Real Options: A Practitioner's Guide [Hardcover]

Thomas E. Copeland (Author), Vladimir Antikarov (Author), Tom Copeland (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1587990288 | ISBN-13: 978-1587990281 | Publication Date: February 15, 2001 | Edition: 1st

In this book, the authors offer corporate decision-makers the ability to assess the profitability of their ventures and decide which avenue of expansion or investment to go down and, crucially, when to take that leap. The reader goes on a journey through real options, from the basics to more advanced topics such as options and game theory. It provides expert guidance on how to implement the theory to maximize investment opportunities by utilizing uncertainty as an asset and reducing downside risk.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Amazon.co.uk Review The business world moves fast these days, too fast for some. Real Options: A Practitioner's Guide aims to give those making investment decisions for their companies the paths, or options, that will allow their firms to survive and thrive. Who, in 2000, would have envisaged the success story that was BT being forced to split in two just to survive?

About the Author

Tom Copeland is Chief Corporate Finance Officer at Monitor Company in Cambridge, MA and a professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management. Previously, he was a partner and head of the corporate finance practice at McKinsey & Co, a member of the finance faculty at UCLA's Anderson School of Management and an adjunct full professor of finance at NYU's Stern School of Management.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Texere; 1st edition (February 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587990288
• ISBN-13: 978-1587990281
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #545,831 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars ..., July 31, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Real Options: A Practitioner's Guide (Hardcover)

This book has WAY TOO MANY errors. The amount of errors and the types of errors this book contains is unacceptable. If the quantity and quality of the errors weren't bad enough, the explanations (if you can call them that) are confusing or incomplete. This book also has many omissions (parts that the authors promise will be included in parts of the book are MISSING!!!). It would be extremely difficult to use this book as a practical guide to real options with all of its errors, omissions, and confusions.

I can safely say that I have NEVER read any book with this MANY errors and omissions ... and I have read quite a lot of books on finance, economics, and math.

By the way, I and other readers do NOT pay full price so that they can get a "rough draft." Readers pay for the final product and readers can reasonably expect a product of higher quality.

45 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely well written guide to implementing real options, March 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Real Options: A Practitioner's Guide (Hardcover)

This book, a worthy sequel to 'Valuation' by the The McKinsey & Company, Copeland, Koller, and Morrin, provide a solid backgound on the state of the art in the practice of real options analysis. This book is not a intended to be a "teaser," which tries to tell you enough to whet your appetite so if you want to know more you will have to hire the authors as your consultants. The book is comprehensive in its treatment of the subject. The authors honestly want to teach readers how to implement real options analysis. It has detailed case studies on applying real options analysis, one about an IT-based firm, another about a pharmaceutical company. To top it off, the book even has mind expanding end of chapter exercises with answers that can be downloaded from the text web site. This will be a standard reference for practitioners. This text will be the leading MBA text on real options.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a true practitioner's guide, January 29, 2002

By 

Stacy E. Burrell "stacyburrell.blogspot.com" (Detroit, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real Options: A Practitioner's Guide (Hardcover)

I read an article on this book before publication and was excited about getting a copy. Past works on real options analysis(ROA) have been heavy on theory, but low on application. However, as I read through this book I was disappointed in how the content was presented.

First, the good points. The book is more application-oriented than other books on the subject thus far. The book is thorough in its discussion of real options analysis, and demonstrates how to estimate volatility, which has been poorly explained by other authors. The book provides lots of case studies and examples. Finally, the methodology is simple to follow.

Now, the bad points. Enough has been written about the book's errors in other reviews. Also, the solutions should have been provided for free. The most disappointing part is the authors' claim that this is a "practitioners" guide and that ROA will eventually replace NPV in corporate valuation. If you are a financial engineer or quant-jock for an I-Bank, Consultancy or Treasury group, then it is a practitioner's guide. Otherwise, the book is written above the level of the industry financial analyst, particularly beginners. The authors' use Everett Roger's five attributes of innovation that determine its rate of adoption. One attribute is low complexity for easy understanding and implementation. This book is very complex and it's no wonder why ROA has a slow adoption rate among corporations.

Bottomline, the book needs to be rewritten properly from an editorial standpoint. More importantly, Mr. Copeland needs to decide whether he truly wants to bring ROA to the corporate masses or keep it in the hands of a few who can sell their expertise to companies