Academy of National Economy 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 Academy of National Economy case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Academy of National Economy case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Gevork Papiryan, Paul W. Beamish. The Academy of National Economy (referred as “Academy Soviet” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Strategy & Execution. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Corporate governance, Government, Leadership, 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 Academy of National Economy Case Study

In 1989, the government of the USSR appointed academician Abel Aganbegyan to the Academy of National Economy as rector. Since its foundation by the Soviet government in 1977, this educational institution educated several top managers for the Soviet economy. Since 1992, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the start of democratic reforms, the academy started its own transformation to the business university. The academy is in the process of finding a new strategy direction for its further evolution. The school's leadership must resolve both internal and external problems and stand up to the challenge of a competitive Russian business education market. The most significant issue for the academy's leadership is to redefine its mission and status quo. There are three basic alternatives: continue being affiliated with the government elite state educational and scientific center with a group of relatively independent business schools; separate from these independent schools and restate its mission as a state educational and research institution affiliated with the government; or encourage the separation of the business schools and try to transform it into a Western-style business school.

Case Authors : Gevork Papiryan, Paul W. Beamish

Topic : Strategy & Execution

Related Areas : Corporate governance, Government, Leadership, Strategy

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Academy of National Economy Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10015227)	-10015227	-	-
Year 1	3459584	-6555643	3459584	0.9434	3263758
Year 2	3964894	-2590749	7424478	0.89	3528742
Year 3	3963309	1372560	11387787	0.8396	3327671
Year 4	3236960	4609520	14624747	0.7921	2563976
TOTAL			14624747		12684146

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2668919

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. Net Present Value
3. Profitability Index
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. Academy Soviet 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 Academy Soviet 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 Academy of National Economy

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 Academy Soviet 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 Academy Soviet 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	(10015227)	-10015227	-	-
Year 1	3459584	-6555643	3459584	0.8696	3008334
Year 2	3964894	-2590749	7424478	0.7561	2998029
Year 3	3963309	1372560	11387787	0.6575	2605940
Year 4	3236960	4609520	14624747	0.5718	1850742
TOTAL					10463046

The Net NPV after 4 years is 447819

(10463046 - 10015227 )

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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	(10015227)	-10015227	-	-
Year 1	3459584	-6555643	3459584	0.8333	2882987
Year 2	3964894	-2590749	7424478	0.6944	2753399
Year 3	3963309	1372560	11387787	0.5787	2293582
Year 4	3236960	4609520	14624747	0.4823	1561034
TOTAL					9491001

The Net NPV after 4 years is -524226

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9491001 - 10015227 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Academy Soviet 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 Academy Soviet has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Academy Soviet 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 Academy Soviet, then the stock price of the Academy Soviet 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 Academy Soviet 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.

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.

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 Academy of National Economy

References & Further Readings

Gevork Papiryan, Paul W. Beamish (2018), "Academy of National Economy Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.