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What Is Value Based Management?

Value Based Management is an approach that prioritizes maximizing shareholder value through strategic decision-making and performance measurement. It aligns corporate strategies with value creation, ensuring every action contributes to long-term financial success. Effective execution requires a culture of accountability and continuous performance evaluation.

"The purpose of a company is to create and keep a customer," remarked management consultant Peter Drucker. This essential truth underscores the idea behind Value Based Management (VBM)—a management philosophy that aligns a company's operations with its overarching mission to create value for shareholders, customers, and employees alike. By leveraging this performance-driven approach, C-level executives can consistently ensure long-term profitability and business sustainability.

Value Based Management is inherently tied to the concept that maximizing shareholder value is the principal objective of a business. To achieve this, companies must align their corporate strategy, business processes, people, and culture around delivering maximum shareholder returns. According to McKinsey & Company, businesses should follow three guiding principles: managing for value, managing with value, and managing towards value. Executing these principles ensures the strategic intent and the consequent results are anchored around value creation, thus enabling Performance Management to thrive.

The Role of Corporate Strategy in VBM

A well defined Corporate Strategy is key to effectively implementing Value Based Management. Goldman Sachs asserts that a robust strategy should integrate financial targets, risk parameters, and operational metrics at a granular level. The key is "strategic alignment," which entails ensuring that business practices, from budgeting to employee performance evaluations, support the creation of shareholder value. Whether it's guided by Digital Transformation efforts or a drive towards Operational Excellence, the strategy must unambiguously link business actions to value generation.

The Importance of Organizational Culture

Transforming a company's culture is not an optional part of Value Based Management—it's an essential pillar. Bain & Company observes that culture change is twice as predictive of superior shareholder returns than mere strategy or operating model transformation. By promoting a culture that recognizes performance against value metrics, companies can steer employees to work towards tangible targets that bolster the bottom line. Change Management, in this regard, plays an instrumental role in aligning the organizational culture with the company's strategic intent.

Metrics in Value Based Management

Metrics form the heart of any well-implemented VBM framework. From traditional financial metrics such as net operating profit after taxes (NOPAT) and free cash flow, to value-based ones like Economic Value Added (EVA), they bring rigor and discipline to the value creation process. Deloitte suggests that for a VBM system to work, there must be the right balance between financial and non-financial metrics, and between leading and lagging indicators. Rigorous Performance Management using these metrics can guide executive decision-making and influence behavior throughout the organization.

Towards Superior Performance with VBM

Accenture states that Value Based Management is not just a tool—it's a mind-set. When fully embraced, VBM can drive all aspects of performance—from Risk Management to Strategy Development and operational execution, all through the lens of value creation. Gartner research found that companies practicing VBM outperformed their competition by 15% on average in terms of annual total shareholder returns. The advantages of VBM are clear, but they can only be realized through an unwavering commitment at all levels of the organization to drive and sustain this change.

Key Takeaways

• VBM represents a holistic approach to managing business, centered around value creation.
• Corporate Strategy is an integral part of a successful VBM implementation, linking business practices directly with value generation.
• An organizational culture supportive of VBM efforts is pivotal to achieving superior shareholder returns.
• A well-chosen mix of financial and non-financial metrics is central to effective Value Based Management.

The adoption of Value Based Management, while challenging, presents immense potential for companies committed to strategic, cultural and operational alignment in the pursuit of value creation. As Peter Drucker put it, the only valid purpose of a firm is to create a customer; in the context of VBM, we can extend this assertion—the ultimate purpose, indeed, is to create sustained value for all stakeholders.