Christina Gold Leading Change at Western Union 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 Christina Gold Leading Change at Western Union case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Christina Gold Leading Change at Western Union case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Alison Konrad, Jordan Mitchell. The Christina Gold Leading Change at Western Union (referred as “Western Change” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Organizational Development. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Globalization, Leadership, Organizational culture, 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.

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

---

Case Description of Christina Gold Leading Change at Western Union Case Study

The chief executive officer of Western Union had just begun implementing a new organization structure. Changing the structure sent a clear message about Gold's desire to change the company's mindset to a new more global one. Already the CEO was finding that leaders in the United States were reluctant to give up control of product lines. At the regional level, she had good leaders in place who wanted to push out the responsibility within their own regions and move toward a decentralized plan. Although the CEO supported this notion in principle, she wanted to ensure that the right leaders could be placed in decentralized offices to execute on the six strategic pillars that she had laid out for the organization. One thing was certain--the CEO had made it clear that no revenue decreases would be forgiven amidst the change. Many considerations had arisen: What pace of change should she take? How would she deal with resistance to change? How could she ensure that the new structure would support Western Union's global expansion?

Case Authors : Alison Konrad, Jordan Mitchell

Topic : Organizational Development

Related Areas : Globalization, Leadership, Organizational culture, Organizational structure

---

Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Christina Gold Leading Change at Western Union Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10004283)	-10004283	-	-
Year 1	3451224	-6553059	3451224	0.9434	3255872
Year 2	3970649	-2582410	7421873	0.89	3533863
Year 3	3969575	1387165	11391448	0.8396	3332932
Year 4	3235067	4622232	14626515	0.7921	2562476
TOTAL			14626515		12685143

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2680860

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.

---

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. Profitability Index
3. Internal Rate of Return
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. Magnitude of both incoming and outgoing cash flows – Projects can be capital intensive, time intensive, or both. Western Change 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 Western Change have higher preference for cash returns over 4-5 years rather than 10-15 years given the nature of the volatility in the industry.

---

Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of Christina Gold Leading Change at Western Union

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 Western Change 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 Western Change 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	(10004283)	-10004283	-	-
Year 1	3451224	-6553059	3451224	0.8696	3001064
Year 2	3970649	-2582410	7421873	0.7561	3002381
Year 3	3969575	1387165	11391448	0.6575	2610060
Year 4	3235067	4622232	14626515	0.5718	1849660
TOTAL					10463165

The Net NPV after 4 years is 458882

(10463165 - 10004283 )

---

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	(10004283)	-10004283	-	-
Year 1	3451224	-6553059	3451224	0.8333	2876020
Year 2	3970649	-2582410	7421873	0.6944	2757395
Year 3	3969575	1387165	11391448	0.5787	2297208
Year 4	3235067	4622232	14626515	0.4823	1560121
TOTAL					9490744

The Net NPV after 4 years is -513539

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9490744 - 10004283 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Western Change 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 Western Change has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Western Change 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 Western Change, then the stock price of the Western Change 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 Western Change 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 –

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

What can impact the cash flow of the project.

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

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

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.

---

Negotiation Strategy of Christina Gold Leading Change at Western Union

References & Further Readings

Alison Konrad, Jordan Mitchell (2018), "Christina Gold Leading Change at Western Union Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.