directors and officers liability, employment practices liability, and environmental protection. Here are some things to keep in mind: Common Mistakes Inadequate Coverage Assessment: Failing to […]
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“I was made for lovin’ you, baby, you were made for lovin’ me…” – the Managerial Archetypes of the Four Faces of KISS
April 23, 2025What kind of leader are you? What kind of leader do you report to? Are you feeling the love? Is the “finance bro” in the Patagonia vest actually a Demon? The Band Profile – More Than Fifty Years Strong KISS, formed in 1973 in New York City, is one of the most iconic rock bands […]
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The Wall
April 22, 2025The Organizational Stakeholder Stack: Building a Wall of Strength, Layer by Layer In business, as in architecture, enduring strength isn’t just about what you build—it’s about how you build it. Imagine your organization as a wall. Each level of this wall represents a vital layer of your stakeholder community. Together, these layers form what I […]
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ISO – What You Need To Know.
April 22, 2025The history of ISO certification traces back to the mid-20th century, as the need for standardized processes and quality assurance grew alongside industrialization and global trade. Here’s a brief overview of its evolution: Early Development Post-World War II: After WWII, many countries recognized the importance of standardization in promoting trade and ensuring quality. The need […]
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Business is Better With More Bushido, Less “Bullshido”
April 21, 2025Core Values Drive Results 核となる価値観が結果を生み出す I highly recommend the 2003 movie, The Last Samurai, featuring Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe, as well as a beautiful soundtrack by movie music legend Hans Zimmer. It’s a film that’s aged well, and it has as many lessons about business, and life, as it does about Samurai and martial arts. If […]
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Manufacturing Challenges that Put the Brakes on Profits
April 20, 2025At QORVAL, we have done deep turnaround and restructuring work in hundreds of situations and much of our work has been in manufacturing businesses across dozens of industries, ranging from aerospace to med tech, from consumer products to pharmaceuticals to firearms and defense and beyond. One industry we have extensive experience in, is automotive. Manufacturing […]
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Understanding Some Business Lending Basics
April 19, 2025Frequently, businesses need capital – in the form of cash liquidity – to operate, grow, and to make capital investments to further fuel growth. Businesses seeking to borrow money have access to various types of lending, each with different terms, conditions, and security requirements. Here’s an overview of common lending options, how these liabilities are […]
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Angel Funds: The Devil’s In The Details
April 18, 2025Looking for investment from an angel fund for your early stage company or billion dollar idea? Knowing the game can give you the best chances of a heavenly experience and avoiding purgatory, or, worse, hell. Genesis: The Beginning of Angel Funds The concept of angel investing has roots that trace back centuries, but it became […]
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Throwing Resources At The Problem
April 17, 2025We’ve been in hundreds of situations and companies, across dozens of industries. Small companies, to middle market, to large publicly held companies. Dealing with founders, growers, movers, shakers and breakers. Yes, the ones who think they are a hammer and that every problem is a nail. Two typical, yet very polarized responses to companies’ financial, […]
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LEAN/5S/6Sigma Transformational Journey Impacts
April 16, 2025Converting a manufacturing organization to embrace LEAN, 5S, and continuous improvement methodologies can lead to numerous positive impacts. Here are some specific examples of how these critical culture changes, rooted in improving quality and production efficiency, can transform operations: Increased Efficiency: Lean practices eliminate waste and streamline processes, leading to improved operational efficiency and reduced […]
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The Cost of Insecure Leadership
April 15, 2025An insecure CEO can negatively impact a company in various ways. Insecure individuals can end up in CEO roles for various reasons, and their tenure can lead to detrimental outcomes for a company. Here’s an exploration of why this happens and guidance on how quickly action should be taken to address the issue. Why Insecure […]
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Unlocking Enterprise Value: Why Strategic Positioning Before a Sale Delivers Maximum Returns
April 14, 2025Selling a business is more than a transaction—it’s a transformation. It’s the moment when years of hard work, market positioning, leadership, and customer trust converge into a single opportunity: to unlock the full value of the company in the eyes of a buyer. Yet many businesses enter the market prematurely, without the right preparation or […]
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Fundless Sponsor Model Overview
April 14, 2025Fundless Sponsor Model The fundless sponsor model is a strategy in private equity where individuals or small groups of investors seek to acquire companies without having a pre-raised fund or pool of capital. Instead, they pursue external financing sources on a deal-by-deal basis. This model allows them to be more agile and flexible in identifying and negotiating […]
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Minding Your Business P’s and Q’s
April 13, 2025Origin of “Mind Your P’s and Q’s” Did a grandparent or a parent ever tell you to “mind your P’s and Q’s?” What the heck does that even mean? The exact origin of the phrase “mind your P’s and Q’s” is uncertain, but there are several theories about its beginnings: Printing Industry: One popular theory […]
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Bankruptcy vs. Turnaround
April 12, 2025Under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, businesses have several options when facing financial distress. Each type of bankruptcy serves different needs and circumstances. Keep in mind when looking at complexity and cost, it’s nearly impossible to apply a “one size fits all” approach and estimate of cost. There are many options, but here’s a general overview: […]
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When The Smartest Guys In The Room, Aren’t
April 11, 2025When Operating Partners Fail To Operate Frequently, private equity (PE) operating partners play a critical role in driving value creation within portfolio companies, but their success is not always ensured nor guaranteed. There are several common pitfalls they must avoid in order to ensure the business thrives under their guidance. As the saying goes, “the […]
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Situational Awareness: Great Executives Have Their Heads On Swivels
April 10, 2025An owl’s ability to rotate its head nearly 270 degrees helps it maintain situational awareness, ensuring that nothing in its environment goes unnoticed. In business, situational awareness is about understanding not just the internal state of the company but also the broader external environment in which the business operates. Who? Owls, that’s who. Who in […]
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What Maslow’s Needs Means For POMC (planning, organizing, motivating and controlling)
April 9, 2025Maslow. You probably remember Maslow from your “psych” class you took in high school or college. Abraham Maslow (1908–1970) was an American psychologist best known for developing the Hierarchy of Needs, a theory of human motivation that has had a profound influence on psychology, education, business, and personal development. His work is often associated with the humanistic […]
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Another Set of Eyes Can Let You See Business Clearly
April 8, 2025Hire Experience Hiring an interim CEO can bring numerous advantages to a business, especially during periods of transition, crisis, or growth. Bringing in “another set of eyes”—a highly experienced executive who is often impartial and objective—can help a company gain fresh perspectives, improve its operations, and drive growth. Below are ten reasons why businesses benefit from hiring an interim […]
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Jumping Ship: People Quit Their Bosses, Not Their Jobs Or Their Company
April 7, 2025At Qorval for years we’ve said, “great people don’t quit their jobs, nor do they quit their companies; great people quit bad bosses.” Today the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled “Job Satisfaction Low, Gallup Data Shows, as Worker Detachment Grows.” Here’s the link to the article: https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/job-satisfaction-low-gallup-data-detachment-17bc183c It discusses trends in employee engagement, job […]
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“Big Hat, No Cattle.” Don’t Hire Inexperience; Avoid The F.O.B.
April 6, 2025Avoid Problems By Hiring Experienced Leaders The expression “big hat, no cattle” is a colloquial phrase that originates from the American West, where it was used to describe someone who might look important or seem to have authority (i.e., wearing a big hat), but doesn’t actually have the substance or capability to back it up (i.e., cattle). […]
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Get on The Bus: Jim Collins’ “Good to Great” is Still Great Reading For Employees
April 5, 2025Jim Collins’ Good to Great provides transformative insights on how organizations can achieve long-term success by focusing on building a culture of discipline, finding the right leaders, and aligning their workforce with the organization’s mission. Applying the lessons from the book not only benefits employees but also fosters a company-wide culture of excellence. Following is an overview […]
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A Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) Can Preserve, and, Create, Value
April 4, 2025Role of a Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) A Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) is a senior executive brought into a company during times of financial distress, often when the company is facing bankruptcy, insolvency, or a severe operational crisis. The CRO’s role is to lead the company’s turnaround efforts, focusing on stabilizing the organization, restructuring its operations, managing its debt, and ultimately […]
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Why, Why, Why, Why, Why. NOT.
