Wastewater Recycling: Public Relations for a Controversial Technology 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 Wastewater Recycling: Public Relations for a Controversial Technology case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Wastewater Recycling: Public Relations for a Controversial Technology case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Kenneth W. Shotts, Ashish Jhina, David W. Hoyt. The Wastewater Recycling: Public Relations for a Controversial Technology (referred as “Recycling Water” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Strategy & Execution. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, International business, Public relations, Risk management.

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 Wastewater Recycling: Public Relations for a Controversial Technology Case Study

A reliable, safe, supply of drinking water is essential to the survival of communities. In many places the water supply is under stress-a condition that is expected to get progressively more challenging in the future. There are several ways that municipalities can improve their drinking water supply, including conservation, purchases from external suppliers, desalination, and recycling. Recycling wastewater into potable water is attractive in many situations. However, this alternative has not always been successful-in some cases, public opposition has defeated recycling plans, while public concerns have been successfully addressed in others. This case gives an overview of water supply issues and examples of successful and unsuccessful attempts to implement recycling programs. Programs in Singapore and Orange County, California are profiled as examples of successful recycling efforts, while failures in San Diego, California, and Toowoomba, Australia are described.

Case Authors : Kenneth W. Shotts, Ashish Jhina, David W. Hoyt

Topic : Strategy & Execution

Related Areas : International business, Public relations, Risk management

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Wastewater Recycling: Public Relations for a Controversial Technology Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10015913)	-10015913	-	-
Year 1	3453230	-6562683	3453230	0.9434	3257764
Year 2	3973143	-2589540	7426373	0.89	3536083
Year 3	3957963	1368423	11384336	0.8396	3323182
Year 4	3229360	4597783	14613696	0.7921	2557956
TOTAL			14613696		12674985

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2659072

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. Net Present Value
2. Payback Period
3. Profitability Index
4. Internal Rate of Return

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. Recycling Water 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 Recycling Water 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 Wastewater Recycling: Public Relations for a Controversial Technology

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 Strategy & Execution 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 Recycling Water 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 Recycling Water 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	(10015913)	-10015913	-	-
Year 1	3453230	-6562683	3453230	0.8696	3002809
Year 2	3973143	-2589540	7426373	0.7561	3004267
Year 3	3957963	1368423	11384336	0.6575	2602425
Year 4	3229360	4597783	14613696	0.5718	1846397
TOTAL					10455898

The Net NPV after 4 years is 439985

(10455898 - 10015913 )

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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	(10015913)	-10015913	-	-
Year 1	3453230	-6562683	3453230	0.8333	2877692
Year 2	3973143	-2589540	7426373	0.6944	2759127
Year 3	3957963	1368423	11384336	0.5787	2290488
Year 4	3229360	4597783	14613696	0.4823	1557369
TOTAL					9484675

The Net NPV after 4 years is -531238

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9484675 - 10015913 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Recycling Water 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 Recycling Water has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Recycling Water 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 Recycling Water, then the stock price of the Recycling Water 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 Recycling Water 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.

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

Understanding of risks involved in 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 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 Wastewater Recycling: Public Relations for a Controversial Technology

References & Further Readings

Kenneth W. Shotts, Ashish Jhina, David W. Hoyt (2018), "Wastewater Recycling: Public Relations for a Controversial Technology Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.