Started as Crew (B): Darlene Calhoun and McDonald's 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 Started as Crew (B): Darlene Calhoun and McDonald's case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Started as Crew (B): Darlene Calhoun and McDonald's case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Pat Werhane, Laura Pincus Hartman, Justin Sheehan, Jenny Mead. The Started as Crew (B): Darlene Calhoun and McDonald's (referred as “Mcdonald's Darlene” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Organizational Development. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Diversity, Ethics, Human resource management, Leadership, Motivating people.

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 Started as Crew (B): Darlene Calhoun and McDonald's Case Study

This is a Darden case study.McDonald's Corporation, the behemoth of the fast food industry, has taken its share of criticism-even ridicule-over the years. The image of the company suffered as the public began to perceive its jobs as dead-end, unskilled, and unstimulating. The term "McJob," coined by an author in 1991, was slang for a low-paying job that required little skill and provided little opportunity for advancement. But in many ways, McDonald's Corporation defied norms, using a combination of promotion-from-within strategy and benchmark employee training programs to develop an abundant pool of human capital. The company was deeply committed to its employees who "started as crew" coming up through the ranks, receiving the necessary training at its own Hamburger University. This case tells the story of Darlene Calhoun, who started working at a McDonald's as a cashier in 1977 and, 20 years later, was supervising five McDonald's stores in the Chicago area.

Case Authors : Pat Werhane, Laura Pincus Hartman, Justin Sheehan, Jenny Mead

Topic : Organizational Development

Related Areas : Diversity, Ethics, Human resource management, Leadership, Motivating people

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Started as Crew (B): Darlene Calhoun and McDonald's Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10007539)	-10007539	-	-
Year 1	3463194	-6544345	3463194	0.9434	3267164
Year 2	3959261	-2585084	7422455	0.89	3523728
Year 3	3943064	1357980	11365519	0.8396	3310673
Year 4	3231822	4589802	14597341	0.7921	2559906
TOTAL			14597341		12661471

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2653932

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

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

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Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of Started as Crew (B): Darlene Calhoun and McDonald's

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 Mcdonald's Darlene 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 Mcdonald's Darlene 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	(10007539)	-10007539	-	-
Year 1	3463194	-6544345	3463194	0.8696	3011473
Year 2	3959261	-2585084	7422455	0.7561	2993770
Year 3	3943064	1357980	11365519	0.6575	2592629
Year 4	3231822	4589802	14597341	0.5718	1847805
TOTAL					10445676

The Net NPV after 4 years is 438137

(10445676 - 10007539 )

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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	(10007539)	-10007539	-	-
Year 1	3463194	-6544345	3463194	0.8333	2885995
Year 2	3959261	-2585084	7422455	0.6944	2749487
Year 3	3943064	1357980	11365519	0.5787	2281866
Year 4	3231822	4589802	14597341	0.4823	1558556
TOTAL					9475904

The Net NPV after 4 years is -531635

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9475904 - 10007539 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Mcdonald's Darlene 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 Mcdonald's Darlene has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Mcdonald's Darlene 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 Mcdonald's Darlene, then the stock price of the Mcdonald's Darlene 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 Mcdonald's Darlene 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 uncertainties surrounding the project Initial Cash Outlay (ICO’s). ICO’s often have several different components such as land, machinery, building, and other equipment.

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

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

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

What can impact the cash flow of the project.

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 Started as Crew (B): Darlene Calhoun and McDonald's

References & Further Readings

Pat Werhane, Laura Pincus Hartman, Justin Sheehan, Jenny Mead (2018), "Started as Crew (B): Darlene Calhoun and McDonald's Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.