Law Enforcement and Unauthorized Building Works: Illegal Structures and the Hong Kong Buildings Department 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 Law Enforcement and Unauthorized Building Works: Illegal Structures and the Hong Kong Buildings Department case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Law Enforcement and Unauthorized Building Works: Illegal Structures and the Hong Kong Buildings Department case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Howard Husock, Herman Leonard. The Law Enforcement and Unauthorized Building Works: Illegal Structures and the Hong Kong Buildings Department (referred as “Structures Buildings” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Strategy & Execution. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Policy, Public relations, Regulation, Security & privacy, Strategic planning.

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 Law Enforcement and Unauthorized Building Works: Illegal Structures and the Hong Kong Buildings Department Case Study

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, high atop a great many of the older, concrete-block buildings of lower-income parts of central Hong Kong and the neighborhoods of the Kowloon peninsula, informal metal-framed wooden structures were built to house thousands of the city's families in austere, though inexpensive, quarters. These "illegal rooftop structures" comprised what could be a called a shantytown of the air, one made up of structures which, though built illegally, were nonetheless bought, sold, and rented on the open market. Such structures, moreover, were just one example of the larger phenomenon of so-called unauthorized building works in Hong Kong. These UBWs, as they were known in the city's Buildings Department, included balconies added to windows-sometimes used for beds on which people slept high in the air-as well as hundreds of thousands of storefront street signs and canopy extensions to the ground floors of buildings in commercial districts, the latter used to create spaces rented to stores and restaurants. By 1999, it was estimated that UBWs of all kinds in Hong Kong totaled a staggering 800,000. By one estimate, if authorities continued enforcement as they had been doing, it would take more than 130 years to effect the removal of all such structures-assuming that new ones were not built in their place. This case raises the thorny question of the extent to which and methods by which Hong Kong should use the law to minimize or eliminate such unauthorized building works-in a city where some parts of the public care most about public safety, while others-often much poorer-care most about shelter. HKS Case Number 1631.0

Case Authors : Howard Husock, Herman Leonard

Topic : Strategy & Execution

Related Areas : Policy, Public relations, Regulation, Security & privacy, Strategic planning

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Law Enforcement and Unauthorized Building Works: Illegal Structures and the Hong Kong Buildings Department Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10027181)	-10027181	-	-
Year 1	3470453	-6556728	3470453	0.9434	3274012
Year 2	3979331	-2577397	7449784	0.89	3541590
Year 3	3973320	1395923	11423104	0.8396	3336076
Year 4	3225903	4621826	14649007	0.7921	2555217
TOTAL			14649007		12706896

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2679715

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. 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 Structures Buildings 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. Structures Buildings 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 Law Enforcement and Unauthorized Building Works: Illegal Structures and the Hong Kong Buildings Department

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 Structures Buildings 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 Structures Buildings 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	(10027181)	-10027181	-	-
Year 1	3470453	-6556728	3470453	0.8696	3017785
Year 2	3979331	-2577397	7449784	0.7561	3008946
Year 3	3973320	1395923	11423104	0.6575	2612522
Year 4	3225903	4621826	14649007	0.5718	1844421
TOTAL					10483674

The Net NPV after 4 years is 456493

(10483674 - 10027181 )

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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	(10027181)	-10027181	-	-
Year 1	3470453	-6556728	3470453	0.8333	2892044
Year 2	3979331	-2577397	7449784	0.6944	2763424
Year 3	3973320	1395923	11423104	0.5787	2299375
Year 4	3225903	4621826	14649007	0.4823	1555702
TOTAL					9510545

The Net NPV after 4 years is -516636

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9510545 - 10027181 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Structures Buildings 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 Structures Buildings has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Structures Buildings 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 Structures Buildings, then the stock price of the Structures Buildings 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 Structures Buildings 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 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 will be a multi year spillover effect of various taxation regulations.

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 Law Enforcement and Unauthorized Building Works: Illegal Structures and the Hong Kong Buildings Department

References & Further Readings

Howard Husock, Herman Leonard (2018), "Law Enforcement and Unauthorized Building Works: Illegal Structures and the Hong Kong Buildings Department Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.