Creating a Corporate Identity for a $20 Billion Start-up: Lucent Technologies 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 Creating a Corporate Identity for a $20 Billion Start-up: Lucent Technologies case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Creating a Corporate Identity for a $20 Billion Start-up: Lucent Technologies case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Stephen A. Greyser, Peter L. Phillips. The Creating a Corporate Identity for a $20 Billion Start-up: Lucent Technologies (referred as “Identity Lucent” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Sales & Marketing. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Design, IT, Product development.

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 Creating a Corporate Identity for a $20 Billion Start-up: Lucent Technologies Case Study

The creation of Lucent Technologies was the result of AT&T's "trivestiture" in 1995. In this split, three companies were formed: AT&T, a $50 billion telecommunications services company; NCR, a computer firm; and an unnamed $20 billion "Systems and Technology" company that designed, built, and delivered a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, consumer and business telephone systems, and microelectronics components. Given that AT&T was one of the largest, oldest, and best known corporations in the world, the new "S&T" company's management was faced with a series of strategic issues which had to be resolved quickly. Presents the process used by the company and its corporate identity consultants to identify corporate values that were important in the marketplace, to create a name for the company, to design a logo and identity system, and to implement the strategy. Also provides an opportunity to follow the process used by a company at the time of change in its identity and positioning in the marketplace. Such change may come as the result of a merger, acquisition, new alliance or, as in this case, the result of a spin-off. Comparing this process to the one generally followed in the formation of a truly new "start-up" venture; analyzing the effect of business, financial, and regulatory pressures on the process; and examining the role of consultants and research in the development of a name and visual identity for the company. Comparisons to current publicized examples of identity change can foster meaningful debate in the classroom.

Case Authors : Stephen A. Greyser, Peter L. Phillips

Topic : Sales & Marketing

Related Areas : Design, IT, Product development

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Creating a Corporate Identity for a $20 Billion Start-up: Lucent Technologies Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10028857)	-10028857	-	-
Year 1	3470209	-6558648	3470209	0.9434	3273782
Year 2	3964353	-2594295	7434562	0.89	3528260
Year 3	3954584	1360289	11389146	0.8396	3320345
Year 4	3240068	4600357	14629214	0.7921	2566437
TOTAL			14629214		12688824

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2659967

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. Payback Period
2. Profitability Index
3. Internal Rate of Return
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. Identity Lucent 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 Identity Lucent 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 Creating a Corporate Identity for a $20 Billion Start-up: Lucent Technologies

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 Identity Lucent 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 Identity Lucent 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	(10028857)	-10028857	-	-
Year 1	3470209	-6558648	3470209	0.8696	3017573
Year 2	3964353	-2594295	7434562	0.7561	2997620
Year 3	3954584	1360289	11389146	0.6575	2600203
Year 4	3240068	4600357	14629214	0.5718	1852519
TOTAL					10467916

The Net NPV after 4 years is 439059

(10467916 - 10028857 )

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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	(10028857)	-10028857	-	-
Year 1	3470209	-6558648	3470209	0.8333	2891841
Year 2	3964353	-2594295	7434562	0.6944	2753023
Year 3	3954584	1360289	11389146	0.5787	2288532
Year 4	3240068	4600357	14629214	0.4823	1562533
TOTAL					9495929

The Net NPV after 4 years is -532928

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9495929 - 10028857 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Identity Lucent 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 Identity Lucent has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Identity Lucent 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 Identity Lucent, then the stock price of the Identity Lucent 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 Identity Lucent 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 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.

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.

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Negotiation Strategy of Creating a Corporate Identity for a $20 Billion Start-up: Lucent Technologies

References & Further Readings

Stephen A. Greyser, Peter L. Phillips (2018), "Creating a Corporate Identity for a $20 Billion Start-up: Lucent Technologies Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.