Listen To Your Heart
March 25, 2026Sometimes 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 hundreds […]
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A Few ABC’s on Insolvency Restructuring Strategies
December 31, 2025There are many insolvency and restructuring strategies that are aimed at saving companies from total liquidation and loss. Let’s take a look at three strategies: 363 sales, Article 9 transactions, and Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC), providing a detailed comparison, including well-known examples for each. These are distinctly different strategies used in distressed situations (often involving […]
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The Cost of Cultural Misalignment: When CEO’s Don’t “Get” Culture
December 31, 2025CEO’s can often be so self-absorbed that they are not in touch with the signals that serve as “EWIs” – Early Warning Indicators – of problems with stakeholders – employees, customers, vendors, e.g. This can lead to a multitude of problems and challenges. Here are some examples of how a “leader” who is detached from […]
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When Founders Find The Exits
December 23, 2025When you’re about to take off, the flight attendant walks you through what you should know in the event of an exit, how to find your way out. Not all exits are crashes or emergencies. Many are lucrative. And, timing is everything. Founder-led companies are often built on the vision, drive, and passion of their […]
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The “Meet” Sweats
September 24, 2025Too Much “Meet” to Digest Does your meetings calendar look like you’re full on “green button go” in the Brazilian steakhouse? Just like the body can’t handle back-to-back heavy meals, the mind can’t digest endless “meet.” Each stop-and-start tears continuity to shreds. Strategic, creative, and executional work requires long stretches of focus, yet the modern […]
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Get The Rhythm: Breaking Through Ceilings of Complexity
September 22, 2025As organizations grow, they inevitably hit “ceilings of complexity.” More people, more revenue, more moving parts—and suddenly what once felt simple becomes overwhelming. Leaders find themselves firefighting instead of building, struggling with misalignment, and watching execution falter even when the strategy is sound. Meetings become an end and not a means. Patrick Thean’s book Rhythm: […]
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Everyone’s a Winner? Nope.
September 6, 2025Why Accountability Matters The 1978 Hot Chocolate song “Every 1’s a Winner” may be catchy, but in business, the philosophy behind it can be destructive. Simply, there’s only one first place. Not everyone can be a winner. But it doesn’t mean anything other than first place means it’s a loss. Preparing an organization for performance […]
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Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way
September 6, 2025Lee Iacocca’s famous challenge, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way,” remains a timeless truth for today’s leaders. Many organizations fail to grow not because they lack vision, but because leadership becomes trapped in analysis paralysis, bureaucracy, or fear of failure. The cost is lost momentum, frustrated teams, and missed opportunities. Progress requires clarity, […]
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Mind The Gap
September 6, 2025Alignment Gaps and Setting Expectations for Key Hires The first days of a key executive’s tenure set the stage for years to come. Organizations often underestimate the importance of alignment during this short but critical window. Even the most talented leaders cannot succeed if their role, expectations, and culture are poorly defined. The first 90 […]
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If You Aren’t Playing to Win, Why Are You Playing?
September 6, 2025Many organizations operate day to day without asking themselves the tough question: what does winning look like for us? It is easy to confuse activity with progress—holding meetings, managing processes, producing reports—without ever challenging whether those actions are moving the company toward greater profitability, sustainable growth, or meaningful improvement. The reality is, “playing the game” […]
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No Easy Way Out: Why You Have To Do the Work
September 6, 2025In business – especially as it’s represented in social media – it’s all too easy to fall prey to curated success stories and underestimate what it really takes to achieve success. Scroll through your feed, and you’ll find overnight wins, flawless lifestyles, and coaches preaching mastery—many of whom have never done the deep, gritty work […]
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Confidential Acquisition Opportunity – “Project Bronco”
September 2, 2025Confidential Acquisition Opportunity – “Project Bronco” Project Bronco represents a unique opportunity to acquire a next-generation AI-driven platform that is redefining information management and workflow automation. Built on nearly three decades of proven operational excellence and supported by more than $50 million in research and development, Project Bronco delivers a secure, scalable, and transformative technology […]
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Labor Day.
September 1, 2025Honoring American Labor: The History, Significance, and State of the Workforce Today From its roots in late-19th-century labor activism to today’s service-driven economy, Labor Day stands as a proud testament to the grit, dedication, and innovation of America’s workforce. Origins & Symbolism of Labor Day Labor Day finds its beginnings in the rising labor movement […]
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Rip It Off: Why Your Organization Needs “Radical Candor”
July 18, 2025Can Your Organization Handle Radical Candor? In the world of business transformation, there’s a hard truth many leaders don’t say out loud: Most organizations don’t change until they absolutely have to. They wait. They delay. They rationalize. They cling to outdated structures, mindsets, and people. And even as talent walks out the door, margins shrink, […]
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Passing the Baton – When Founders Step Aside
July 15, 2025Why 10 Great Companies Took Off Only After the Visionary Passed the Baton We all love the origin stories. The garage startup. The scrappy idea that turned into a product. The founder who lived on water and ramen and worked 100-hour weeks until they launched something bold into the world. But what most startup mythology […]
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Playing With Cars
July 15, 2025How Playful Innovation Drives Bold Breakthroughs in the Automotive Industry By Paul Fioravanti In high-performance organizations—much like high-performance vehicles—innovation isn’t a luxury; it’s the engine. And yet, too many teams are idling in bureaucratic traffic, waiting for approval to explore, imagine, build, or reinvent. At QORVAL, we’ve seen firsthand how companies that embrace playful innovation—rooted […]
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Christmas In July
July 15, 2025A Parable of Paralysis Just recently, I found myself staying at a hotel—modern, bustling, part of a nationally recognized brand. One I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of money with over many years of business travel. One that makes me wonder why Bill Marriott doesn’t send me Christmas cards. As I walked into the lobby, I […]
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Is It Possible You Suck As A Manager?
July 15, 2025It might be that the second best day your employees have at work is when you’re out of the office; it might be that the best day they have is when they’re out of the office. There’s a scene in the hilarious Adam Sandler-Drew Barrymore movie Blended where Terry Crews and his band of energetic […]
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THE COST OF CULTURAL MISALIGNMENT: WHEN CEOS DON’T ‘GET’ CULTURE
July 11, 2025CEOs can often be so self-absorbed that they are not in touch with the signals that serve as EWIs—early warning indicators—of problems with stakeholders, including employees, customers, and vendors. This can lead to a multitude of problems and challenges. Here are some examples of how “leaders” who are detached from the realities of the organization’s […]
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A Continued Legacy
July 11, 2025Their tag line reads “Grow it. Fix it. Exit.”—but it’s more than a punchy saying, it’s a philosophy borne of one man’s vision for helping boards, owners, and management teams to transform their businesses. Founded in 1996 by business transformation and turnaround expert and six-time Fortune 500 CEO, James R. “Jim” Malone, (1942-2021), QORVAL Partners […]
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The Synaptic Gap: Why Owners Struggle to Address Organizational Pain Points
July 9, 2025Nothing Will Change Until the Pain of Staying the Same Exceeds the Pain of Change Change is hard. Even when it’s necessary. Even when it’s strategic. Even when it’s obvious. As advisors, consultants, and operating partners, we see this every day: business owners and leaders struggling—not with ideas, but with action. They bring in experts. […]
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“What’s in It for Them?”
July 9, 202515 Ways Professional Services Firms Deliver Real Client Value Everyone in business knows the acronym WIIFM—“What’s In It For Me?” It’s a natural human reflex. Whether we’re making a purchase, taking a job, or agreeing to a partnership, we all instinctively want to understand the benefit to us. But truly impactful advisors flip the lens. […]
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Be the Eagle: Leadership Flies Above the Storms to Drive Business Transformation
July 9, 2025Business transformation is not about comfort—it’s about courage. And that’s where the eagle enters the conversation. As Waylon Jennings noted in his song, The Eagle,” “When you feel the shadow crossing, the eagle’s in the air.” Indeed. The Eagle Rises Above the Storm In nature, most birds avoid storms. They nest. They hibernate. They hide […]
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Successful Turnarounds Leverage Mechanics, Not Magic
July 9, 2025Turnarounds Aren’t Magical — They’re Mechanical: The “3 to 7 Major Levers” Framework for Renewal When companies find themselves in distress, disruption, or decline, stakeholders often search for a silver bullet — a dramatic reinvention, a transformational hire, or a breakthrough idea to save the day. The assumption is that turnarounds require something almost magical […]
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Buying Advice Doesn’t Mean You Have An Advisor
July 8, 2025Real Advisors vs. Advice Sellers: Why Experience — Not Hype — Moves the Needle We live in an era where “coaching” has become a billion-dollar industry — and yet, the quality of the advice being offered is more diluted than ever. Everywhere you look, someone’s a life coach, a business strategist, or an executive whisperer. […]
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When Indecision Decides
July 8, 2025The Hidden Threat of a “Hands-Tied” Culture: When Indecision Becomes the Strategy Companies rarely fail because of one big misstep. More often, they suffer from a “planetary alignment” of many issues that compound and cause poor results; occassionally there is simply a slow erosion of momentum — caused not by what leaders do, but by […]
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Bold as Brass: Why Courageous Cultures Drive Growth
