Real Options' Resources

Articles

• Will Real Options Take Root?  Why Companies have been slow to adopt the valuation technique, by Edward Teach, CFO Magazine, July 1, 2003

• The Promise and Peril of Real Options by Aswath Damodaran (PDF article examines hidden pitfalls of the real options methodology in managerial decision making)

• The 'real' options problem (Article focuses on the 'real options' implications of employee stock options.  Argues that whether to expense or not is not of primary importance)

• Consider your options (Article argues that discounted cash flow valuation needs to be augmented with value of firms' real options)

• Real Options, Real Opportunities: ("Treating IT investments like stock options can lead to better product valuation, capital budgeting, and strategic planning...", by James Alleman, Optimize Magazine, January 2002 ).

• Thinking in Real Options (Business Finance, March 2002 Edition).

• Using real options software to value complex options, by Jonathan Mun, Ph.D. (published in the Financial Engineering News)

• Get Real (Credit Suisse First Boston Equity Research Paper discusses the Real Options framework for managerial decision making.  In PDF)

• Taking an Option on IT (June 15, 1999, real options applied to information technology investment. In CIO Magazine).\

• Reality Check for Real Options: ("Applying Black-Scholes analysis to capital spending projects has one big flaw..", by Ronal Fink, CFO Magazine, September 13, 2001) .

• Reaping real rewards (August, 1999, Article reports increasing usage of real options approach by firms in valuing investments. In CFO Europe Magazine)

• The Role of Real Options in Valuing Information Technology Projects (This article explores the role of real options in valuing intangible benefits associated with an information technology project.

•  Using real options in strategic decision making (This article examines the questions: "What are real options"? and "Under what conditions is a real options approach to strategic decision making useful.

•  Exploiting Uncertainty: The 'real options' revolution in decision-making (Business Week article gives examples of the application of a "real options" methodology by various firms.

• Identifying Real Options (Article provides general guidelines for identifying and valuing real options inherent in projects).

• Putting "Real Options" to Work ('Motley Fool' article applies "real options" framework to buying stocks.

• Boston University's working papers in Real Options in pdf files(Prof. Kulatilaka's Downloadable Real Options Working Papers Web page at Boston University).

• www.hec.unil.ch/dcossin/ROindustries.htm (This webpage lists articles by industry application).

• www.hec.unil.ch/dcossin/ROreferences.htm (This web page provides a partial list of articles on real options. Articles listed alphabetically).

Books

There are now over a dozen books on real options.  The following is a list of thirteen books on real options.  Below the list is a very brief overview of these books to help you find one for your purposes.
 

• Investment under Uncertainty by Avinash Dixit and Bob Pindyck

• Real Options: Managerial Flexibility and Strategy in Resource Allocation by Lenos Trigeorgis

• Real Options: Managing Strategic Investment in an Uncertain World by Martha Amram and Nalin Kulatilaka

• Real Options Analysis: Tools and Techniques for Valuing Strategic Investments and Decisions by Johnathan Mun

• Real Options Analysis Course: Business Cases and Software Applications (with Real Options Toolkit Software CD-ROM) by Johnathan Mun (link to this material provided in the 'teaching resources' section of this portal)

• Real Options - The New Capital Budgeting (first original book on real options in Portuguese) by Eurico Lopes

• Real Options in Practice by Marion A. Brach

• Real Options: A Practitioner’s Guide by Tom Copeland and Vladimir Antikarov

• Real Options and Option Embedded Securities by William Moore

• Real Options: Evaluating Corporate Investment Opportunities in a Dynamic World edited by Howell, Stark, Newton, Paxson, Cavus, Pereira and Patel

• Real Options in Capital Investments: Models, Strategies and Applications edited by Lenos Trigeorgis

• Project Flexibility, Agency and Competition edited by Brennan and Trigeorgis

• Real Options and Investment Under Uncertainty: Classic Readings and Recent Contributions edited by Schwartz and Trigeorgis

• Real Options Applications edited by Alberto Micalizzi and Lenos Trigeorgis

• Real Options and Business Strategy: Applications to Decision Making edited by Lenos Trigeorgis

• The New Investment Theory of Real Options and its Implications for Telecommunications Economics edited by James Alleman and Eli Noam

• Game Choices:  The Intersection of Game Theory and Real Options, edited by Steven Grenadier

Websites

• Searchable Database(This is the Real Option database for Dr. Triantis. This Real Options database contains over 500 papers on the topic of real options. It is searchable based on author name, title, journal name, year and keywords).

