Companies must distinguish between operating capital and strategic capital to prevent a bias toward disinvestment. Even the most transactional company has some capital with a planned return beyond the current compensation cycle. This investment cannot be held to the same profitability standard as capital expected to generate returns in the current period.

Instead, strategic capital of publicly traded companies can disclosed, as much as is competitively prudent, to the investment community being asked to support it. Investor valuations can then be observed. These valuations apply to the whole company, and cannot be disaggregated among specific projects. But by subtracting operating value, which is based on current profitability, from total market value, managers can determine overall strategic value.

A major objective of value-based planning is the determination of overall company value (for private firms or subsidiaries) and disaggregation of overall strategic value to the numerous projects being executed, planned, or considered. Of course, the main purpose of strategic planning is the differentiation of our company relative to any potential competitors. This makes peer-based comparisons and valuations more difficult.

While some projects that are farther along can be valued using NPV estimates of pure-play peer company valuations, projects with more distant and uncertain outcomes can be more usefully valued as real options.