Creating Value: Data Exploration, Multiple Objectives, and Real Options

One of the key tasks of decision analysis is to help a decision maker identify better decision opportunities than those that the decision maker started with. The use of data exploration and the adoption of multiple objectives can help a decision maker uncover such decision opportunities -- real options -- that are either future opportunities that the decision maker might not have recognized, additional alternatives for the current decision, or completely new decision opportunities. The concepts are illustrated via a fictional example from the pharmaceutical industry. Implications for information and decision support systems design are discussed in the conclusion.