• www.realoptions.dk (Real Options Approaches in Venture Capital Finance)

• www.realoptions.org (website of the international conference on real options. Conference papers - current and past - are available for download).

• www.real-options.org (website features articles, weblinks and other 'real options' related resources)

• www.real-options.de (website focuses on all topics related to the real options approach to valuation and strategic management).

• www.Rogroup.com (Consulting firm focuses on real options-based research and provides various related services to businesses)

• Decision Options, LLC, (This company helps value entities, products, technologies, processes, intellectual property and information using simulation based real options analysis).

• Real Options Software Inc. (company provides consulting, software and training in the use of Real Options)

• www.decisioneering.com (company produces and markets risk analysis software and solutions)

• Strategic Decision Group (company incorporates real options methodology in helping clients understand complex business choices and make informed choices

• Real Options in Petroleum (A collection of Real Options related materials, Brazil site).

• Real options in Germany  (By Prof. Bernhard Pellens. Download an Excel file with binomial option valuation model for many real options, read online text, etc).

• www.EuricoLopes.net (Website on real options maintained by Eurico Lopes.  In Portuguese though it supports an English interface for English speaking visitors.

• Hakan Erdogmus  (Associate Research Officer for Software Engineering Group of Institute for Information Technology, National Research Council of Canada. Has links to various applications).

• A software engineering resource list  (Real Options for engineers, with more links and articles).

• Bryan Rouledge's Home Page at Carnegie Mellon University. His web site has research information on commodity asset pricing and real options as well as link to some courses he is teaching in those area, also has general link to other sources).

• Lawrence Gauthier's Home Page (contains links to his research, including his PhD thesis and other real options related links).

• Option pricing calculator (Web-based option calculators for equity, currency, and futures options).

• Java-based calculators (web-based calculator for simple, exotic, and multiple options).

• Robert's Online Applications (Website hosted by Intrepid Technology Ltd. provides various financial tools including an option strategy visualizer).

Teaching Resources

• Real Options Analysis Course: Business Cases and Software Applications (with Real Options Toolkit Software CD-ROM), by Johnathan Mun

• Real Options Seminar(Course materials. Prof. Coval at University of Michigan).

• http://www.real-options.com(Home page of the book "Real Options: Managing Strategic Investment in an Uncertain World" by Dr. Martha Amram & Prof. Nalin Kulatilaka, with information, bibliography, cases studies, FAQ, links, conferences, and more. A good site on real options).

• Bryan Rouledge's Home Page at Carnegie Mellon University. His web site has research information on commodity asset pricing and real options as well as link to some courses he is teaching in those area, also has general link to other sources).

• Optionsvue (Company offers free options education CD and numerous other products for beginners and seasoned veterans alike).

• Financial Tools (Company retails various financial tools including option calculators).

• Option Dynamics (Webpage maintained by Prof. Campbell R. Harvey provides some educational material (including several animated charts) on options.

Conferences

• 7th Annual International Conference on Real Options, Washington DC, July 10-12, 2003 (Conference organizers state their objective as follows: 'To bring together academics and practitioners at the forefront of real options and investment under uncertainty to discuss recent developments and applications. The conference features academic and professional presentations of theoretical and applied work, workshops and case discussions, experiences from the field and panel discussions.')

• Real Options Valuation in the New Economy, Washington DC, July 9-10, 2003

• 6th Annual International Conference on Real Options, Coral Beach - Paphos, Cyprus, July 4-6, 2002.

• Conference-Workshop on Real Options, Montreal, Canada on Friday, May 24, 2002 at the Centre for Interuniversity Research and Analysis on Organizations (CIRANO).

• Real Options Workshop, Turku, Finland from 6-8 May, 2002 (International Real Options Workshop organized by the Institute for Advanced Mangement Systems Research, Åbo Akademi University, and two corporate sponsors).

• Real Options Symposium (organized by Alex Triantis.  Date: April 19, 2002; Location: University of Maryland, College Park).

• Annual Conference on Real Option(The conference Agenda, downloadable abstracts and papers. Sponsored by the Real Options Group).

• Cambridge University's Workshop(Real Options Forum held on June 22nd 1999).

Web Event - Optimization Model for Capital Investment Decisions using Option Pricing (This is a web conference which also has the articles, webpage, and book links information. You can join the on-line discussion/conference on real options subject).