Investments in technology create a large amount of capital investments by major companies. Assessing such investment projects is identified as critical to the efficient assignment of resources. Viewing investment projects as real options, this paper expands a method for assessing technology investment decisions in the linkage existence of uncertainty and competition. It combines the game-theore...

By mixing concepts from both game theoretic analysis and real options theory, an investment decision in a competitive market can be seen as a “game” between firms, as firms implicitly take into account other firms’ reactions to their own investment actions. We review several real option game models, suggesting which critical problems have been “solved” by considering game theory, and which sign...

The paper illustrates the use of real options and game theory principles to value prototypical investment projects and capture important competitive/strategic dimensions in a step-by-step analysis of investment decisions (options) under uncertainty. It first illustrates the application of real options principles to a mining concession and to an R&D program. It then provides examples from innova...

Many information resource managers have learned to be proactive in today’s highly competitive business environment. However, limited financial resources and many uncertainties require them to maximize their shareholders’ equity while controlling the risks incurred at an acceptable level. As the unprecedented development in information technology continuously produces great opportunities that ar...

The majority of previous studies on investment evaluation of RFID technology ignore the flexibility and the Real Options that this kind of investment can lead to. However, studies on the evaluation of other Information Systems have acknowledged the importance of these options as they create future business opportunities or give to managers the opportunity to take actions that could favorably in...

In this paper, we discuss the real options theory and its applications in IT investment evaluation. We provide a framework within which the appropriateness of using real options theory in strategic IT investment evaluation is systematically justified. In our framework, IT investment opportunities are classified into four categories based on two criteria: the technology switching costs and the n...

Business and information systems (IS) executives continue to grapple with issues of risk and uncertainty in evaluating investments in information technology (IT). Despite the use of net present value (NPV) and other investment appraisal techniques, executives are often forced to rely on instinct when finalizing IT investment decisions. Recognizing the shortcomings of NPV, real options analysis ...

Due to the rapid progress and adoption of information technologies, the decision making for technology investments has become very complex. Also, after the burst of the investment on information technologies (IT) bubble in 2000, companies and investors now require information systems decisions be based on demonstrable value creation that is aligned with the business mission and goals. In this c...

As becomes apparent from the standard text books in industrial organization (cf. Tirole, 1988, The Theory of Industrial Organization), the analysis of the effects of uncertainty within this field is yet underdeveloped. This paper shows that the new theory of strategic real options can be used to fill this gap. Based on the work by Smets (1991) standard models are identified, and they are analyz...