Russian Standard 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 Russian Standard case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Russian Standard case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Rohit Deshpande. The Russian Standard (referred as “Russian Tariko” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Sales & Marketing. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Corporate communications, Cross-cultural management, Sales.

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 Russian Standard Case Study

In September 2006, Russian billionaire Roustam Tariko, founder and owner of Russian Standard, needed to develop a strategy for introducing Russia's most popular brand of premium vodka (RSO) to American consumers. In the past year, he had introduced Imperia, the firm's flagship ultra-premium vodka, in the U.S. market; lined up American importation and distribution partners for Russian Standard; and had worked hard to build excitement for the brand. Beyond establishing RSO's stylishness, Tariko needed to carve out a space for the brand in the crowded American market. Imperia's marketing had emphasized two attributes, superior quality and Russian-ness. In articulating RSO's advertising strategy and tagline, Tariko would need to decide once and for all which attribute to emphasize. He would also need to decide how to articulate this attribute so as to develop discrete identities for each of the two brands. Would Americans respond better to a claim of authenticity, or to a claim of unparalleled purity? And which were RSO and Imperia best equipped to exploit?

Case Authors : Rohit Deshpande

Topic : Sales & Marketing

Related Areas : Corporate communications, Cross-cultural management, Sales

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Russian Standard Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10007981)	-10007981	-	-
Year 1	3469165	-6538816	3469165	0.9434	3272797
Year 2	3980412	-2558404	7449577	0.89	3542553
Year 3	3959394	1400990	11408971	0.8396	3324384
Year 4	3233005	4633995	14641976	0.7921	2560843
TOTAL			14641976		12700576

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2692595

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. Profitability Index
2. Internal Rate of Return
3. Payback Period
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 Russian Tariko 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. Russian Tariko shareholders have preference for diversified projects investment rather than prospective high income from a single capital intensive project.

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Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of Russian Standard

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 Russian Tariko 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 Russian Tariko 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	(10007981)	-10007981	-	-
Year 1	3469165	-6538816	3469165	0.8696	3016665
Year 2	3980412	-2558404	7449577	0.7561	3009763
Year 3	3959394	1400990	11408971	0.6575	2603366
Year 4	3233005	4633995	14641976	0.5718	1848481
TOTAL					10478275

The Net NPV after 4 years is 470294

(10478275 - 10007981 )

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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	(10007981)	-10007981	-	-
Year 1	3469165	-6538816	3469165	0.8333	2890971
Year 2	3980412	-2558404	7449577	0.6944	2764175
Year 3	3959394	1400990	11408971	0.5787	2291316
Year 4	3233005	4633995	14641976	0.4823	1559127
TOTAL					9505588

The Net NPV after 4 years is -502393

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9505588 - 10007981 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Russian Tariko 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 Russian Tariko has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Russian Tariko 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 Russian Tariko, then the stock price of the Russian Tariko 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 Russian Tariko 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 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 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.

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 Russian Standard

References & Further Readings

Rohit Deshpande (2018), "Russian Standard Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.