April 3, 2025The “Five Whys” methodology, popularized by Taiichi Ohno in the context of Lean Manufacturing, is a problem-solving technique that involves asking “Why?” repeatedly (typically five times) to get to the root cause of an issue. While it has been successful in certain contexts, particularly in manufacturing environments where problems are often mechanical or procedural, it […]
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LEAN Methodologies in Field Services vs. Manufacturing: Commonalities and Differences
April 2, 2025LEAN methodologies can be applied across a wide swath of industries and verticals, but in two main sectors where time and efficiency translate into improving typically thin margins – field services (such as construction) and manufacturing, application of LEAN can drive stellar results. Let’s take a peek at how LEAN methodologies compare in Field Services […]
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Moral Hazard in Corporate Governance
April 1, 2025What is Moral Hazard? Moral hazard refers to a situation in which one party is able to take risks because they don’t bear the full consequences of those risks. This typically arises when individuals or organizations are insulated from the negative outcomes of their decisions, often because they have external protections (such as insurance or guarantees) […]
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Applying Goleman’s EI to Get EQ: How Understanding Emotional Intelligence Can Drive Culture and Build Leaders
March 31, 2025Daniel Goleman’s On Emotional Intelligence is a foundational book that explores how understanding and managing emotions can lead to greater success, both personally and professionally. The principles of emotional intelligence (EQ) can profoundly impact individual employees, organizational culture, and leadership effectiveness. Here’s a breakdown of how employees and the culture of an organization can benefit from reading and […]
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SEARS: What Happened?
March 30, 2025Sears, Roebuck and Company, once the largest retailer in the U.S. and an iconic American brand, underwent a dramatic and tragic decline over several decades, culminating in bankruptcy and the sale of its key brands. The involvement of Eddie Lampert, a hedge fund manager, played a crucial role in the company’s downfall, and the fate […]
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What is Critical Thinking and How Does it Apply in Restructuring and Turnaround?
March 29, 2025Critical thinking is the process of actively and skillfully analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing information to form a well-reasoned judgment. It involves questioning assumptions, recognizing biases, and considering multiple perspectives to arrive at conclusions that are logical, evidence-based, and free from errors in reasoning. Critical thinking is not about being critical for the sake of it but […]
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Throwing the Board Overboard
March 28, 2025Sometimes the board has to go in order for the company to move forward and flourish. There are several notable examples of companies where the board of directors was at the core of the problem, and once the board members were changed or replaced, the companies were able to turn around and thrive. Here are […]
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Fire, Ready, Aim: Why Managerial Maturity Matters
March 27, 2025The Perils of “Fire, Ready, Aim” in Company Growth, Scaling, and Turnaround: The Importance of Managerial Training and Maturity When companies are in the midst of growth, scaling, or undergoing a turnaround and restructuring, leadership decisions are more crucial than ever. However, in many cases, especially when managers are newly promoted, there is a tendency […]
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The Two A’s
January 16, 2025The Two A’s: Autonomy and Authority – Key Drivers of a Winning Culture In today’s rapidly evolving business environment, organizations are constantly searching for ways to foster a culture that breeds innovation, accountability, and high performance. One of the most effective ways to create this kind of culture is by empowering employees with what I […]
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The Song Remains the Same
January 14, 2025I was recently listening to music and naturally, the ubiquitous standard “Stairway To Heaven” by Led Zeppelin popped in on the playlist. My mind wandered and I contemplated how, in politics, politicians are usually not motivated by providing responsible governance, but father, by feathering their own nests. I watched countless news clips about the California fires and […]
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Opening Doors For Success – What Matters When Hiring Salespeople?
