Real Options and Exclusivity

How important is it that an organization have an exclusive right to exercise a real option? That is, can we really say that an option being considered has value if competitors may exercise it also?

IBM clearly does not believe in the importance of exclusivity, since it has embraced the "open source" movement. Pharmaceutical companies, in contrast, exhibit their belief in the importance of exclusivity if only because of their aggressive patent protection efforts.

Applying Real Options: Your Organization

Using the readings and lecture notes, identify within your own organization (or an organization with which you are familiar) various options as defined, for example, in the "Real Options Navigator" article, that have potential to create value.

What makes it a real option (i.e., able to take advantage of upside potential, while having the flexibility to walk away if pursuing it destroys value)?

Areas that you might identify include:growth, staging, sourcing, business scope, and learning. Feel free to add others.

If you work for other than a for-profit company, can you still identify options?