It's not really faith, it an educated guess:
CEO (or Director of Department) - Makes an educated guess, that if they can release Product A in next 18 months, they will earn $1,000,000.
That means that they need to know that A:
1) Product A will be released in next 12-14 months.
2) They will spend less than $700,000. Otherwise they might be better off buying bonds or something.
It's effectively a job of an exec / director to make bets. Hopefully they are educated guesses, but there are times when somebody just have to flip a coin too.
It's effectively a job of an exec / director to make bets. Hopefully they are educated guesses, but there are times when somebody just have to flip a coin too.