Real Options and Real Tradeoffs

Abstract

The commentaries on our article fail to come to grips with the distinct challenges raised by a process of experimentation that leads to the discovery of new possible initiatives. These challenges differ from those posed by an investment that provides privileged access to a prespecified set of possible follow-on investments. By treating these challenges as simple problems of implementation, the commentaries ignore the strategic tradeoffs implied by efficient abandonment processes and, therefore, fail to clarify where the logic of real options is likely to be more (and less) helpful to strategy thinking.