June 30, 2025In our hyper-competitive, fast-moving business landscape, boldness is often the dividing line between organizations that grow and those that stagnate. While boldness can be risky, it’s also the fuel that powers innovation, transformation, and leadership. As the old adage, attributable to everyone from Virgil to Aristotle, to Pliney, goes: “fortune favors the bold.” Yet boldness […]
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The Way of The CEO
June 24, 2025The Bushido Code: Guiding Principles for Samurai Warriors and Today’s CEOs In the ancient world of the samurai, the warrior code of Bushido was a guiding principle that governed the conduct, behavior, and ethos of its practitioners. The term Bushido translates to “the way of the warrior,” and it encompasses a set of moral principles […]
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When It’s Time To Call In “The Replacements…”
June 24, 2025Your organization will survive. And so will you. “Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory lasts forever.” —Shane Falco, The Replacements (2000) Let’s talk about the replacements – the kind that show up when the first stringers walk out, or “dropped the ball,” and when stakes are high, when pressure mounts, and when hope seems like […]
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Selling Your Company: You Can’t Get A-Plus Valuation For D-Minus Operations
June 20, 2025When Hope Meets Due Diligence: Why Private Equity Walks Away Private equity firms don’t buy dreams. They buy execution, scale, systems, and leadership. And yet, time after time, mid-market companies walk into the high-stakes arena of M&A with great stories but weak fundamentals—hoping the buyer won’t notice the pig under the lipstick. But they do. […]
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The People Who Got You Here Won’t Get You There: Why Companies Outgrow Their Teams
June 17, 2025One of the toughest lessons for business leaders is recognizing that the employees and teams who helped build a company to a certain level may not be the same people who can take it to the next stage of growth. This isn’t about disloyalty or underappreciating early contributors—it’s about the natural evolution of businesses and […]
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Blindspots: What Leaders Don’t See Can Hurt Them
June 17, 2025Have you ever seen this on the back of a semi trailer: “If you can’t see my mirrors, I can’t see you.” A reflection on hidden biases, racehorse blinders, and why self-awareness is the overlooked key to growth. In the TV series Blindspot, an amnesiac woman is found abandoned in Times Square, her body covered […]
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The Language of Value
June 10, 2025Understanding Financial Metrics and How Businesses Are Really Valued Whether you’re a CEO, founder, investor, or board member, understanding financial performance isn’t optional—it’s foundational. But too often, business leaders confuse cash flow with net income, or gross margin with EBITDA, and miss the bigger picture: how financial performance ties directly to enterprise value. This article […]
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Advocacy as Strategy: Why Every Business Needs a Government Relations Plan
June 9, 2025By Paul Fioravanti, MBA, MPA, CTP In today’s complex business environment, winning in the marketplace is no longer just about quality, price, service, or speed. It’s also about influence—specifically, how well your company navigates the layered, shifting terrain of federal, state, and local government regulation, policy, and politics. For many manufacturers, contractors, and service providers, […]
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How Servant Leadership Powers the “Grow It. Fix It. Exit.” Transformation Journey
June 9, 2025Leading Through, and With, Change In every business lifecycle, there are moments that demand clarity, courage, and change. Whether you’re scaling for growth, navigating a turnaround, or preparing for an exit, how leaders lead determines whether transformation is a breakthrough — or a breakdown. At QORVAL, our transformation mantra — Grow It. Fix It. Exit. […]
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Precision Leadership: Using Line of Sight and POMC to Hit Strategic Targets
June 9, 2025In business—as in marksmanship—clarity, focus, and the ability to adjust to external conditions are essential to hitting the target. Boards of directors and executive teams are operating in increasingly dynamic environments, where volatility is the new normal. To consistently drive results, leaders must hone their organizational “sight picture,” just as a skilled marksman would when […]
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Malone’s Maxims: 50 Leadership Lessons
June 5, 2025Jim Malone, founder of QORVAL, wasn’t just a six-time Fortune 500 CEO and an advisor to two presidents—he was a force of nature, a turnaround master, and a steward of a leadership philosophy that continues to transform companies. His spirit and teachings live on in our team and in the hundreds of companies we’ve worked […]
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Catch-22 in Business
June 5, 2025Twenty-two Ways Companies Trap Themselves in Circular Logic The term “Catch-22”, coined by Joseph Heller in his 1961 novel of the same name, has become shorthand for a no-win situation—a paradox where the solution is blocked by the problem itself. In Heller’s story, a World War II bomber pilot couldn’t be grounded for being crazy […]
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Profit + Growth + Fun = Success
June 3, 2025A Summary of The Forthcoming Book by Jim Malone and John Hamill Profit + Growth + Fun = Success: The Leadership Legacy of Jim Malone Jim Malone wasn’t just a six-time Fortune 500 CEO—he was a force of nature, a turnaround master, and a steward of a leadership philosophy that continues to transform companies. His […]
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When The Tail Wags The Dog
June 3, 2025How Weak Management, Cultural Drift, and Owner Override Undermine Organizational Sustainability In the world of business, few dynamics are as insidiously destructive as a culture where accountability is optional, results are subjective, and authority is undermined by owner appeasement. It’s a scenario where structure erodes, discipline dissolves, and the organization begins to operate in reverse—when […]
