Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core Competency 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 Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core Competency case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core Competency case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Rama Deshmukh, Atanu Adhikari. The Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core Competency (referred as “Kamat Verticals” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Strategy & Execution. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Entrepreneurship, International business, Marketing.

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 Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core Competency Case Study

Vithal Kamat (CMD, Kamat Hotels India Ltd.) is a second generation entrepreneur who has taken the Kamat Hotels brand to new heights. A small restaurant chain was transformed into a full-fledged hospitality services group under his leadership. Kamat Hotels (India) Ltd. included five major verticals from five-star luxury hotels (The Orchid Ecotel) to economy restaurants (namely Kamat Restaurants) that catered to the different customer segments. Kamat had ambitious plans for the expansion of every vertical using alternative growth strategies. However, the recent economic slump had caused a sudden setback due to the fall in average room occupancy and competing room-tariff rates offered by other hotels. In such a tumultuous situation, Kamat planned to use the core competency of the hotel as an 'ecotel,' that is, an environment friendly hotel, to go in for corporate branding and lever its position in the market. The case illustrates the challenges faced by Kamat in extending the core competency of 'The Orchid' to its other verticals. The Orchid had performed better than the industry average until 2008. However, in 2009, the performance dipped, partly because of the economic recession. This prompted the board members of the company to decide on extending the core competency of the ecologically sustainable hotel into other verticals. However, this decision had to be considered carefully in the light of its impact on 'The Orchid' as well as on the other verticals. What are the challenges that will be faced while extending the core competency of 'ecoteling' to the other verticals? There were numerous related issues that needed to be addressed strategically as well as tactically, in order to maintain a balance between extending the core competencies across the verticals while extending the brand per se.

Case Authors : Rama Deshmukh, Atanu Adhikari

Topic : Strategy & Execution

Related Areas : Entrepreneurship, International business, Marketing

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core Competency Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10018210)	-10018210	-	-
Year 1	3446383	-6571827	3446383	0.9434	3251305
Year 2	3962454	-2609373	7408837	0.89	3526570
Year 3	3953497	1344124	11362334	0.8396	3319432
Year 4	3242030	4586154	14604364	0.7921	2567991
TOTAL			14604364		12665298

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2647088

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. Timing of the expected cash flows – stockholders of Kamat Verticals 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. Kamat Verticals 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 Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core Competency

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 Kamat Verticals 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 Kamat Verticals 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	(10018210)	-10018210	-	-
Year 1	3446383	-6571827	3446383	0.8696	2996855
Year 2	3962454	-2609373	7408837	0.7561	2996184
Year 3	3953497	1344124	11362334	0.6575	2599488
Year 4	3242030	4586154	14604364	0.5718	1853641
TOTAL					10446169

The Net NPV after 4 years is 427959

(10446169 - 10018210 )

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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	(10018210)	-10018210	-	-
Year 1	3446383	-6571827	3446383	0.8333	2871986
Year 2	3962454	-2609373	7408837	0.6944	2751704
Year 3	3953497	1344124	11362334	0.5787	2287903
Year 4	3242030	4586154	14604364	0.4823	1563479
TOTAL					9475072

The Net NPV after 4 years is -543138

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9475072 - 10018210 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Kamat Verticals 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 Kamat Verticals has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Kamat Verticals 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 Kamat Verticals, then the stock price of the Kamat Verticals 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 Kamat Verticals 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 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 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 Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core Competency

References & Further Readings

Rama Deshmukh, Atanu Adhikari (2018), "Orchid Ecotel: Leveraging Green Hoteling as Core Competency Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.