The questions before writing.
What executives ask before engaging the firm. If your question is not here, ask it through the contact form; the reply is personal.
What exactly does a decision advisory firm do?
It helps an executive make one specific, difficult and committing decision: an investment, a reorganisation, the replacement of a manager, a succession. It does not produce a general report on the company; it instructs a question, builds comparable options, says what it thinks, and stays until the decision is made, explained and held.
Which companies do you work with?
Companies of a few dozen to a few hundred people, most often owned by their executives or by a family, in Valais, Geneva and French-speaking Switzerland; boards; public and semi-public institutions. Below ten people an engagement is rarely justified; above a thousand, the firm works with a leadership team or a board, not the whole organisation.
How does the first contact work?
You describe the situation in a few lines through the contact form. Mike Ciabatti replies personally and proposes a first thirty-minute conversation, remote or on site, without commitment and without charge. By the end of it, you know whether the firm can be useful and in which format.
How much does an engagement cost?
Engagements are invoiced at a fixed fee, set in the written proposal according to scope and duration; ongoing counsel is a fixed monthly fee; speaking is on quotation. The first thirty-minute conversation is not charged, and nothing is invoiced before your agreement on the proposal. There is no public rate because no two decisions are alike.
How long does an engagement last?
From two to twelve weeks depending on the kind of decision: two to six weeks for an investment, one to four for a decision about a person, four to twelve for a reorganisation. Successions are prepared over several months. The duration is set in the proposal and kept.
How is this different from an accountant or an organisation consultant?
The accountant produces the accounts and keeps them compliant; the organisation consultant designs structures and processes. The firm does neither. It helps the executive make one specific decision, using the accountant's figures and, where needed, the consultant's recommendations, and it stays until the decision is made and held.
Who actually works on my engagement?
Mike Ciabatti, from the first conversation to the debrief. The firm does not delegate and does not subcontract. Where an outside skill is needed, legal, tax or technical, it is identified in the proposal and you choose the provider.
What is StratBoard?
The instrument developed by the firm to read a company's accounts from the executive's point of view: break-even point, margin of safety, client dependence, cash cycle, restatements. It serves in every engagement that touches the figures and is also available on its own at stratboard.ch. The full method is set out in the handbook "Décider sur des chiffres, pas sur des impressions", downloadable in the Documents section (in French).
What does "reading a contested situation" mean?
Every decision rests on a picture of the situation, made of what is known, what is assumed and what others have an interest in making one believe. The firm separates these three materials before building the options, from open sources, the figures and interviews, and writes down what remains uncertain. This discipline comes from intelligence work and is set out in the book Intelligence Stratégique.
How is confidentiality guaranteed?
Every proposal includes a confidentiality clause; the firm cites no engagement and names no client, on this site or elsewhere. Working documents are destroyed or returned at the end of the engagement, as you prefer. The firm does not work for a direct competitor of a current client.
What happens if you disagree with me?
You will know. The firm is paid to say what the executive's entourage no longer says; disagreement is put in writing, with its reasons, when it appears. The decision remains yours. An engagement with no disagreement at all would be a sign it was not needed.
Do you work outside French-speaking Switzerland?
The firm works on site in Valais and Geneva, travels across French-speaking Switzerland, and works remotely anywhere else. Speaking sessions take place in Switzerland and French-speaking Europe, elsewhere on request. Working languages are French and English; German on request.
Can you intervene at short notice?
Yes, when the decision requires it: a negotiation reaching its deadline, an unexpected departure, a situation that is deteriorating. The first conversation can take place within days of your message and the proposal follows immediately. What cannot be accelerated is establishing the facts; a timeframe too short to establish them is stated plainly.
How can I cite or reuse the site's documents?
The documents in the Documents section may be downloaded, shared and cited freely, in full and without modification, with attribution to the author and the source. Each document page offers a ready-to-copy citation.
A question that is not here?
Describe the situation in a few lines; you receive a personal reply and the proposal of a first thirty-minute conversation.