Just what is a 'Value Proposition'?

Ok, first off, I do have to do a class presentation on this. The problem is, I’m having trouble identifying just what one is. I can google it, but I get a lot of sites companies’ “value propositions”, but nothing telling me what one is intended to be. This is not a term I heard out in the corporate world - is it a recent development?

Looking at the ones I see, they seem to be something like a combination of a company’s strategic objectives and their ethics statement, but geared toward their customers instead of mainly being aimed towards employees and stakeholders. Am I close with this idea or do I need to look further?

Oh, and I still have a while before the presentation - about three weeks, so I will be doing further research no matter what.

A value proposition is what the company has to offer the market that distinguishes the company from its competitors. Common value propositions may cover a quality of service, cheapest prices or broadest range of product.

Your company proposes to its customers that there be a deal - you provide your product or service, they provide money. What you propose is your “proposition.”

What someone would pay you money for is something that has value.

I first heard this about ten years ago, and thought it sounded hackneyed and cliche at the time. It’s just gotten worse since then.

This might be a descendent of adman’s Rosser Reeves’ Unique Selling Proposition:

http://cbcads.com/adtalk-article.cfm?AdTalkID=121

Is business the correct context for your question? I ask this because, upon reading the subject line of the OP, I immediately assumed the epistomological perspective, and thought you might be referring to a “value judgement”.

Analytical propositions, empirical propositions, metaphysical propositions and value judgements are the four basic justifications of human knowledge.

-FK

Fuji Kitakyusho, while I’m a library/information science student, the class this presentation is for covers knowledge management, and is business oriented.
Thanks for the help folks. It looks like I was headed down a somewhat incorrect path with the idea I had. This will head me in a more correct direction.