1st Edition

Decision Options The Art and Science of Making Decisions

By Gill Eapen Copyright 2009
    318 Pages 216 B/W Illustrations
    by Chapman & Hall

    Although uncertainty and flexibility are important attributes that drive the value of an investment, they are seldom systematically considered in traditional financial analysis. Through theory and case studies, Decision Options: The Art and Science of Making Decisions details how uncertainty and flexibility can be evaluated to assist in making better investment decisions in companies. Harnessing the author’s own software technology, the book supplies a tool set that enables the incorporation of uncertainty and flexibility in investment decisions up front without being too complex.

    After a qualitative introduction to decision options, the author covers private and market risks, including how risks relate to decisions and the use of stochastic processes to represent risks. He then presents self-standing options, such as financial options and options pricing theory; describes how decision options are different from single-standing financial options; and deals with a special case of decision options in pricing employee stock options. The next several chapters focus on various case studies of practical applications of decision options. The book also explores common misperceptions around the term real options and the impediments that currently exist in large companies for the systematic practice of decision options.

    Providing rigorous methods to use when making decisions, this book helps readers reduce the time and effort needed to reach decisions and build consensus, improve decision fidelity and communication, and enhance the value of their enterprise.

    Introduction

    Decisions, Options, and Decision Options

    Decisions as Predetermined Outcomes, Options, and Risks

    Private Risks and Probabilities

    Market Risks and Stochastic Processes

    Self-Standing Options and Pricing of Options

    Pricing of Decision Options

    Employee Stock Options as Decision Options

    Case Studies in Life Sciences

    Case Studies in Technology and Manufacturing

    Case Studies in Commodities

    Case Studies in Financial Services

    Misperceptions Regarding Real Options

    Challenges to Decision Options Implementation and Possible Remedies

    Past, Present, and Future

    Index

    Biography

    Gill Eapen is the founder and managing principal of Decision Options, LLC, a boutique advisory services company. He developed Decision Options Technology, a software platform that allows modeling of complex decision problems and assets to improve decision making, risk management, and portfolio maximization. He also designed Decision Options Equity Research, an automated analysis and trading system for publicly traded securities. Eapen holds graduate degrees from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University and an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology.