The basic element that determines the market value of a bank, regardless its property status, is the flow of income for the bank's shareholders in a long term.

The following arguments can be put for the market value to be a criterion of activity evaluation:

• market value is the best measure of profit/loss in a long run;
• bank's owners (shareholders) are extremely interested in augmenting their capital;
• banks with poor results are doomed to the outflow of capital to competitors.

The essence of managing through value is optimization of decisions at each level of the bank. Traditional decision-taking process, where forced and controlled measures prevail, does not provide for expected results. Nowadays the skill of the middle management, in particular in banks' branches, to take independent decisions using measures based on value becomes increasingly important.

Directing actions of the management and the staff towards key factors forming the bank's value is of utmost importance. When evaluating the performance of banks and their organizational units particular attention must be paid on financial objectives, measurement of efficiency and remuneration system that accounts for generating the value.

Creation of a bank's market value requires changes in awareness and attitude of shareholders, potential investors, customers, and banks' management.

In the process of managing a bank it is necessary to provide for a switch from recording events and performance to an active participation in creating the value.

Strategies of banks include different objectives and tasks. The most general is survival and development. Survival is a basic condition crucial for the achievement of other tasks. The pursuit of the survival strategy that is not oriented on development ultimately results, in the context of competitiveness and changing environment, in banks' decay and decrease of their market value. If a bank wishes to survive it must pursue its development strategy.