Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum 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 Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Pamela Varley, Marc Roberts. The Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum (referred as “Referendum Florida” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Strategy & Execution. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Demographics, Diversity, Policy, 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 Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum Case Study

This is a case which might inspire discussion both about political strategy and the relation of marginalized cultural groups to the mainstream. It tells the story of a 1988 attempt via referendum to declare English to be the official language of the state of Florida-an attempt, in part, inspired by tension and jealousy surrounding the arrival and relative affluence of the large Spanish-speaking population of South Florida. The alternative strategies which they conceive reflect both their views about the likely nature of the campaign and their views about how a minority relates to the majority. HKS Case Number 990.0

Case Authors : Pamela Varley, Marc Roberts

Topic : Strategy & Execution

Related Areas : Demographics, Diversity, Policy, Strategic planning

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10029250)	-10029250	-	-
Year 1	3461039	-6568211	3461039	0.9434	3265131
Year 2	3953140	-2615071	7414179	0.89	3518281
Year 3	3950050	1334979	11364229	0.8396	3316538
Year 4	3232854	4567833	14597083	0.7921	2560723
TOTAL			14597083		12660673

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2631423

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. Net Present Value
3. Payback Period
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. Referendum Florida 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 Referendum Florida 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 Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum

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 Referendum Florida 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 Referendum Florida 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	(10029250)	-10029250	-	-
Year 1	3461039	-6568211	3461039	0.8696	3009599
Year 2	3953140	-2615071	7414179	0.7561	2989142
Year 3	3950050	1334979	11364229	0.6575	2597222
Year 4	3232854	4567833	14597083	0.5718	1848395
TOTAL					10444358

The Net NPV after 4 years is 415108

(10444358 - 10029250 )

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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	(10029250)	-10029250	-	-
Year 1	3461039	-6568211	3461039	0.8333	2884199
Year 2	3953140	-2615071	7414179	0.6944	2745236
Year 3	3950050	1334979	11364229	0.5787	2285909
Year 4	3232854	4567833	14597083	0.4823	1559054
TOTAL					9474398

The Net NPV after 4 years is -554852

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9474398 - 10029250 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Referendum Florida 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 Referendum Florida has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Referendum Florida 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 Referendum Florida, then the stock price of the Referendum Florida 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 Referendum Florida 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 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.

Understanding of risks involved in 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 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 Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum

References & Further Readings

Pamela Varley, Marc Roberts (2018), "Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.