Value-based management - positioning of claimed merits and analysis of application

Value-based management has attracted considerable interest among organizations and academics in recent years. Responding to calls for case-based research, this thesis describes, analyses and conceptualizes value-based management as a management accounting construct.

While previous research has focused on the measures (eg. EVA) advanced in the normative literature, this analysis demonstrates that value-based management can be understood to concern more than just measurement. Beyond a revision of measurement aspects, it is shown that the supply-side advocates argue for an alteration of management process aspects as well. From this, it follows that a one-dimensional focus on measurement aspects results in a too narrow understanding of value-based management. Case-based evidence from six self-proclaimed adopters leads to the conclusion that value-based management benefits from a consideration of measurement and management process aspects in tandem. Depending on the design characteristic revisions brought about by the adoption, it is suggested that value-based management can result in four different orientations ? a measurement orientation, a reengineering orientation, a status quo orientation and a management orientation.

The results show that the adoption of value-based management, with few exceptions, has resulted in more extensive design characteristic revisions than reported in previous research. Even so, it is demonstrated that there are reasons for moderating the merits ascribed to value-based management in the normative literature.