Campbell and Bailyn's Boston Office: Managing the Reorganization Net Present Value (NPV) / MBA Resources

Introduction to Net Present Value (NPV) - What is Net Present Value (NPV) ? How it impacts financial decisions regarding project management?

NPV solution for Campbell and Bailyn's Boston Office: Managing the Reorganization case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Campbell and Bailyn's Boston Office: Managing the Reorganization case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Anne Donnellon, Dun Gifford Jr.. The Campbell and Bailyn's Boston Office: Managing the Reorganization (referred as “Winston Kat” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Organizational Development. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Compensation, Costs, Human resource management, Leadership, Leading teams, Organizational culture, Organizational structure, Sales.

The net present value (NPV) of an investment proposal is the present value of the proposal’s net cash flows less the proposal’s initial cash outflow. If a project’s NPV is greater than or equal to zero, the project should be accepted.

NPV = Present Value of Future Cash Flows LESS Project’s Initial Investment

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Case Description of Campbell and Bailyn's Boston Office: Managing the Reorganization Case Study

When students have the English-language PDF of this Brief Case in a coursepack, they will also have the option to purchase an audio version.Ken Winston, the regional sales manager at a securities brokerage firm, has reorganized his generalist salespeople into "Key Account Teams" (KAT), to increase sales of specialized, higher-margin fixed income products. Winston is also implementing a new corporate performance management system. To help improve coordination between sales and marketing, Winston must solicit feedback from marketing staff on how responsive his salespeople are to marketing's directives. The marketing group has information on product costs that allow it to forecast product profitability, and by persuading the sales force to focus on those products the marketers can improve firm-wide margins. The KAT model, implemented six months earlier, has challenged the core internal values of the organization - such as a salesperson's control of his or her customer base and the appropriateness of product specialization. However, the long-term test of the new organizational structure will be its alignment with external changes in the securities industry: how securities are bought and sold and the types of new products flooding the market.

Case Authors : Anne Donnellon, Dun Gifford Jr.

Topic : Organizational Development

Related Areas : Compensation, Costs, Human resource management, Leadership, Leading teams, Organizational culture, Organizational structure, Sales

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Campbell and Bailyn's Boston Office: Managing the Reorganization Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10006483)	-10006483	-	-
Year 1	3464757	-6541726	3464757	0.9434	3268639
Year 2	3956419	-2585307	7421176	0.89	3521199
Year 3	3956765	1371458	11377941	0.8396	3322176
Year 4	3235598	4607056	14613539	0.7921	2562897
TOTAL			14613539		12674910

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2668427

In isolation the NPV number doesn't mean much but put in right context then it is one of the best method to evaluate project returns. In this article we will cover -

Different methods of capital budgeting

What is NPV & Formula of NPV,
How it is calculated,
How to use NPV number for project evaluation, and
Scenario Planning given risks and management priorities.

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Capital Budgeting Approaches

Methods of Capital Budgeting

There are four types of capital budgeting techniques that are widely used in the corporate world –

1. Profitability Index
2. Net Present Value
3. Payback Period
4. Internal Rate of Return

Apart from the Payback period method which is an additive method, rest of the methods are based on Discounted Cash Flow technique. Even though cash flow can be calculated based on the nature of the project, for the simplicity of the article we are assuming that all the expected cash flows are realized at the end of the year.

Discounted Cash Flow approaches provide a more objective basis for evaluating and selecting investment projects. They take into consideration both –

1. Magnitude of both incoming and outgoing cash flows – Projects can be capital intensive, time intensive, or both. Winston Kat shareholders have preference for diversified projects investment rather than prospective high income from a single capital intensive project.
2. Timing of the expected cash flows – stockholders of Winston Kat have higher preference for cash returns over 4-5 years rather than 10-15 years given the nature of the volatility in the industry.

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Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of Campbell and Bailyn's Boston Office: Managing the Reorganization

NPV = Net Cash In Flowt1 / (1+r)t1 + Net Cash In Flowt2 / (1+r)t2 + … Net Cash In Flowtn / (1+r)tn
Less Net Cash Out Flowt0 / (1+r)t0

Where t = time period, in this case year 1, year 2 and so on.
r = discount rate or return that could be earned using other safe proposition such as fixed deposit or treasury bond rate. Net Cash In Flow – What the firm will get each year.
Net Cash Out Flow – What the firm needs to invest initially in the project.

