Should You Set Up Your Own Sales Force or Should You Outsource It? Pitfalls in the Standard Analysis 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 Should You Set Up Your Own Sales Force or Should You Outsource It? Pitfalls in the Standard Analysis case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Should You Set Up Your Own Sales Force or Should You Outsource It? Pitfalls in the Standard Analysis case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Frederic Delsace, Erin Anderson, William T. Ross Jr.. The Should You Set Up Your Own Sales Force or Should You Outsource It? Pitfalls in the Standard Analysis (referred as “Sales Force's” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Technology & Operations. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Marketing, Operations management, Sales.

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 Should You Set Up Your Own Sales Force or Should You Outsource It? Pitfalls in the Standard Analysis Case Study

Should you set up your own sales force or should you outsource it? The standard analysis is cost based and assumes that the direct sales force is a fixed cost and that the outsourced sales force's cost varies with sales. The standard analysis then calculates the sales volume at which the direct sales force's costs equal the outsourced sales force's costs and suggests that for sales volume above that quantity, firms should use a direct sales force. This analysis has two problems. First, several other cost factors are not considered in the standard analysis. Second, the standard analysis considers only cost, ignoring coverage efficiency and selling effectiveness differences between the two sales forces. Details and develops both problems.

Case Authors : Frederic Delsace, Erin Anderson, William T. Ross Jr.

Topic : Technology & Operations

Related Areas : Marketing, Operations management, Sales

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Should You Set Up Your Own Sales Force or Should You Outsource It? Pitfalls in the Standard Analysis Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10010738)	-10010738	-	-
Year 1	3456457	-6554281	3456457	0.9434	3260808
Year 2	3953701	-2600580	7410158	0.89	3518780
Year 3	3941307	1340727	11351465	0.8396	3309197
Year 4	3225688	4566415	14577153	0.7921	2555047
TOTAL			14577153		12643833

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2633095

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. Internal Rate of Return
4. Profitability Index

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 Sales Force's 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. Sales Force's 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 Should You Set Up Your Own Sales Force or Should You Outsource It? Pitfalls in the Standard Analysis

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 Sales Force's 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 Sales Force's 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	(10010738)	-10010738	-	-
Year 1	3456457	-6554281	3456457	0.8696	3005615
Year 2	3953701	-2600580	7410158	0.7561	2989566
Year 3	3941307	1340727	11351465	0.6575	2591473
Year 4	3225688	4566415	14577153	0.5718	1844298
TOTAL					10430952

The Net NPV after 4 years is 420214

(10430952 - 10010738 )

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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	(10010738)	-10010738	-	-
Year 1	3456457	-6554281	3456457	0.8333	2880381
Year 2	3953701	-2600580	7410158	0.6944	2745626
Year 3	3941307	1340727	11351465	0.5787	2280849
Year 4	3225688	4566415	14577153	0.4823	1555598
TOTAL					9462453

The Net NPV after 4 years is -548285

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9462453 - 10010738 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Sales Force's 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 Sales Force's has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Sales Force's 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 Sales Force's, then the stock price of the Sales Force's 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 Sales Force's 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 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.

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.

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 Should You Set Up Your Own Sales Force or Should You Outsource It? Pitfalls in the Standard Analysis

References & Further Readings

Frederic Delsace, Erin Anderson, William T. Ross Jr. (2018), "Should You Set Up Your Own Sales Force or Should You Outsource It? Pitfalls in the Standard Analysis Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.