Title: Real options and business practice

Authors: Spyridon Andriopoulos

Addresses: Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), Evelpidon 47A and Lefkados 33, 6th floor, GR-113 62 Athens, Greece

Abstract: The logic of real options is increasingly gaining importance nowadays because it helps decision makers have a more accurate and realistic view of their investment plans and at the same time secure projects in terms of handling uncertainty. The objective of this paper is to make a brief bibliographical overview of the real options approach helping readers understand the true meaning and virtues of real options and at the same time give useful examples regarding their application areas. It unfolds the aspects of real options, contrasting them with standard investment evaluation techniques and sorting them into |on| and |in| projects. Applications but also boundaries of real options are also included in this paper in order to make the connection between theory and business practice.

Keywords: real options analysis; ROA; business practice; decision makers; investment plans; uncertainty; evaluation techniques; on projects; in projects; decision sciences; risk management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJDSRM.2011.040754

International Journal of Decision Sciences, Risk and Management, 2011 Vol.3 No.1/2, pp.203 - 214

Published online: 30 Dec 2014 *

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