Step 1 – Understand the nature of the project and calculate cash flow for each year.
Step 2 – Discount those cash flow based on the discount rate.
Step 3 – Add all the discounted cash flow.
Step 4 – Selection of the project

Why Organizational Development Managers need to know Financial Tools such as Net Present Value (NPV)?

In our daily workplace we often come across people and colleagues who are just focused on their core competency and targets they have to deliver. For example marketing managers at Winston Kat often design programs whose objective is to drive brand awareness and customer reach. But how that 30 point increase in brand awareness or 10 point increase in customer touch points will result into shareholders’ value is not specified.

To overcome such scenarios managers at Winston Kat needs to not only know the financial aspect of project management but also needs to have tools to integrate them into part of the project development and monitoring plan.

Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 15%

After working through various assumptions we reached a conclusion that risk is far higher than 6%. In a reasonably stable industry with weak competition - 15% discount rate can be a good benchmark.

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 15 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10006483)	-10006483	-	-
Year 1	3464757	-6541726	3464757	0.8696	3012832
Year 2	3956419	-2585307	7421176	0.7561	2991621
Year 3	3956765	1371458	11377941	0.6575	2601637
Year 4	3235598	4607056	14613539	0.5718	1849964
TOTAL					10456054

The Net NPV after 4 years is 449571

(10456054 - 10006483 )

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 20%

If the risk component is high in the industry then we should go for a higher hurdle rate / discount rate of 20%.

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 20 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10006483)	-10006483	-	-
Year 1	3464757	-6541726	3464757	0.8333	2887298
Year 2	3956419	-2585307	7421176	0.6944	2747513
Year 3	3956765	1371458	11377941	0.5787	2289795
Year 4	3235598	4607056	14613539	0.4823	1560377
TOTAL					9484982

The Net NPV after 4 years is -521501

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9484982 - 10006483 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Winston Kat to discount cash flow at lower discount rates such as 15%.

Acceptance Criteria of a Project based on NPV

Simplest Approach – If the investment project of Winston Kat has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Winston Kat can ACCEPT the project, otherwise they can reject the project. This means that project will deliver higher returns over the period of time than any alternate investment strategy.

In theory if the required rate of return or discount rate is chosen correctly by finance managers at Winston Kat, then the stock price of the Winston Kat should change by same amount of the NPV. In real world we know that share price also reflects various other factors that can be related to both macro and micro environment.

In the same vein – accepting the project with zero NPV should result in stagnant share price. Finance managers use discount rates as a measure of risk components in the project execution process.

Sensitivity Analysis

Project selection is often a far more complex decision than just choosing it based on the NPV number. Finance managers at Winston Kat should conduct a sensitivity analysis to better understand not only the inherent risk of the projects but also how those risks can be either factored in or mitigated during the project execution. Sensitivity analysis helps in –

What are the key aspects of the projects that need to be monitored, refined, and retuned for continuous delivery of projected cash flows.

What will be a multi year spillover effect of various taxation regulations.

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

What can impact the cash flow of the project.

What are the uncertainties surrounding the project Initial Cash Outlay (ICO’s). ICO’s often have several different components such as land, machinery, building, and other equipment.

Some of the assumptions while using the Discounted Cash Flow Methods –

Projects are assumed to be Mutually Exclusive – This is seldom the came in modern day giant organizations where projects are often inter-related and rejecting a project solely based on NPV can result in sunk cost from a related project.

Independent projects have independent cash flows – As explained in the marketing project – though the project may look independent but in reality it is not as the brand awareness project can be closely associated with the spending on sales promotions and product specific advertising.

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Negotiation Strategy of Campbell and Bailyn's Boston Office: Managing the Reorganization

References & Further Readings

Anne Donnellon, Dun Gifford Jr. (2018), "Campbell and Bailyn's Boston Office: Managing the Reorganization Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.