VALUE MANAGEMENT IN WEAKLY GROWING INDUSTRIESAN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS USING THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY AS ANEXAMPLE

In the literature, growth is discussed as a key value lever within the framework of value-basedmanagement as it creates opportunities to generate additional free cash flow and thus to increase thevalue of the company. However, opportunities for high growth rates, for example through technicalinnovations or the creation of new customer groups, are not equally distributed across industries.Using 61 companies from the chemical industry as an example, it is shown that above average capitalmarket performance is possible also in industries with below average growth rates. The requirement forthis to take place is the consistent exploitation of all available levers of value management. In contrast,a pure focus on increasing profitability has not proven to be a sustainable value creation strategy.