| The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the effect of business value drivers on the valuation of businesses in the United States and to propose a theory of value drivers. This study used two research methods – grounded theory and the Delphi method – to explore the effect of business value drivers on the valuation of businesses in the U.S. and to propose a theory of value drivers. In addition to a list of 72 individual value drivers, the theory of value drivers presents a comprehensive value driver possibilities frontier and value driver chain , both of which are part of and are used to explain the theory of value drivers. The theory of value drivers is comprised of 28 propositions that work in concert with the possibilities frontier, the value driver chain, and other elements that are described in the paper. This paper differs from other studies on value drivers in four important ways. First, this paper significantly extends the notions, ideas, and concepts from previous studies on value drivers. Second, this paper creates a comprehensive classification scheme for value drivers and has identified many more characteristics and properties of value drivers than previous studies. Third, this study has identified 72 specific value drivers through the literature review and the Delphi study. Fourth, this paper consolidates the material from the literature review and the result of the research conducted through the Delphi and grounded theory studies and codifies it into the theory of value drivers. |
