Valuation : setting sound business goals, accelerating theri achievement, and capitalizing on the results

Hundreds of business books, many from famous authors, seek to explain strategic planning and management. This book from George Norton provides a practical approach that can easily be used by both for-profit and non-profit organizations. It would also be a very useful tool for consultants. What makes Mr. Norton's approach unique is the step-by-step instructions he provides, involving key leaders and stakeholders in the planning and assessment process. Most impressive is the way the author explains straightforward methods for valuation and financial analysis, with guidelines on how to apply the results to future plans. This book is highly recommended for organizational leaders, especially those who desire a practical approach to strategic planning. Before a corporation (or, for that matter, a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a privately owned business, or not-for-profit organization) can achieve its maximum potential, its personnel must reach a common understanding of the organization's mission and strategic goals, and develop a sense of urgency regarding their achievement. In Valuation: Maximizing Corporate Value, George Norton offers a handson guide to incorporating sound strategic and valuation principles into decision-making throughout the organization. Valuation shows how, by understanding and using a few simple concepts, the leaders and members of any type of organization can enhance their daily and long-term satisfaction, as well as that of their key stakeholders, while simultaneously reaping substantial financial rewards. With an effective valuation methodology, organization owners, managers, and other employees can assess the value of an organization, predict its financial direction, and construct a strategic framework for controlling where it should be taken. The book's first three chapters show how -- in simple language -- to conduct a strategic audit, calculate the current value of the organization, and characterize the strategic landscape. Chapters 4 through 7 explore how to use a strategic framework to develop a foundation for future action, focusing on the development of long-term goals and specific techniques to quantify the economic impacts of alternative strategies. The final, "action-oriented" chapter on implementation analyzes the particulars of executing selected strategies. Valuation: Maximizing Corporate Value shows how an organization with shared values and a common language can better identify and achieve key objectives. Entrepreneurs, financial specialists, appraisers, and other management professionals and advisors will benefit from its time-tested techniques. Outlines an effective evaluation methodology for assessing the value of any organization Valuation offers methods to accelerate the achievement of explicitly stated goals through external means and discusses the implications for valuation that would aid in the prioritization and execution of the most favorable strategies. Filled with numerous checklists and forms, this comprehensive resource addresses important valuation issues for many different situations.