An Algorithm for Making Value-Based Strategic Decisions

The latest tendency has been featuring an increase in the number of Russian companies that follow the principles of Value-Based Management(VBM), which is essentially a synergetic combination of corporate finance and strategic management. Strategic decisions are the principal driving force of a company’s value growth. Thus, the situation calls for an understanding and adequate evaluation of correlation between changes in a company’s value and strategic decisions. A key to such understanding lies in accurate definition and differentiation of such notions as “a company’s fair value” and “a company’s investment value”. The paper contains an analysis of these fundamental definitions for appraisal of a business, which further serves as a basis for making strategic value-based decisions. The suggested algorithm to control a company’s value substantiates the following: Logic and procedure for preparation and implementation of strategic decisions; Differentiation and interrelation between strategic and operational decisions in a company’s value-based management; Expediency and conditions for use of two intrinsically- different approaches to strategic decision-making (namely, the creative approach and the trade-off approach); Approaches to financial assessment and modeling of strategic decisions