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In the most recent articles of our editorial plan, we have sought to highlight several key aspects of the corporate restructuring process: from the importance of new financing to the strategic role of governance, all the way to industrial recovery.

Today, we want to focus on another topic that is often underestimated but—based on experience—is decisive for the success of a turnaround: the difference between those who design the restructuring plan and those who turn it into reality. In other words: advisors and managers. Two distinct roles, both essential. Confusing them—or worse, replacing one with the other—can jeopardize even the most solid plan.

The Role of the Advisor: Analysis, Strategy, and Structure

Financial and legal advisors play a key role in the diagnostic and planning phase of a restructuring. Their contribution is primarily analytical and strategic. They are responsible for:

• Assessing the sustainability of the company’s debt and operations
• Modelling going-concern and restructuring scenarios
• Defining a recovery and relaunch plan consistent with available or generated resources
• Managing negotiations and contractual matters with lenders, suppliers, and institutional stakeholders

By nature, the advisor brings an external and neutral perspective, along with specialized expertise that the company often lacks internally. Their strength lies in their ability to interpret figures, constraints, and opportunities with clarity and method, drawing on comparable cases and past experience.

However, the advisor is not—and cannot be—the person responsible for the day-to-day execution of the plan. The advisor is the architect, not the construction company.

The Role of Management: Leadership and Execution

On the other side stands operational management, or in some cases a dedicated change leader appointed to steer the turnaround. To fully deliver their role, advisors must activate a different set of capabilities—those embodied by an executive with deep experience in the company’s industrial sector.

This executive adds a pragmatic edge to the industrial plan and, in practice, has the ability to:

• Adapt the plan to operational reality with flexibility and pragmatism, identifying realistic timelines and tangible outcomes
• Lead execution, even under intense pressure and in highly dynamic scenarios
• Manage people within the organization, who are often demotivated and concerned during periods of crisis
• Make rapid—and sometimes painful—decisions regarding reorganizations, cost reductions, or repositioning actions, when necessary
• Maintain direct relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, and both internal and external stakeholders

The manager is therefore the operational translator of strategy. Industry experience, internal credibility, and a strong results-driven mindset are essential. In times of crisis, managing is not enough—leadership is required.

Excellent Plans, Mediocre Results: An Execution Problem

Too many restructurings fail not because of the absence of a plan, but because of ineffective execution. The risk lies in relying on a well-written, technically flawless document that is disconnected from operational reality. Markets do not reward intentions; they reward actions.

Business Case:

Several years ago, we were involved in the restructuring of a long-established Italian industrial company operating in the consumer goods sector, which was facing a severe crisis. The company had been losing margins for years, had an excessively broad product portfolio, a rigid cost structure, and strained relationships with the banking system.

The turnaround plan—developed together with specialized advisors—was technically sound: redesign of the product offering, operational simplification, debt restructuring, and disposal of non-core assets. What was missing, however, was leadership capable of translating the plan into concrete action.

The turning point came with the Board’s appointment of a team of external interim managers with specific crisis-management experience. These professionals were selected and placed by Duke&Kay, which also supported the Board in refining the relaunch strategy, ensuring strong alignment between vision, governance, and operations.

The team entered the company with a clear mandate and well-defined objectives, transforming a paper plan into a tangible recovery process. Within just 18 months:

• Time-to-market was reduced by 40%
• The product range was cut by 35% (through the elimination of low-rotation products)
• Banking facilities and supplier agreements were successfully renegotiated
• Internal trust was rebuilt and dialogue with the market was reactivated

The result? The company returned to financial health, closed the following year with a positive EBITDA, and once again attracted interest from industrial investors.

A well-written plan was necessary—but what truly made the difference was having managers who knew how to lead change on the ground.

Advisors and Managers: Not Alternatives, but Complements

In a well-managed restructuring, advisors and managers do not overlap or exclude one another—they collaborate. One provides method, vision, and financial discipline; the other turns that blueprint into concrete results, day after day.

Governance must be able to orchestrate both roles. The Board of Directors, in particular, bears the responsibility of ensuring a balance between planning and execution, avoiding both overly technocratic approaches and impulsive decision-making.

Restructuring requires cohesive and distributed leadership—not a solitary one.

Ultimately, corporate restructuring is a complex process where technical expertise meets reality, and strategy confronts the daily constraints of the organization. It requires those who can design the plan, but also—and above all—those who can execute it.

The message for companies in distress is therefore twofold:

1. Choose advisors carefully, ensuring they bring vision and independence

1. Equip the organization with strong, motivated management capable of acting decisively

Because between a good strategy and tangible results, there is a bridge to be built.
And that bridge is called operational leadership.