Behavioral Aspects of EVA
A number of companies have discovered that EVA helps to encourage the right kind of behavior from their divisions in a way that emphasis on operating income alone cannot. The underlying reason is EVA’s Reliance on the true cost of capital. In many companies, the responsibility for investment decisions with corporate management. As a result, the cost of capital is considered a corporate expense. If a division builds inventories and investment, the cost of financing that investment is passed along to the overall income statement and does not show up as a reduction from the division’s operating income. The result is to make investment seem free to the division, and of course, they want more.