Introduction to Net Present Value (NPV) - What is Net Present Value (NPV) ? How it impacts financial decisions regarding project management?
At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Harnessing the Secret Structure of Innovation case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Martin Reeves, Thomas Fink, Ramiro Palma, Johann Harnoss. The Harnessing the Secret Structure of Innovation (referred as “Innovation Space” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship. 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.
In an era of low growth, companies need innovation more than ever. They can draw on a large body of theory and precedent. In practice, though, the authors say that innovation is more of an art than a science. They argue that there is an opportunity to view innovation not as the product of luck or extraordinary vision but as the result of a deliberate search process that companies can harness to construct an advantaged innovation strategy.The authors analyzed the mathematics of innovation as a search process for viable product designs across a universe of components. They then tested their insights using historical data from four real environments and concluded that companies can have an advantaged innovation strategy by using information about the unfolding process of innovation. But there isn't one superior strategy. The optimal strategy, they found, is both time-dependent and space-dependent. Based on their findings, the authors developed a five-step process for constructing an information-advantaged innovation strategy. Step 1. Choose your space: Where to play? It's not enough to analyze markets or anticipate customers'needs, the authors say. To innovate successfully, you also need to understand the structure of your innovation space. Step 2. Select your strategy: How to play? Measure the evolution of complexity in the space by analyzing the distribution of product sizes in terms of the number of unique components in products. If complexity is low and stable, the authors say, it's an indication that the space is still in its infancy, which argues for an impatient strategy. If complexity is high, then the space is maturing and a patient strategy will be the best approach. Step 3. Apply your strategy: How to execute? If you follow an impatient innovation strategy, the objective is to adopt or develop components that enable the company to bring relatively simple products to market quickly. Managers should ask themselves how they can be first. However, if the characteristics of your chosen innovation space imply that a patient strategy is more appropriate, your objective should instead be to maximize future innovation options. Step 4. Sense shifts and adapt: How to extract a switch signal? You need to monitor the complexity of your innovation space and compete on access to information in order to detect valuable strategy-switching signals before competitors. In their research, the authors found that a flattening in the increase of product complexity is a signal that it is time to switch from an impatient innovation strategy to a patient one. Step 5. Brace for disruptions: How to reset the clock? The promise of an information-enabled innovation strategy extends to disruption. Disruption, the authors note, suddenly resets and simplifies an innovation space by lowering product complexity. Disruptions don't just happen -they are created by innovators at the edge of a space who build simpler products that leverage components from a different space.
| Years | Cash Flow | Net Cash Flow | Cumulative Cash Flow |
Discount Rate @ 6 % |
Discounted Cash Flows |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 0 | (10003165) | -10003165 | - | - | |
| Year 1 | 3465435 | -6537730 | 3465435 | 0.9434 | 3269278 |
| Year 2 | 3979262 | -2558468 | 7444697 | 0.89 | 3541529 |
| Year 3 | 3950971 | 1392503 | 11395668 | 0.8396 | 3317311 |
| Year 4 | 3244576 | 4637079 | 14640244 | 0.7921 | 2570008 |
| TOTAL | 14640244 | 12698127 |
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 -
Capital Budgeting Approaches
There are four types of capital budgeting techniques that are widely used in the corporate world –
1. Internal Rate of Return
2. Payback Period
3. Net Present Value
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 Innovation Space 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. Innovation Space shareholders have preference for diversified projects investment rather than prospective high income from a single capital intensive project.
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
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 Innovation Space 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 Innovation Space 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.
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 | (10003165) | -10003165 | - | - | |
| Year 1 | 3465435 | -6537730 | 3465435 | 0.8696 | 3013422 |
| Year 2 | 3979262 | -2558468 | 7444697 | 0.7561 | 3008894 |
| Year 3 | 3950971 | 1392503 | 11395668 | 0.6575 | 2597828 |
| Year 4 | 3244576 | 4637079 | 14640244 | 0.5718 | 1855097 |
| TOTAL | 10475240 |
(10475240 - 10003165 )
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 | (10003165) | -10003165 | - | - | |
| Year 1 | 3465435 | -6537730 | 3465435 | 0.8333 | 2887863 |
| Year 2 | 3979262 | -2558468 | 7444697 | 0.6944 | 2763376 |
| Year 3 | 3950971 | 1392503 | 11395668 | 0.5787 | 2286442 |
| Year 4 | 3244576 | 4637079 | 14640244 | 0.4823 | 1564707 |
| TOTAL | 9502387 |
At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9502387 - 10003165 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Innovation Space to discount cash flow at lower discount rates such as 15%.
Simplest Approach – If the investment project of Innovation Space has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Innovation Space 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 Innovation Space, then the stock price of the Innovation Space 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.
Project selection is often a far more complex decision than just choosing it based on the NPV number. Finance managers at Innovation Space 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 will be a multi year spillover effect of various taxation regulations.
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.
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.
Martin Reeves, Thomas Fink, Ramiro Palma, Johann Harnoss (2018), "Harnessing the Secret Structure of Innovation Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.
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