shareholder value

Shareholder value is a term used in many ways:To refer to the market capitalization of a company (rarely used)To refer to the concept that the primary goal for a company is to enrich its shareholders (owners) by paying dividends and/or causing the stock price to increaseTo refer to the more specific concept that planned actions by management and the returns to shareholders should outperform certain bench-marks such as the cost of capital concept. In essence, the idea that shareholders money should be used to earn a higher return then they could earn themselves by investing in risk free bonds for example. The term in this sense was introduced by Alfred Rappaport in his 1986 book Creating Shareholder Value (ISBN 0-684-84410-9)
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