Digital Coaching System for Real Options Analysis with Multi-expert and Machine Learning Support

Abstract

Digitalization and artificial intelligence are growing in importance as parts of decision-support tools in various application domains. One of the important developments in this vein has been the creation of interactive tools for coaching users of complex decision-support systems to help them successfully and correctly use the said systems. This paper focuses on digital coaching in the context of strategic investment analysis, specifically connected to fuzzy real options analysis (ROA). We present some important and difficult choices connected to ROA and discuss how digital coaching may assist users in better using ROA tools. We illustrate the real-world use of digital coaching in the contexts of cash-flow evaluation with machine learning support and aggregation of cash-flows from multiple experts. The discussion and the cases illustrate well how digital coaching can make a difference, especially for an inexperienced user, in guiding users to use complex tools correctly and in creating better circumstances for credible analyses. The findings presented are new and contribute specifically to the literature on digital coaching and real options analysis.