×




Personal Shoppers at Sears: The Elf Initiative 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 Personal Shoppers at Sears: The Elf Initiative case study


At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Personal Shoppers at Sears: The Elf Initiative case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Kyle Murray, Chandra Sekhar Ramasastry. The Personal Shoppers at Sears: The Elf Initiative (referred as “Sears Elf” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Sales & Marketing. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Customer service, Customers.

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 Personal Shoppers at Sears: The Elf Initiative Case Study


The senior vice-president of Corporate Store Sales, Sears Canada (Sears), was reviewing a new retailing initiative scheduled to launch within a month in all full-line Sears department stores across Canada. For the holiday season, Sears would offer the services of an elf, the equivalent of a personal shopper, to its customers. Although personal shoppers were common in upscale department stores, especially in the United States, this concept had not been tried in Sears stores. Taylor wondered how customers would respond to this novel concept in Canadian retailing.


Case Authors : Kyle Murray, Chandra Sekhar Ramasastry

Topic : Sales & Marketing

Related Areas : Customer service, Customers




Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Personal Shoppers at Sears: The Elf Initiative Case Study


Years              Cash Flow     Net Cash Flow     Cumulative    
Cash Flow
Discount Rate
@ 6 %
Discounted
Cash Flows
Year 0 (10006324) -10006324 - -
Year 1 3460490 -6545834 3460490 0.9434 3264613
Year 2 3960342 -2585492 7420832 0.89 3524690
Year 3 3936718 1351226 11357550 0.8396 3305344
Year 4 3222587 4573813 14580137 0.7921 2552591
TOTAL 14580137 12647239




The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2640915

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. Payback Period
2. Internal Rate of Return
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. Timing of the expected cash flows – stockholders of Sears Elf 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. Sears Elf shareholders have preference for diversified projects investment rather than prospective high income from a single capital intensive project.






Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of Personal Shoppers at Sears: The Elf Initiative

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 Sears Elf 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 Sears Elf 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 (10006324) -10006324 - -
Year 1 3460490 -6545834 3460490 0.8696 3009122
Year 2 3960342 -2585492 7420832 0.7561 2994588
Year 3 3936718 1351226 11357550 0.6575 2588456
Year 4 3222587 4573813 14580137 0.5718 1842525
TOTAL 10434690


The Net NPV after 4 years is 428366

(10434690 - 10006324 )








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 (10006324) -10006324 - -
Year 1 3460490 -6545834 3460490 0.8333 2883742
Year 2 3960342 -2585492 7420832 0.6944 2750238
Year 3 3936718 1351226 11357550 0.5787 2278193
Year 4 3222587 4573813 14580137 0.4823 1554103
TOTAL 9466275


The Net NPV after 4 years is -540049

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9466275 - 10006324 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Sears Elf 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 Sears Elf has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Sears Elf 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 Sears Elf, then the stock price of the Sears Elf 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 Sears Elf 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 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.

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

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.

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 Personal Shoppers at Sears: The Elf Initiative

References & Further Readings

Kyle Murray, Chandra Sekhar Ramasastry (2018), "Personal Shoppers at Sears: The Elf Initiative Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.


Athenex SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix

Healthcare , Biotechnology & Drugs


Flower One SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix

Healthcare , Biotechnology & Drugs


CBI Ltd SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix

Healthcare , Biotechnology & Drugs


Major SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix

Services , Retail (Specialty)


Shandong Lukang Pharm SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix

Healthcare , Biotechnology & Drugs


Acciona SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix

Utilities , Electric Utilities


Seaspan SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix

Transportation , Water Transportation


XinJiang Beiken Energy SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix

Energy , Oil Well Services & Equipment


Caely SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix

Consumer Cyclical , Apparel/Accessories