cover image Cracking the Value Code: How Successful Businesses Are Creating Wealth in the New Economy

Cracking the Value Code: How Successful Businesses Are Creating Wealth in the New Economy

Richard E. S. Boulton. HarperBusiness, $27 (288pp) ISBN 978-0-06-662063-3

The debate over the ""old economy"" vs. the ""new economy"" misses the point, contend Boulton, Libert and Samek (all consultants at Arthur Anderson). Based on a three-year study of 10,000 companies, they believe that success today doesn't depend on whether a business remains a traditional ""bricks and mortar company"" or becomes one that deals strictly through the Internet. What's important is whether a firm's assets are deployed to create or erode the entire company's value. They give ""assets"" the broadest definition possible: ""Businesses are their assets, all of their assets--tangible and intangible, owned and unowned."" To their credit, the authors don't argue that there's one magic prescription for maximizing a company's market value. GE, they point out, does it through financial assets, while Wal-Mart is doing it with physical assets and Psion and Virgin Group are doing it through partnerships. While the authors don't supply detailed ""how-to"" advice, they do an excellent job of mapping out a strategy for managers and executives to use in rethinking the design of their business to get the most out of the resources they already have. Boulton, Libert and Samek's straightforward argument will benefit anyone trying to figure out the most efficient way to succeed in the years ahead. (June)