Religion in the Workplace: A Managerial Outline for Navigating the Law at the Intersection of Business and Religion 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 Religion in the Workplace: A Managerial Outline for Navigating the Law at the Intersection of Business and Religion case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Religion in the Workplace: A Managerial Outline for Navigating the Law at the Intersection of Business and Religion case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Andrew C Wicks, Jenny Mead, Eric Haight. The Religion in the Workplace: A Managerial Outline for Navigating the Law at the Intersection of Business and Religion (referred as “Religious Law” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Sales & Marketing. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Organizational culture, Personnel policies.

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 Religion in the Workplace: A Managerial Outline for Navigating the Law at the Intersection of Business and Religion Case Study

This technical note provides an overview of religious discrimination law in the United States and provides managers with a meaningful understanding of their rights and obligations when an employee's religious beliefs or practices conflict with his or her work responsibilities. The analysis will touch on intentional discrimination and harassment ("I'm firing you because you're Christian/Jewish/Other"), types of religious discrimination that are readily identifiable and resolvable. Less obviously, U.S. law requires that employers provide "reasonable accommodation" whenever a religiously neutral business practice interferes with an employee's religious practice; this reasonable accommodation doctrine is more complex and nuanced. Providing reasonable accommodation presents obstacles for managers that are as legalistically dense as they are financially treacherous. This note aims to help managers identify blatantly illegal practices, but it also aims to assist management in navigating the gray areas where the law is underdeveloped or inconsistently applied. The law often provides vignettes of what managers legally can or cannot do, but neither laws nor cases interpreting them provide clear answers for managers attempting to handle challenging religious issues that arise in their firms. Finally, while digesting the information provided in this note, managers must remember that this analysis describes legal solutions, not managerial ones.

Case Authors : Andrew C Wicks, Jenny Mead, Eric Haight

Topic : Sales & Marketing

Related Areas : Organizational culture, Personnel policies

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Religion in the Workplace: A Managerial Outline for Navigating the Law at the Intersection of Business and Religion Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10029024)	-10029024	-	-
Year 1	3472102	-6556922	3472102	0.9434	3275568
Year 2	3979121	-2577801	7451223	0.89	3541404
Year 3	3964915	1387114	11416138	0.8396	3329019
Year 4	3242777	4629891	14658915	0.7921	2568583
TOTAL			14658915		12714574

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2685550

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. Profitability Index
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. Magnitude of both incoming and outgoing cash flows – Projects can be capital intensive, time intensive, or both. Religious Law 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 Religious Law 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 Religion in the Workplace: A Managerial Outline for Navigating the Law at the Intersection of Business and Religion

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 Religious Law 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 Religious Law 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	(10029024)	-10029024	-	-
Year 1	3472102	-6556922	3472102	0.8696	3019219
Year 2	3979121	-2577801	7451223	0.7561	3008787
Year 3	3964915	1387114	11416138	0.6575	2606996
Year 4	3242777	4629891	14658915	0.5718	1854068
TOTAL					10489071

The Net NPV after 4 years is 460047

(10489071 - 10029024 )

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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	(10029024)	-10029024	-	-
Year 1	3472102	-6556922	3472102	0.8333	2893418
Year 2	3979121	-2577801	7451223	0.6944	2763278
Year 3	3964915	1387114	11416138	0.5787	2294511
Year 4	3242777	4629891	14658915	0.4823	1563839
TOTAL					9515047

The Net NPV after 4 years is -513977

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9515047 - 10029024 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Religious Law 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 Religious Law has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Religious Law 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 Religious Law, then the stock price of the Religious Law 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 Religious Law 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 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.

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 Religion in the Workplace: A Managerial Outline for Navigating the Law at the Intersection of Business and Religion

References & Further Readings

Andrew C Wicks, Jenny Mead, Eric Haight (2018), "Religion in the Workplace: A Managerial Outline for Navigating the Law at the Intersection of Business and Religion Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.