January 8, 2025It’s absolutely right to focus on the caliber of the salesperson as the most important factor in hiring decisions. When it comes to prospecting, outreach, and closing, it is critical that certain traits —work ethic, intelligence, passion for selling, customer care, and strategic orientation—are far more crucial than industry experience. Let’s dive deeper into why industry experience can often be […]
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Business Development and Sales are Two Different Doors to Open
January 7, 2025There’s a significant difference between the responsibilities of a Director of Business Development and a Salesperson. While both roles aim to drive revenue and foster business growth, they generally focus on different aspects of the sales cycle, strategy, and execution. Let’s break down the key distinctions: Scope and Focus Director of Business Development (BD): Strategic and Long-Term Focus: The Director of BD […]
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Corporate Cadence
January 6, 2025Enhancing Efficiency, Compliance, and Decision-Making In the fast-paced world of business, time is a critical resource. Companies that fail to manage time effectively often find themselves scrambling to meet deadlines, comply with regulatory requirements, and maintain smooth communication within their teams and with external stakeholders. One of the most effective ways to ensure that time […]
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Pilot Error: When The CEO Has No Plan
January 6, 2025A Weak CEO Without a Plan Is Like a Pilot Without Control In the realm of leadership, the role of a CEO can be likened to that of a pilot in command of an aircraft. Just as passengers place their trust in a pilot’s competence, judgment, and focus for the safe operation of the plane, […]
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Lost and Found – Stuff Frequent Travelers Lose
January 5, 2025“I love traveling. I’ve been to almost as many places as my luggage.” =Bob Hope A baggage handler guy once told me that “first class” luggage is more likely to be lost, or to miss connecting flights, because it’s often the first luggage onto the plane – and sometimes that means, well – it is […]
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The Office Politics Vortex
January 5, 2025Companies that struggle are often feeding grounds – actually – playgrounds – for a mix of personalities. At times, it can seem like the resulting drama can run focus and results way off the rails. Unnecessary office gossip and politics can do significant damage to company culture. The culture of a company is largely shaped by the behaviors, attitudes, […]
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When Your Coworkers Want to Snuff Out Your Mojo
January 3, 2025The “threat of excellence” dynamics at work, yeah, it’s a thing. You know it is. You’ve experienced it. We all have. Here’s how it goes. When you work very hard at work, perform well, insist on producing quality work, that you are a threat to the other people you work with – it’s almost like […]
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Keepin’ It Cool Around the Water Cooler
January 2, 2025Impact of Remote Work and Gossip on Workplace Culture: Pre- and Post-COVID The year 2025 will mark more than a half-decade since we all dealt with COVID-19 and its impact on businesses, and there are many lingering workplace changes that affect employees’ lives in different ways. Many organizations, including privately held, publicly held and even […]
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20/20 Vision – Lessons From ’24
December 31, 2024The world of business changed quite a bit in 2024. Here, we take a quick look in the rear view mirror with a recap of the significant developments in business in 2024. 20 Significant Business Developments in 2024 AI-Driven Business Transformation Development: The widespread integration of artificial intelligence (AI) across industries reached new heights in 2024, […]
Read MoreLooking Back, Looking Ahead: Organizational Kintsugi, 2024 vs. 2025
December 31, 2024As 2024 nears to a close, and 2025 is about to commence, we, as business leaders, should look back on our experiences in the last year. We should look at what was broken, what failed, what thrived, what worked, what succeeded. We should contemplate what, and whom, as leaders, we fixed and restored. We should […]
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10 SUCCESS FACTORS vs. 10 FAILURE FACTORS
February 14, 2024We learned many things from our founder, Jim Malone, who turned around six Fortune 100/500 companies, and was an advisor to two US presidents. With the exception of grossly overstaffed organizations, it is a rookie mistake to think you can shrink to growth. The companies that lead their categories and are standout brands: invest in […]
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Diver Down…Right Now.
February 14, 2024At Qorval Partners, we’ve been involved in hundreds of engagements in dozens of industries. Our name comes from “core values” and our business is helping other businesses with the “its”- grow it, fix it, fund it, find it, exit. Our founder, Jim Malone – a CEO who ran six Fortune 100/500 companies – said many […]
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Looking Back, Looking Ahead: Organizational Kintsugi
February 14, 2024As 2023 nears to a close, and 2024 is about to commence, we, as business leaders, should look back on our experiences in the last year. We should look at what was broken, what failed, what thrived, what worked, what succeeded. We should contemplate what, and whom, as leaders, we fixed and restored. We should […]
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Be Super.
