General Motors: Building a Digital Loyalty Network Through Demand and Supply Chain Integration 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 General Motors: Building a Digital Loyalty Network Through Demand and Supply Chain Integration case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. General Motors: Building a Digital Loyalty Network Through Demand and Supply Chain Integration case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Hau Lee, Peter Koudal, Barchi Peleg, Paresh Rajwat. The General Motors: Building a Digital Loyalty Network Through Demand and Supply Chain Integration (referred as “Wagoner Gm” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Technology & Operations. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Networking, Supply chain.

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

---

Case Description of General Motors: Building a Digital Loyalty Network Through Demand and Supply Chain Integration Case Study

Rick Wagoner, CEO of General Motors (GM), knew that something was "broken" in the automobile industry long before a USA Today article announced it in December 2001. Wagoner, along with top lieutenants, had launched several initiatives to realize their shared vision of value creation within GM. Several of these initiatives were aimed at integrating GM's demand and supply chains, supported by the latest technologies. Their goal was to strengthen and integrate GM's demand and supply chain systems to build what is known as a digital loyalty network (DLN). As its name implies, a DLN includes the three components GM was addressing: "digital" for technology enabled; "loyalty" for a focus on customers and on increasing their loyalty and lifetime value to GM; and "network" for coordinating and leveraging all supply and distribution chain partners to serve those customers. Wagoner and his team believed their efforts would be fundamental to a sustainable, value-creating auto industry business model that would lead to increased efficiency and profitability. The group had made excellent progress, and Wagoner decided to get together with his team to take stock of where they stood in realizing their overall vision. But the words "industry business model is broken" stayed with him. He wondered whether the investments in these myriad initiatives would actually pay off--and whether they would help fix the problem of low value creation.

Case Authors : Hau Lee, Peter Koudal, Barchi Peleg, Paresh Rajwat

Topic : Technology & Operations

Related Areas : Networking, Supply chain

---

Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for General Motors: Building a Digital Loyalty Network Through Demand and Supply Chain Integration Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10018949)	-10018949	-	-
Year 1	3443263	-6575686	3443263	0.9434	3248361
Year 2	3972880	-2602806	7416143	0.89	3535849
Year 3	3943435	1340629	11359578	0.8396	3310984
Year 4	3247929	4588558	14607507	0.7921	2572664
TOTAL			14607507		12667858

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2648909

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.

---

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. Profitability Index
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. Wagoner Gm 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 Wagoner Gm have higher preference for cash returns over 4-5 years rather than 10-15 years given the nature of the volatility in the industry.

---

Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of General Motors: Building a Digital Loyalty Network Through Demand and Supply Chain Integration

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 Technology & Operations 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 Wagoner Gm 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 Wagoner Gm 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	(10018949)	-10018949	-	-
Year 1	3443263	-6575686	3443263	0.8696	2994142
Year 2	3972880	-2602806	7416143	0.7561	3004068
Year 3	3943435	1340629	11359578	0.6575	2592873
Year 4	3247929	4588558	14607507	0.5718	1857014
TOTAL					10448096

The Net NPV after 4 years is 429147

(10448096 - 10018949 )

---

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	(10018949)	-10018949	-	-
Year 1	3443263	-6575686	3443263	0.8333	2869386
Year 2	3972880	-2602806	7416143	0.6944	2758944
Year 3	3943435	1340629	11359578	0.5787	2282080
Year 4	3247929	4588558	14607507	0.4823	1566324
TOTAL					9476735

The Net NPV after 4 years is -542214

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9476735 - 10018949 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Wagoner Gm 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 Wagoner Gm has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Wagoner Gm 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 Wagoner Gm, then the stock price of the Wagoner Gm 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 Wagoner Gm 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.

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 can impact the cash flow of 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.

---

Negotiation Strategy of General Motors: Building a Digital Loyalty Network Through Demand and Supply Chain Integration

References & Further Readings

Hau Lee, Peter Koudal, Barchi Peleg, Paresh Rajwat (2018), "General Motors: Building a Digital Loyalty Network Through Demand and Supply Chain Integration Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.