Airline Industry Alliances in 2004: Improving Performance in the Beleaguered Airline Industry 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 Airline Industry Alliances in 2004: Improving Performance in the Beleaguered Airline Industry case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Airline Industry Alliances in 2004: Improving Performance in the Beleaguered Airline Industry case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Africa Arino, Frank Reihl, Frank Riehl. The Airline Industry Alliances in 2004: Improving Performance in the Beleaguered Airline Industry (referred as “Alliances 2004” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Strategy & Execution. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, .

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 Airline Industry Alliances in 2004: Improving Performance in the Beleaguered Airline Industry Case Study

In 2004, as airlines struggled to cope with the challenges imposed on them by terrorism, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), the Iraq war, a slow growing economy, and fast rising oil prices, alliances became more and more a "safe haven" that would mitigate the detrimental effects of the environment. An open issue remained until that time of whether alliances were the first step toward "real" industry consolidation, which had not been possible until then due to regulatory obstacles and national idiosyncrasies, or whether they were ends in themselves, forming the final stage of a process of "gentle consolidation" whereby airlines achieved 80% of the results with 20% of the hassle. Industry performance did not give conclusive evidence. On the one hand, the merger between AirFrance and KLM, finalized in June 2004, had been the first cross-national merger between flag carriers in the industry and might well set a precedent for the industry, as the protagonists hoped. On the other hand, alliances kept growing through the admission of new members and ever-closer integration.

Case Authors : Africa Arino, Frank Reihl, Frank Riehl

Topic : Strategy & Execution

Related Areas :

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Airline Industry Alliances in 2004: Improving Performance in the Beleaguered Airline Industry Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10000823)	-10000823	-	-
Year 1	3450545	-6550278	3450545	0.9434	3255231
Year 2	3964054	-2586224	7414599	0.89	3527994
Year 3	3961097	1374873	11375696	0.8396	3325813
Year 4	3234804	4609677	14610500	0.7921	2562268
TOTAL			14610500		12671306

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2670483

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. Payback Period
3. Net Present Value
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. Alliances 2004 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 Alliances 2004 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 Airline Industry Alliances in 2004: Improving Performance in the Beleaguered Airline Industry

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 Alliances 2004 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 Alliances 2004 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	(10000823)	-10000823	-	-
Year 1	3450545	-6550278	3450545	0.8696	3000474
Year 2	3964054	-2586224	7414599	0.7561	2997394
Year 3	3961097	1374873	11375696	0.6575	2604486
Year 4	3234804	4609677	14610500	0.5718	1849510
TOTAL					10451864

The Net NPV after 4 years is 451041

(10451864 - 10000823 )

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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	(10000823)	-10000823	-	-
Year 1	3450545	-6550278	3450545	0.8333	2875454
Year 2	3964054	-2586224	7414599	0.6944	2752815
Year 3	3961097	1374873	11375696	0.5787	2292302
Year 4	3234804	4609677	14610500	0.4823	1559994
TOTAL					9480565

The Net NPV after 4 years is -520258

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9480565 - 10000823 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Alliances 2004 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 Alliances 2004 has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Alliances 2004 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 Alliances 2004, then the stock price of the Alliances 2004 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 Alliances 2004 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 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.

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.

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 Airline Industry Alliances in 2004: Improving Performance in the Beleaguered Airline Industry

References & Further Readings

Africa Arino, Frank Reihl, Frank Riehl (2018), "Airline Industry Alliances in 2004: Improving Performance in the Beleaguered Airline Industry Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.