| abstract |
The market value of a business depends on many factors: the age and capacity of its factories, the popularity of its brandnames, the ingenuity of its workers, and so forth. These tangible and intangible factors, or assets, reflect that a business has made decisions to invest or allocate its resources in particular ways. In this sense, all business operating decisions, such as hiring or firing employees, selling or buying back stock, buying or selling plants, or spending more on advertising, are investment decisions that affect market value. Based on these insights, the inventors devised a computer system that models the effect of business decisions on the market value of a business. The system classifies assets and other data representative of business decisions into tangible and intangible asset categories and models market value as a function of items in these categories. The system also allows businesses to simulate the effect of their operational decisions on market value, and displays, through unique graphic aids, the relative contribution of the associated assets to that value. Ultimately, the invention provides market-sensitive guidance for making business management decisions that optimize returns and reduce business risk. |