Raising the Bar With Analytics 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 Raising the Bar With Analytics case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Raising the Bar With Analytics case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by David Kiron, Pamela Kirk Prentice, Renee Boucher Ferguson. The Raising the Bar With Analytics (referred as “Analytics Respondents” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Strategy & Execution. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Strategy.

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 Raising the Bar With Analytics Case Study

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. A majority of managers see the importance of increasing the use of analytics in decision making, according to a recent survey of 2,037 managers conducted by MIT Sloan Management Review, in partnership with SAS Institute.More than half of this year's survey respondents strongly agree that their organization needs to step up the use of analytics to make better business decisions -and that percentage rises to 87% if respondents who agree "somewhat"are included. This finding -that a majority of survey respondents agree strongly about the need to step up analytics use -holds true across a range of industries. Several forces, the authors argue, are helping spur managers'interest in analytics, including increased market complexity (for example, omnichannel retailing that encompasses both digital and brick-and-mortar channels) and the availability of better analytics tools and data. The authors report that some companies are sharing their data and analytics with business partners in order to meet strategic business objectives. For example, WellPoint, a U.S. health insurer based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is using analytics to help forge a payment model with physicians that rewards providers when they reduce overall health-care costs and enhance quality and health outcomes. Specifically, WellPoint is converting administrative claims and authorization data into useful information about populations of patients and sharing that information with physicians and their care teams. The survey data suggests that companies for which analytics has improved the ability to innovate are more likely to share data with partners and suppliers. Half of this year's survey respondents somewhat or strongly agree that analytics is helping their organization innovate -and 16% believe that strongly. Those survey respondents who strongly agree that analytics is helping their organization innovate are much more likely to say they collaborate with partners and suppliers through the use of analytics than respondents who don't think that analytics is helping their company innovate. The authors conclude that as companies use analytics to improve their ability to innovate, they also tend to collaborate more through their use of analytics: Analytics becomes an important medium through which organizations interact with both internal and external stakeholders. Thus, organizations that innovate thanks to analytics don't merely increase their use of analytics in decision making; they also change the way they behave as organizations.

Case Authors : David Kiron, Pamela Kirk Prentice, Renee Boucher Ferguson

Topic : Strategy & Execution

Related Areas : Strategy

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Raising the Bar With Analytics Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10009714)	-10009714	-	-
Year 1	3446707	-6563007	3446707	0.9434	3251610
Year 2	3955279	-2607728	7401986	0.89	3520184
Year 3	3968565	1360837	11370551	0.8396	3332084
Year 4	3230940	4591777	14601491	0.7921	2559207
TOTAL			14601491		12663085

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2653371

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. Profitability Index
3. Internal Rate of Return
4. Payback Period

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 Analytics Respondents 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. Analytics Respondents 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 Raising the Bar With Analytics

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 Analytics Respondents 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 Analytics Respondents 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	(10009714)	-10009714	-	-
Year 1	3446707	-6563007	3446707	0.8696	2997137
Year 2	3955279	-2607728	7401986	0.7561	2990759
Year 3	3968565	1360837	11370551	0.6575	2609396
Year 4	3230940	4591777	14601491	0.5718	1847300
TOTAL					10444592

The Net NPV after 4 years is 434878

(10444592 - 10009714 )

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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	(10009714)	-10009714	-	-
Year 1	3446707	-6563007	3446707	0.8333	2872256
Year 2	3955279	-2607728	7401986	0.6944	2746722
Year 3	3968565	1360837	11370551	0.5787	2296623
Year 4	3230940	4591777	14601491	0.4823	1558131
TOTAL					9473731

The Net NPV after 4 years is -535983

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9473731 - 10009714 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Analytics Respondents 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 Analytics Respondents has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Analytics Respondents 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 Analytics Respondents, then the stock price of the Analytics Respondents 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 Analytics Respondents 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 –

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

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.

What are the key aspects of the projects that need to be monitored, refined, and retuned for continuous delivery of projected cash flows.

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 Raising the Bar With Analytics

References & Further Readings

David Kiron, Pamela Kirk Prentice, Renee Boucher Ferguson (2018), "Raising the Bar With Analytics Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.