February 14, 2024That’s Jim Malone standing in front of a painting of Superman. It was a great piece of art that hung in our various Qorval offices over the years, and it hung finally in Jim’s home office, where he spent his last days. Last days, welcoming family, friends, colleagues, taking visitors, meetings, calls. Jim passed on […]
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To Everything, Turn, Turn, Turn, There Is A Season
February 14, 2024Turn, Turn Turn. Businesses have cycles, and seasons. Turning a business around isn’t for the birds. Or, even, the Byrds, who sang about change and transformation. Business, like life, is constant change, and there are forces at work we can’t control and don’t always see, but we should always do our best, for us, our […]
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Serving Up Super Execution
February 14, 2024That’s Jim Malone, the founding partner of our firm, standing in front of a painting of Superman. Jim did many superpowered things in his life that remain unrivaled, and one was serving as CEO of six Fortune 500 companies in six industries. A pioneer in business transformation, turnaround, and renewal. Culture Jim said of culture, […]
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Negotiating The Turn
February 14, 2024Knowing What’s Up Around The Bend Remember playing with slot cars? It didn’t take you long to figure out that the secret of racing was slow and careful into the turn, and lightning fast out of the turn. If you came in too hot to the turn, whoosh, your AFX, Tyco or Carrera slot car tumbled […]
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Seeing The Red Flag.
February 14, 2024Bias for Action. Bullish. Fundamentals. Bullish. Sales. Bullish. Controls. Bullish. Great People. Bullish. Gross Margin. Bullish. Net Income. Bullish. Product Development. Bullish. Passion. Bullish. Right Culture. Bullish. Empowering Governance. Bullish. Work Ethic. Bullish. Truth. Bullish. Relationships. Bullish. Strategy and Execution. Bullish. Candor. Bullish. Doing. Bullish. Transformation. Bullish. Change. Bullish. Happy Trade. Bullish. Delighted Customers. Bullish. […]
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The Interim CEO’s Ladder of Inference
February 14, 2024Traveling is a catalyst that forces the recognition of symbols and patterns, just as it mixes metaphors in the mind. I find myself savoring the rather retro experience of walking across the runway, which feels firm underfoot, and my eyes dance from the conveyors moving luggage to the shiny painted lines that guide the pilots […]
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5G Talent Talk with Carrie Charles
March 18, 2022After nearly a decade, 5G is finally becoming a reality. 5G networks will create a smarter, more connected world and will change our lives forever. These rapid advances in artificial intelligence, automation, internet of things and other emerging technologies are creating demand for new jobs and the skills gap continues to widen. All industries […]
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The Twelve Days of Business
December 23, 2021This time of the year, holiday season, means we are once more reacquainted with the “Twelve Days of Christmas,” and the overplayed but still funny “Twelve Pains of Christmas” parody song. In everything from literature to coaching, we as a society get fixated on quantified and numbered. I wonder if business owners, business managers, executives, […]
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One.
December 4, 2021QORVAL MAXIM: Sometimes the best “One” isn’t in the organization yet. Sometimes the best person for your role isn’t you. My partner and mentor Jim Malone and I had a conversation one time about the impact that transient managers have on an organization, and how those experiences for the interim manager, interim CEO, transformational leader, […]
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Cycles
November 29, 2021I recently heard the song “Cycles” by Francis Albert Sinatra. It’s a song I hadn’t heard in a long time, and frankly, had forgotten about. It started me thinking about the cyclical nature of things. Frank Sinatra famously recorded his “Cycles” album on his Reprise label in a Los Angeles studio in three hours, during which 25 […]
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Castles In The Cloud: Defending Bulwarks, Crenellations and Moats
November 11, 2021How do you guard and defend a castle you can’t see from threats you can’t see? You’re gonna need some help to man the bulwarks, defend the moats, raise the drawbridge. More than ever, companies, and, family offices, need to protect themselves from an ever- increasing mix of threats resulting from: Weak or poorly managed […]
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QORVAL PARTNERS, LLC NAMES FOUR SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTORS/SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS
October 7, 2021(Naples, FL, October 6, 2021) Paul Fioravanti, MBA, MPA, CTP, and CEO & Managing Partner of Qorval Partners, LLC, a 25-year old Southeast based advisory, management consulting, turnaround and restructuring and financial and operational improvement firm, announced today that Lane Morlock, Lissa Weissman and Karl D. Reed have joined the firm as Senior Managing Directors […]
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Better To Need An Early Parachute Than A Late Fire Hose
October 1, 2021Chris Stapleton’s “Parachute” is like an anthem for turnaround and transformation professionals. Street lights along the highway Throwing shadows in the dark And the memories keep on turning To the rhythm of a broken heart You only need a roof when it’s raining You only need a fire when it’s cold You only need a […]
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Be Super.
