Introduction to Net Present Value (NPV) - What is Net Present Value (NPV) ? How it impacts financial decisions regarding project management?
At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. LinkedIn and Modern Recruiting (A) case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Kathryn Shaw, Debra Schifrin. The LinkedIn and Modern Recruiting (A) (referred as “Linkedin Recruiting” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Organizational Development. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Data, Diversity, Human resource management, Organizational structure.
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.
In 2015, LinkedIn, the world's largest professional network, was experiencing explosive growth, and it needed to hire the very best people quickly to support and fuel that growth. This case discusses LinkedIn's hiring approach and details how the company used its own online recruiting products, such as LinkedIn Talent Solutions, to attract and retain talent. At the same time, the company was creating new recruiting models that put it at the forefront of modern recruiting. LinkedIn had done well so far in bringing in top talent. Nevertheless, as it rapidly scaled, the challenge was making sure the company could compete with other tech firms to attract enough highly skilled engineers. The case explains specific techniques that LinkedIn's recruiting team of over 100 people used to attract talented candidates for positions in engineering, sales, and other departments. Those techniques included: 1) replacing cold calling potential candidates with finding "warm connections" to them through their LinkedIn networks; 2) using a data-driven approach to identify the best candidates to pursue; and 3) developing personalized online relationships with top candidates. LinkedIn made internal hiring a priority. For external hires, the company focused heavily on recruiting passive candidates-people were who already gainfully employed and not necessarily looking for a new job. The case also discusses LinkedIn's employee value proposition, focusing on the extraordinary opportunities employees were given for "transformation" once they joined the LinkedIn team. These opportunities included personal advancement through a smooth path to change jobs within LinkedIn if they wished, as well as formal and informal programs designed for employees to pursue their passions-and share their experiences. "LinkedIn and Modern Recruiting (B)" goes into more detail about LinkedIn's data-driven approach, new recruitment innovations, and diversity scorecard.
| Years | Cash Flow | Net Cash Flow | Cumulative Cash Flow |
Discount Rate @ 6 % |
Discounted Cash Flows |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 0 | (10027341) | -10027341 | - | - | |
| Year 1 | 3460373 | -6566968 | 3460373 | 0.9434 | 3264503 |
| Year 2 | 3958954 | -2608014 | 7419327 | 0.89 | 3523455 |
| Year 3 | 3944832 | 1336818 | 11364159 | 0.8396 | 3312157 |
| Year 4 | 3249881 | 4586699 | 14614040 | 0.7921 | 2574210 |
| TOTAL | 14614040 | 12674325 |
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 -
Capital Budgeting Approaches
There are four types of capital budgeting techniques that are widely used in the corporate world –
1. Internal Rate of Return
2. Profitability Index
3. Payback Period
4. Net Present Value
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 Linkedin Recruiting 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. Linkedin Recruiting shareholders have preference for diversified projects investment rather than prospective high income from a single capital intensive project.
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
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 Linkedin Recruiting 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 Linkedin Recruiting 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.
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 | (10027341) | -10027341 | - | - | |
| Year 1 | 3460373 | -6566968 | 3460373 | 0.8696 | 3009020 |
| Year 2 | 3958954 | -2608014 | 7419327 | 0.7561 | 2993538 |
| Year 3 | 3944832 | 1336818 | 11364159 | 0.6575 | 2593791 |
| Year 4 | 3249881 | 4586699 | 14614040 | 0.5718 | 1858130 |
| TOTAL | 10454479 |
(10454479 - 10027341 )
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 | (10027341) | -10027341 | - | - | |
| Year 1 | 3460373 | -6566968 | 3460373 | 0.8333 | 2883644 |
| Year 2 | 3958954 | -2608014 | 7419327 | 0.6944 | 2749274 |
| Year 3 | 3944832 | 1336818 | 11364159 | 0.5787 | 2282889 |
| Year 4 | 3249881 | 4586699 | 14614040 | 0.4823 | 1567265 |
| TOTAL | 9483072 |
At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9483072 - 10027341 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Linkedin Recruiting to discount cash flow at lower discount rates such as 15%.
Simplest Approach – If the investment project of Linkedin Recruiting has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Linkedin Recruiting 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 Linkedin Recruiting, then the stock price of the Linkedin Recruiting 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.
Project selection is often a far more complex decision than just choosing it based on the NPV number. Finance managers at Linkedin Recruiting 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.
What will be a multi year spillover effect of various taxation regulations.
What can impact the cash flow of the project.
What are the key aspects of the projects that need to be monitored, refined, and retuned for continuous delivery of projected cash flows.
Understanding of risks involved in the project.
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.
Kathryn Shaw, Debra Schifrin (2018), "LinkedIn and Modern Recruiting (A) Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.
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