Customer value propositions for technology commercialization: Investigating the feasibility of a real options approach

The value of new technology is uncertain, and technology suppliers and buyers should combine their knowledge to focus the innovation for creating maximum value. To facilitate such cooperation, they can agree beforehand a pricing mechanism based on customer value, which will materialize once a new process that is based on the R&D firm's technology is implemented or new products and services based on this technology are brought to the market. To structure a value-based agreement, real options models can be used, because these allow modeling different future scenarios, decisions that will be taken depending on these, and payoffs. Conditions are discussed under which value-based agreements can be made. More empirical research is needed to find out how such agreements can be structured and what benefits such agreements can bring.