TWB: Alternative Paths to Creating Social Impact 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 TWB: Alternative Paths to Creating Social Impact case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. TWB: Alternative Paths to Creating Social Impact case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Ronald Lau, Joseph Santana Fernandez. The TWB: Alternative Paths to Creating Social Impact (referred as “Twb Joseph” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Global Business. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Growth strategy, Marketing, Operations management, Product development, Social enterprise, Social responsibility, Sustainability.

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 TWB: Alternative Paths to Creating Social Impact Case Study

Founder of Trade Without Borders (TWB), Joseph Fernandez, set up the organization purely for charitable purposes. TWB's mission is to extend trading services to non-government organizations (NGOs) in developing regions of the world. To execute the mission in a financially viable and sustainable manner, Joseph was thinking to establish a base of operations in Hong Kong, which was close to Chinese manufacturers of the products that were traded. A lot of questions came to Joseph's mind: what type of organization would TWB incorporate? And prior to this, what would be the strategy and daily operations of the proposed Hong Kong entity? How could TWB ensure the proposed operations would contribute to instead of hindering the primary social mission of the organization?

Case Authors : Ronald Lau, Joseph Santana Fernandez

Topic : Global Business

Related Areas : Growth strategy, Marketing, Operations management, Product development, Social enterprise, Social responsibility, Sustainability

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for TWB: Alternative Paths to Creating Social Impact Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10006768)	-10006768	-	-
Year 1	3445105	-6561663	3445105	0.9434	3250099
Year 2	3977506	-2584157	7422611	0.89	3539966
Year 3	3973416	1389259	11396027	0.8396	3336157
Year 4	3227636	4616895	14623663	0.7921	2556590
TOTAL			14623663		12682812

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2676044

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. Payback Period
3. Internal Rate of Return
4. Net Present Value

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 Twb Joseph 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. Twb Joseph 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 TWB: Alternative Paths to Creating Social Impact

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 Global Business 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 Twb Joseph 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 Twb Joseph 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	(10006768)	-10006768	-	-
Year 1	3445105	-6561663	3445105	0.8696	2995743
Year 2	3977506	-2584157	7422611	0.7561	3007566
Year 3	3973416	1389259	11396027	0.6575	2612586
Year 4	3227636	4616895	14623663	0.5718	1845411
TOTAL					10461306

The Net NPV after 4 years is 454538

(10461306 - 10006768 )

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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	(10006768)	-10006768	-	-
Year 1	3445105	-6561663	3445105	0.8333	2870921
Year 2	3977506	-2584157	7422611	0.6944	2762157
Year 3	3973416	1389259	11396027	0.5787	2299431
Year 4	3227636	4616895	14623663	0.4823	1556537
TOTAL					9489046

The Net NPV after 4 years is -517722

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9489046 - 10006768 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Twb Joseph 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 Twb Joseph has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Twb Joseph 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 Twb Joseph, then the stock price of the Twb Joseph 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 Twb Joseph 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 –

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

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.

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.

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 TWB: Alternative Paths to Creating Social Impact

References & Further Readings

Ronald Lau, Joseph Santana Fernandez (2018), "TWB: Alternative Paths to Creating Social Impact Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.