Real Options and Corporate Strategy

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: Every investment, for example new facilities, new products, or strategic partnerships is driven by the pursuit of creating "values". Major changes are going on in the valuation of investments. Although the "classic" shareholder value concept is still a valuable source for identification of value drivers of strategic management, it needs to be extended in terms of its ability to evaluate long-term investment choices. Far too long capital budgeting has only been considered under aspects of its contribution to an overall added economic value rather than focusing on a firm's resources. Recent research emphasized the strategic value of resources leading to formulate the approach of a "resource-based view" of a firm's activities. Usually management tries to capture future development with "static" methods of capital budgeting, i.e. future cash-flows are discounted with a fixed risk-adjusted discount rate. However, the finding of present values and capitalized values could produce pitfalls in investment decisions. Strategic investment decisions are often characterized by a wide range of possibilities to react flexibly to the changing business environment. This area of tolerance in investment decisions could not be captured with traditional instruments of investment evaluation. In the 1970s, the discounted-cash-flow analysis (DCF) emerged and proved its practicability. This method assumes a "now" or "never" approach in undertaking a project. Some authors suggest adding the theory of option prices to investment decisions, as in the 1970s and the 1980s developments in the valuation of capital-investment opportunities based on option pricing revolutionized capital budgeting. Option pricing allows adaptation and revision of future decisions in order to capture managerial flexibility and to finally capitalize on any possible future development. To incorporate these real options means to limit losses and offers a vital contribution to long-term corporate success, especially in those marketplaces characterized by uncertainty and rapid change. This method also explains the value of waiting for the initial project and considers its value in comparison to the opportunity costs of waiting. These costs are dictated by the behavior of competitors and loss of cash-flow streams from the project. Incorporating this method could possibly lead to a better understanding of the importance of resource allocation, the value of strategic investments and [...]