Real Options In Practice

Explores real option theory applied in practice Real options are quickly becoming the valuation and decision-making method of choice for many companies, including oil and gas companies, utilities and natural resource companies, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, Internet companies, and many others. Real Options in Practice allows readers to view the world of real options from the vantage point of a corporate practitioner applying real option valuation techniques on a regular basis. Expert Marion Brach describes the challenges of implementing a real option framework in practice within a corporate setting. Touching on the real options most firms care about, Real Options in Practice identifies the classic types of real options-deferral, abandonment, switching, expansion, and compound-and explores the main concepts critical to understanding real option theory. Through Brach's own three-step real option valuation method readers will learn how the theory of real options is now being applied to drive better, more profitable corporate decision-making. Marion A. Brach, MD, MBA (Hagen, Germany), has undertaken financial valuation of business opportunities and acquisitions using scenario and real option valuation in the biotech industry. A recognized expert on real option theory and practice, Brach received her MBA from the Manchester Business School and frequently speaks at real option seminars.

Decision-makers in business and economics face a staggering array of problems. For example, managers of growing firms have to decide when to expand their business, governments have to decide whether to undertake large infrastructure investments, and managers of oil firms must decide how rapidly to deplete their reserves. While these problems seem quite diverse, they all share many important features. In each case, the decision-maker must choose when to take a particular action that will be potentially impossible to reverse, and the consequences of taking (or not taking) that action are uncertain. Also, the timing and nature of these actions directly affect the cash flows generated by the entities they manage. This book explains how techniques originally developed to price financial derivatives can be used to analyze real-world decisions, and provides the tools necessary to put them into practice. The real options analysis approach to decision-making is built on strong theoretical foundations, and is widely discussed in practitioner literature, but often only at a fairly intuitive level. What practitioners need-and what this book delivers-is a structured approach to systematically applying real options analysis to the wide variety of problems they will meet in business and economics. Real Options in Theory and Practice focuses on building up a general approach to solving real options problems from the ground up. Rather than aiming to build a "black box" to solve a small set of standardized real options problems, it describes the building blocks of any successful real options analysis and shows how they can be assembled in a way that is appropriate to the problem being analyzed. For both practitioners and academics, Real Options in Theory and Practice will serve as an authoritative and invaluable resource for those looking for effective and practical solutions to complex, real-life problems.

"Mun demystifies real options analysis and delivers a powerful, pragmatic guide for decision-makers and practitioners alike. Finally, there is a book that equips professionals to easily recognize, value, and seize real options in the world around them." --Jim Schreckengast, Senior VP, R&D Strategy, Gemplus International SA, France Completely revised and updated to meet the challenges of today's dynamic business environment, Real Options Analysis, Second Edition offers you a fresh look at evaluating capital investment strategies by taking the strategic decision-making process into consideration. This comprehensive guide provides both a qualitative and quantitative description of real options; the methods used in solving real options; why and when they are used; and the applicability of these methods in decision making.

Examines the ways in which real options theory can contribute to strategic management. This volume offers conceptual pieces that trace out pathways for the theory to move forward and presents research on the implications of real options for strategic investment, organization, and firm performance.

Praise for Real Options Analysis Course "Dr. Mun's latest book is a logical extension of the theory and application presented in Real Options Analysis. More specifically, the Real Options Analysis Course presents numerous real options examples and provides the reader with step-by-step problem-solving techniques. After having read the book, readers will better understand the underlying theory and the opportunities for applying real option theory in corporate decision-making." -Chris D. Treharne, President, Gibraltar Business Appraisals, Inc. "This text provides an excellent follow up to Dr. Mun's first book, Real Options Analysis. The cases in Real Options Analysis Course provide numerous examples of how the use of real options and the Real Options Analysis Toolkit software can assist in the valuation of strategic and managerial flexibility in a variety of arenas." -Charles T. Hardy, PhD, Chief Financial Officer & Director of Business Development, Panorama Research, Inc. "Most of us come to real options from the perspective of our own areas of expertise. Mun's great skill with this book is in making real options analysis understandable, relevant, and immediately applicable to the field within which you are working." -Robert Fourt, Partner, Gerald Eve (UK) "Mun provides a practical step-by-step guide to applying simulation and real options analysis-invaluable to those of us who are no longer satisfied with conventional valuation approaches alone." -Fred Kohli, Head of Portfolio Management, Syngenta Crop Protection Ltd. (Switzerland)

