SomPack: If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them? 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 SomPack: If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them? case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. SomPack: If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them? case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Sema Dube, Manu Dube. The SomPack: If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them? (referred as “Cheaper Quality” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Sales & Marketing. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Financial management, Globalization, IT, Manufacturing, Marketing, Product development, Strategic planning.

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 SomPack: If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them? Case Study

This case considers attempts by a Turkish manufacturer of cosmetics packaging to trade off quality for cost, in order to compete with the influx of low-cost products from China. It describes the challenges faced by SomPack management in their effort to survive in the face of low-cost Chinese competition as well as the credit crisis. The company had grown because of its focus on quality and customer relations, but had to slash costs first in response to foreign competition and then again due to the global credit crisis. The case discusses many facets of the company's strategy: company efforts at automation to reduce labour costs in conjunction with their efforts to reduce product quality for parts that were to have automated assembly; use of cheaper raw material that required specialized equipment; use of cheaper costs in conjunction with their efforts to reduce product quality for parts that were to have automated assembly; use of cheaper raw material that required specialized equipment; use of cheaper machines that were not acceptable to customers who required high-quality manufacturing; implementation issues with a lower-cost ERP system; and attempts at outsourcing certain components. Decisions to reduce the quality of either processes or products must be made with great care: even though they are meant to be short-term survival measures, they can create significant short-term disruptions apart from potential long-term problems, such as making the company less attractive as a supplier to customers who may still prefer quality and service over cost.

Case Authors : Sema Dube, Manu Dube

Topic : Sales & Marketing

Related Areas : Financial management, Globalization, IT, Manufacturing, Marketing, Product development, Strategic planning

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for SomPack: If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them? Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10025338)	-10025338	-	-
Year 1	3470219	-6555119	3470219	0.9434	3273792
Year 2	3958949	-2596170	7429168	0.89	3523451
Year 3	3972903	1376733	11402071	0.8396	3335726
Year 4	3249012	4625745	14651083	0.7921	2573522
TOTAL			14651083		12706490

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2681152

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. Magnitude of both incoming and outgoing cash flows – Projects can be capital intensive, time intensive, or both. Cheaper Quality 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 Cheaper Quality 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 SomPack: If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them?

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 Sales & Marketing 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 Cheaper Quality 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 Cheaper Quality 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	(10025338)	-10025338	-	-
Year 1	3470219	-6555119	3470219	0.8696	3017582
Year 2	3958949	-2596170	7429168	0.7561	2993534
Year 3	3972903	1376733	11402071	0.6575	2612248
Year 4	3249012	4625745	14651083	0.5718	1857633
TOTAL					10480997

The Net NPV after 4 years is 455659

(10480997 - 10025338 )

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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	(10025338)	-10025338	-	-
Year 1	3470219	-6555119	3470219	0.8333	2891849
Year 2	3958949	-2596170	7429168	0.6944	2749270
Year 3	3972903	1376733	11402071	0.5787	2299134
Year 4	3249012	4625745	14651083	0.4823	1566846
TOTAL					9507099

The Net NPV after 4 years is -518239

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9507099 - 10025338 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Cheaper Quality 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 Cheaper Quality has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Cheaper Quality 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 Cheaper Quality, then the stock price of the Cheaper Quality 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 Cheaper Quality 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.

Understanding of risks involved in 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.

What can impact the cash flow of the project.

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

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 SomPack: If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them?

References & Further Readings

Sema Dube, Manu Dube (2018), "SomPack: If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them? Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.