Finance, control and value

It is since the early '90s that the world has been talking about Value Creation.  Now, 20 years later, there is virtually no corporate mission that does not make explicit reference to the goal of creating value.  The reason is that the evolution in the way of measuring corporate performance has sanctioned the belief that value creation is the unique overall indicator of success of a company because it encompasses all the financial indicators of a firm.

But when can it be said that a business creates value?  When it generates a profit superior to the cost of all capital invested in it, including shareholder capital.

Easily said, difficult to accomplish.