Customer Reviews

Creating Shareholder Value: A Guide for Managers and Investors

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Professor Rappaport's revised version of his 1986 book on creating shareholder value provides a good description of the value based management concept that he helped create. However, many of the chapters are stand alone sections that do not flow well together. In some chapters he does not provide enough depth on how this book can actually be used by managers. In addition, the chapters on using his concepts to formulate value-maximizing business strategies was somewhat lacking.

Nevertheless, the book was an easy read and many of his points were right on target. I would also highly recommend interested readers to check out "The Value Imperative" by Marakon Associates and "Valuation" by McKinsey & Co for more information on value based management.

Given that investors value bonds by discounting future cash flows, it stands to reason that they value stocks in the same fashion. Alfred Rappaport is the founder of the shareholder value mindset which gained importance in the '80 and is widely accepted in this new millenium. Rappaport starts the book explaining that objections to using a discounted Cash Flow model do not hold. Strong arguments and empirical evidence is given to explain the market's valuation mechanism. What follows is a basic but thorough explanation of the 3 elements for valuing a company (cash flows , risk and the competitive advantage period). In the second part of the book, it will become clear for the reader DCF is closely linked to strategic analysis and is not in contradiction with stakeholder analysis, customer value analysis, Activity Based costing or any other tool. On the contrary, Rappaport shows DCF is a communication tool that helps investors understand a company's implied performance and how to (re)act. Together with the Valuation book from Copeland, Koller and Murrin this is the book you need.

It would be nearly impossible to read such a book without finding some area of disagreement. However, as a means to provoke thought and gain a better understanding of the issue of shareholder value it does a fine job. The STRENGTH of the book is that it presents both concepts and content. This allows the reader to use the book as a touchstone when considering potential solutions for their particular area of interest and/or concern. The WEAKNESS of the book is that it tends to become academic and verbose (read boring) in the middle chapters.

On balance I recommend the book be read by anyone interested in the topic of shareholdervalue, EVA, etc. Pause to fully understand the good passages (particularly the concepts), and blow by the rest. It will most likely raise your level of thinking.

This book covers: investment and the meaning of shareholder value; unjustified conflict between gaining competitive advantage and creating shareholder value; short-comings of accounting; approaches to calculating shareholder value; business strategy; stock market signals to management; and executive performance. Rappaport stresses the unity of goals between shareholder and stakeholders. An excellent and insightful book.

For more than 25 years, from the first edition to this current version, this has been the Gold Standard for defining and guiding managers to creating shareholder value.

In the past few decades there have been a lot of silly business fads that have come and gone - TQM, Six Sigma, EVA, Re-engineering, but the disciplines Rappaport details serve managers far better than these transitory buzzwords ever did.

For the past 12 years, `The Wall Street Journal' has published Dr. Alfred Rappaport's brainchild, the `Shareholder Scoreboard.' This special section lists 1,000 of the largest U.S. corporations (representing 90% of all listed equity values) and shows statistically how "shareholder-friendly" each one is. This journalistic feature popularizes Rappaport's "Shareholder Value" (SV) theory among institutional and individual investors. Investors use this theory to make equity commitments that reflect the author's economics-based criteria. Frankly, the lay reader who has not majored in economics, or in corporate accounting and finance, will find Rappaport's book abstruse. But it leads the way for the informed, inquisitive investor who seeks "business enlightenment" and Wall Street success. Do not be thrown off by the original 1986 print date. A classic is just that, a book that can be read and wisely used for decades. The small, silent shareholder revolution that Rappaport started is far from over. By now, shareholder analysis has become part of the mainstream for hundreds of big companies (though they accepted it gradually). SV is far from perfect as a corporate strategy indicator. The true worth of this book for CEOs and other executives resides in its lessons for implementing the SV approach throughout a corporation. We recommend it to all three informed constituencies of every public corporation: executives, employees and shareholders.

A great guide for those wanting to gain a higher level of understanding of corporate decision making. I found it useful within my own business unit and plan to bring back some of the concepts. Read this book if you have a desire to stand out by analyzing decisions like a corporate officer.

Rappaport's book is an informative resource for any financial manager. I now understand why Rappaport is credited with the SVA methodology. His explanation is thorough and clear, cutting through the fluff normally associated with forecasting and evaluating a business.

Easy-to-read, informative for CEOs, CFOs, management and Boards of Directors interested in creating shareholder value.

This continues to be a good book for raising awareness that shareholder value can and should be managed. It was not that many years ago when a survey of CEOs found that they thought it was immoral and unethical to try to raise share price! I am also pleased to see that Mr. Rapparport discussed appluications to planning, M&A, compensation and organizational development. I belong to an organization (SHARE PRICE GROWTH 100) that develops new tools and processes to improve stock price, and we have found new ways directily link stock price, finance, investor realtions and capital management. We also found that each company has different investor sensitivities, and few stocks move directly with cash flow. The concepts that we use are described in THE 2,000 PERCENT SOLUTION. One of Mr. Rapparport's questions, "what is the most appropriate measure of performance" is a question that was asked of Peter Drucker in the 1970s. Dr. Drucker responded by saying that companies should use as many measures as possible, because we learn something different from each one. That is what really improves business. Confusion sets in, however, because people think that the measures used to improve business performance are also the ones investors focus on. That thinking has misled many to improve performance while watching the stock price and the multiple do nothing. Managing stock price should become a core competancy. With the right infomation, you will find your 2,000 percent solutions.