An Attention-Based View of Real Options Reasoning

Abstract:     
Real options reasoning assumes timely and effective managerial decision-making yet does not address managers' ability to provide it. An attention-based view describes managerial behavior under varying structural conditions. I examine real options reasoning from an attention-based view. I develop several testable propositions regarding the effects of a firm's particular concrete and contextual attention structures on the ways in which its managers notice, champion, acquire, maintain, exercise, and abandon the various real options within its portfolio. I conclude with implications for future empirical research on real options reasoning.

Keywords: real options reasoning, attention-based view, decision-making under uncertainty, strategic management

JEL Classifications: D21, D81, D92, O31

Accepted Paper Series