The Blue Line Imperative: What Managing for Value Really Means

Do you wonder why your value initiatives aren't providing the payoff you'd hoped for? Could it be because you've been thinking about value all wrong? According to the authors of this groundbreaking guide, there's a very good chance that you have. Using examples from leading companies worldwide, they explain why every decision a company makes either creates value or detracts from it, and why, if they hope to survive and thrive in today's increasingly competitive global marketplace, company leaders must make value-creation the centrepiece of every business decision. Authors Kaiser and Young have dubbed this approach "Blue-Line Management," (BLM), and in this entertaining, highly accessible book, they delineate BLM principles and practices and show you how to implement them in your company.

• Explains why the failure to properly define and assess value often makes it difficult for the people who manage businesses to effect long-term success
• Offers guidelines for making the satisfaction of customer needs and wants―i.e. value creation―the driver of all business activities
• The authors are respected academics at INSEAD, the world's largest and most respected graduate business school, with campuses in Europe, Asia and the Middle East

KEVIN KAISER is Professor of Management Practice at INSEAD and Director of INSEAD's Transition to General Management program as well as Director of the ABN Amro Managing for Value Research Fund at INSEAD. In addition to directing and teaching in many corporate client programs for INSEAD, he also teaches in numerous institutes and programs for private clients throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. He was formerly Visiting Adjunct Professor of Finance at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, where he had previously earned his PhD in Finance. He was a member of the Corporate Finance and Strategy Practice of McKinsey & Company, where he led a variety of studies addressing value creation and corporate strategy.

S. DAVID YOUNG is Professor of Accounting & Control at INSEAD, where he teaches in the MBA program and in a broad range of executive courses. He has served as an advisor to companies in the U.S., Europe and Asia on various aspects of value-based management and is also a frequent advisor on analyzing financial accounts. David holds a PhD from the University of Virginia and is also a Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst. He is the author of a wide variety of articles in academic and professional journals, and is the co-author of many books, including EVA and Value-based Management: A Practical Guide to Implementation (2001), Profits You Can Trust: Spotting Surviving Accounting Landmines (2003), Attracting Investors: A Marketing Approach to Finding Funds for Your Business (Wiley, 2004), and Corporate Financial Reporting and Analysis (Wiley, 2013).