Corporate finance and corporate strategy have long been seen as different sides of the same coin. Though both focus on the same broad problem, investment decision-making, the gap between the two sides--and between theory and practice--remains embarrassingly large. This book synthesizes cutting-edge developments in corporate finance and related fields--in particular, real options and game theory--to help bridge this gap. In clear, straightforward exposition and through numerous examples and applications from various industries, Han Smit and Lenos Trigeorgis set forth an extended valuation framework for competitive strategies. The book follows a problem-solving approach that synthesizes ideas from game theory, real options, and strategy. Thinking in terms of options-games can help managers address questions such as: When is it best to invest early to preempt competitive entry, and when to wait? Should a firm compete in R&D or adopt an accommodating stance? How does one value growth options or infrastructure investments? The authors provide a wide range of valuation examples, such as acquisition strategies, R&D investment in high-tech sectors, joint research ventures, product introductions in consumer electronics, infrastructure, and oil exploration investment. Representing a major step beyond standard real options or strategy analysis, and extending the power of real options and strategic thinking in a rigorous fashion, Strategic Investment will be an indispensable guide and resource for corporate managers, MBA students, and academics alike.

Comprehensive in scope, Real Options reviews current techniques of capital budgeting and details an approach (based on the pricing of options) that provides a means of quantifying the elusive elements of managerial flexibility in the face of unexpected changes in the market. In the 1970s and the 1980s, developments in the valuation of capital-investment opportunities based on options pricing revolutionized capital budgeting. Managerial flexibility to adapt and revise future decisions in order to capitalize on favorable future opportunities or to limit losses has proven vital to long-term corporate success in an uncertain and changing marketplace. In this book Lenos Trigeorgis, who has helped shape the field of real options, brings together a wealth of previously scattered knowledge and research on the new flexibility in corporate resource allocation and in the evaluation of investment alternatives brought about by the shift from static cash-flow approaches to the more dynamic paradigm of real options—an approach that incorporates decisions on whether to defer, expand, contract, abandon, switch use, or otherwise alter a capital investment. Comprehensive in scope, Real Options reviews current techniques of capital budgeting and details an approach (based on the pricing of options) that provides a means of quantifying the elusive elements of managerial flexibility in the face of unexpected changes in the market. Also discussed are the strategic value of new technology, project interdependence, and competitive interaction. The ability to value real options has so dramatically altered the way in which corporate resources are allocated that future textbooks on capital budgeting will bear little resemblance to those of even the recent past. Real Options is a pioneer in this area, coupling a coherent picture of how option theory is used with practical insights in into real-world applications.

Business leaders are frequently faced with investment decisions on new and ongoing projects. The challenge lies in deciding what projects to choose, expand, contract, defer, or abandon, and which method of valuation to use is the key tool in the process. This title presents a step-by-step, practical approach to real options valuation to make it easily understandable by practitioners as well as senior management. This systematic approach to project valuation helps you minimize upfront investment risks, exercise flexibility in decision making, and maximize the returns. Whereas the traditional decision tools such as discounted cash flow/net present value (DCF/NPV) analysis assume a “fixed” path ahead, real options analysis offers more flexible strategies. Considered one of the greatest innovations of modern finance, the real options approach is based on Nobel-prize winning work by three MIT economists, Fischer Black, Robert Merton, and Myron Scholes.