El Diablo: The Corner Cleaner Affair 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 El Diablo: The Corner Cleaner Affair case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. El Diablo: The Corner Cleaner Affair case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Gregory Fairchild. The El Diablo: The Corner Cleaner Affair (referred as “Diablo El” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Sales & Marketing. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Communication, Conflict, Crisis management, Ethics, Marketing, Social responsibility.

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 El Diablo: The Corner Cleaner Affair Case Study

This case involves the decision of a publishing company, El Diablo, to target a traditionally underserved market with a series of books about gang life and street vigilantism. The decision has repercussions within the firm, as collegial relationships are tested by office politics, and outside of the firm, where community response to the project is less than positive. Civil rights groups challenge the company's development of pulp fiction targeted at black youths as unethical and likely to lead them to violence. Also, the hiring of a minority candidate by the minority director of the new products division is questioned by top management. The case raises difficult questions: Does a corporation have a civic duty to its target audience? How might that manifest itself? At the intersection of profit and responsibility, who has the right of way? (Role-play opportunities are explained in the teaching note.)

Case Authors : Gregory Fairchild

Topic : Sales & Marketing

Related Areas : Communication, Conflict, Crisis management, Ethics, Marketing, Social responsibility

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for El Diablo: The Corner Cleaner Affair Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10010953)	-10010953	-	-
Year 1	3459170	-6551783	3459170	0.9434	3263368
Year 2	3954321	-2597462	7413491	0.89	3519332
Year 3	3973203	1375741	11386694	0.8396	3335978
Year 4	3233219	4608960	14619913	0.7921	2561012
TOTAL			14619913		12679690

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2668737

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. Internal Rate of Return
2. Payback Period
3. Profitability Index
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. Magnitude of both incoming and outgoing cash flows – Projects can be capital intensive, time intensive, or both. Diablo El 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 Diablo El 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 El Diablo: The Corner Cleaner Affair

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 Diablo El 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 Diablo El 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	(10010953)	-10010953	-	-
Year 1	3459170	-6551783	3459170	0.8696	3007974
Year 2	3954321	-2597462	7413491	0.7561	2990035
Year 3	3973203	1375741	11386694	0.6575	2612445
Year 4	3233219	4608960	14619913	0.5718	1848603
TOTAL					10459058

The Net NPV after 4 years is 448105

(10459058 - 10010953 )

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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	(10010953)	-10010953	-	-
Year 1	3459170	-6551783	3459170	0.8333	2882642
Year 2	3954321	-2597462	7413491	0.6944	2746056
Year 3	3973203	1375741	11386694	0.5787	2299307
Year 4	3233219	4608960	14619913	0.4823	1559230
TOTAL					9487235

The Net NPV after 4 years is -523718

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9487235 - 10010953 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Diablo El 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 Diablo El has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Diablo El 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 Diablo El, then the stock price of the Diablo El 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 Diablo El 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 El Diablo: The Corner Cleaner Affair

References & Further Readings

Gregory Fairchild (2018), "El Diablo: The Corner Cleaner Affair Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.