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EBITDAZZLED
May 28, 2025The Power—and Pitfalls—of EBITDA Multiples in Private Equity Valuations Private equity transactions often orbit around a deceptively simple equation: Enterprise Value = EBITDA × Multiple This formula is used globally as a shorthand to estimate a company’s worth. It streamlines initial negotiations and provides a common language between buyers and sellers. But while the math […]
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What the Due Diligence “MRI, X-Ray, and CAT Scans” Reveal
May 28, 2025When founders imagine selling their company, they often see themselves riding off into the sunset with piles of cash. But in M&A, sunsets only come after interrogation-level diagnostics—and many don’t survive the exam. And, often when a deal does get done, it’s usually subject to a lower price or earnout, usually because the closer the […]
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The Science of Corporate Renewal: Companies CAN, and Do, Emerge Stronger
May 28, 2025In today’s hyper-competitive global marketplace, even iconic brands can find themselves on the brink of collapse. Whether due to disruptive technologies, economic shocks, poor management decisions, or external crises, many organizations reach a critical inflection point: adapt or die. Corporate renewal is the discipline that meets this moment—not as a stopgap, but as a full-scale […]
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Riddle Me This…
May 27, 2025Riddles, Biases, and the Blind Spots of Management: What Leaders Can Learn from Cognitive Traps In the boardroom, and the management meeting, as in life, we are constantly solving puzzles. Managers pride themselves on being decisive, analytical, and efficient—but those strengths can quickly become weaknesses when unconscious assumptions guide decision-making. To explore this, we turn […]
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The Power of Rubric in Driving Organizational Transformation
May 27, 2025Transformation is more than a buzzword—it’s a necessity in today’s dynamic business landscape. Whether an organization is shifting its strategic direction, embracing digital innovation, restructuring operations, or evolving its culture, the path to transformation is often complex and filled with uncertainty. Amid this complexity, one powerful yet often overlooked tool is the organizational rubric. What […]
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Is It Possible You’re Wrong?
May 20, 2025“Is it possible you’re wrong?” It’s a question I ask all the time of boards, management teams, ownership. Good leadership knows it can’t possibly be right all the time. In the boardroom, certainty can feel like strength. But in reality, it’s often the beginning of strategic blindness. When ownership, governance, and management believe their assumptions […]
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Maybe It’s Time To Do A Compensation Study
May 13, 2025Price is what you pay; Value is what you get. = Warren Buffett, Chairman, Berkshire-Hathaway What is value? What is fair? Your key people are underpaid. Your key people are overpaid. Your key people may be looking elsewhere. Or, maybe they are happy. Maybe they feel they are being treated well already. Maybe you don’t know they feel […]
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The Importance of Pricing Strategy and Understanding Value
May 12, 2025Price vs. Value Pricing is one of the most critical aspects of any business, whether you are selling products or services. The price at which you offer your goods or services can determine your profitability, competitiveness, and long-term sustainability. But what often gets overlooked is the importance of understanding the true value of what you […]
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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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Solar Powered Trucks – It’s About Time (and Money)
May 1, 2025Thought I would share this with my LinkedIN network. Put this one in your business success story file, under brilliant ways to improve the world, save fuel, save engine wear and tear, and the environment. Every once in a while you encounter a company with a truly revolutionary product, business model and simple approach to […]
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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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The Turnaround Tightrope: Why Great Leaders Balance Vision and Brutal Reality
April 13, 2025In business, as in life, it is perilously easy to be either too optimistic or too cynical—especially in times of crisis. But in the high-stakes world of corporate turnarounds, neither extreme will save a struggling enterprise. What’s needed instead is disciplined duality: the ability to lead with bold, visionary conviction and unflinching realism. This paradox […]
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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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Strategic Quadrants in Motion: Applying the Eisenhower Matrix to Private Equity Portfolio Strategy
April 12, 2025In the ever-evolving world of private equity (PE), successful portfolio strategy requires more than identifying value—it demands discerning urgency, prioritization, and strategic fit. While traditional frameworks like the BCG Growth-Share Matrix and the Gartner Magic Quadrant are widely used for market mapping and capital allocation, the Eisenhower Matrix—often associated with time and task management—has surprising […]
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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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The Tipping Point of Apathy: Why Mission-Driven Leadership is the Lifeline of Organizational Health and Performance
April 11, 2025In every organization, there comes a moment—a tipping point—where employee engagement either deepens or collapses. This inflection point is rarely explosive. Instead, it is gradual and insidious, born not of resistance, but of resignation. It emerges when leadership falters in its duty to communicate a compelling vision, model competency, and drive execution. Left unchecked, this […]
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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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