September 15, 2021That’s Jim Malone standing in front of a painting of Superman. It was a great piece of art that hung in our various Qorval offices over the years, and it hung finally in Jim’s home office, where he spent his last days. Last days, welcoming family, friends, colleagues, taking visitors, meetings, calls. Jim passed on […]
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Car Branding: A Bemused Joyride Into The Human Psyche
September 8, 2021“Theese Is My New Carrrrr” said Mr. Montalban. Amid the cacophony of 1970’s television advertising, there he was in a brown butterfly collar shirt. This was the guy who gave Shatner a run for his money as frenemy Khan on Star Trek. Ricardo was even cooler than the Dos Equis guy (real name: Jonathan Goldsmith), out-Fernandoed […]
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The Real Meaning Of 13 Stars
August 28, 2021We can debate the politics of the situation that is Afghanistan. We can blame administrations. We can blame military leadership. We can finger point between the last administration and the current one. We can assign blame among at least two of the three branches of government. We can certainly wonder whether our executive branch is […]
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Caveat Exitus; Caveat Fiscus: Caveat Venditor
August 18, 2021Thinking about raising capital for your business? Thinking about exiting it? You’ve undoubtedly heard the expression, Caveat Emptor. Buyer Beware. Selling your business? Get a mindset for Caveat Venditor. Seller Beware. Depending on whom you ask, and what you’re trying to accomplish, raising capital and/or partially or entirely exiting your business can be challenging. There are, of course many variables, […]
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A Good, Bad, Ugly Time For Businesses
August 16, 2021The pandemic continues to bring us more “Unknowns” than Sad Hill. What we thought was a waning impact of Coronavirus on businesses and life in general, has itself learned to pivot and morphed into a testament to the nature of anything virulent — adaptive, persistent, petulant. Lots of bad and ugly, not much good. For some […]
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Commoditization Risk
July 28, 2021Rewatch Minions. Yes, trust me on this. Rewatch the Minions movie. I saw it many years ago with my son in a movie theatre, when it first was released. I recently watched it again. Maybe it was coming out of the COVID fog and hangover, but it seemed different to me. I saw different lessons […]
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Churn
July 26, 2021“Happy Day Before Your Birthday” Every year, I get two calls on the day before my birthday. One is from Will, a gentleman I’ve purchased several cars and trucks from. He works for one of the best dealers in the US. I also get a call from another car dealer salesperson, Joe, who works for […]
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Businesses Need To Forecast More Than Cash Flow
July 1, 2021What’s going on in your business? How is your business’ cash flow? Are you making money? Are you burning through cash? Do you have any idea what happens with each quarter? What does the next quarter — yes, 13 weeks, have in store for the business? Cash Flow 101 On the cash flow variable side, […]
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Celebrate Resilience As Well As Independence
July 1, 2021Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech in 1858 on The Declaration of Independence, concerned that most people had never read it, nor, celebrated it for what it said, and accomplished. His speech in Lewiston, Illinois said, “My countrymen, if you have been taught doctrines [that] conflict with the great landmarks of the Declaration of Independence; if […]
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Dematerialization And The Irony Of Applied Technology
June 30, 2021Dematerialization. Wow, what a Scrabble word. What does this word mean? It sounds like some ominous threat to the world as portrayed in a Batman movie. It could be what happens to whatever a new weapon is pointed at in a sci-fi movie. Nope. It’s actually what’s happening to the stuff around us, and dare I say, it’s happening […]
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