Peer Feedback At Stress Engineering Services, Inc. (B): Process Design for the 21st Century 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 Peer Feedback At Stress Engineering Services, Inc. (B): Process Design for the 21st Century case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Peer Feedback At Stress Engineering Services, Inc. (B): Process Design for the 21st Century case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Joseph K Kavanaugh, Sanjay Mehta, Donya Brewer. The Peer Feedback At Stress Engineering Services, Inc. (B): Process Design for the 21st Century (referred as “Feedback Peer” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Leadership & Managing People. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Assessing performance, Change management.

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 Peer Feedback At Stress Engineering Services, Inc. (B): Process Design for the 21st Century Case Study

Donya Brewer, the Director of Human Resources at Stress Engineering Services , was asked to evaluate the firm's peer feedback system and update it to better align with the organization's needs as it continued to grow in the 21st century. Developed internally, the current system had undergone minor revisions over several decades, used cumbersome proprietary software and, increasingly, had not been meeting the needs of managerial and supervisory personnel to provide effective guidance for continuing professional development of employees in all lines of work. Brewer and her project team were tasked to increase the efficacy of the peer feedback system while preserving the system's role in fostering the collaborative culture at SES. Part B continues the analysis of the peer feedback program at Stress Engineering Services. Rich qualitative data, gathered through structured interviews, is presented. Students are asked to identify issues that must be addressed, and to make recommendations in numerous areas about what would constitute best practices in the new system. Part B also contains material on implementation issues in managing the change process. This case challenges students to redesign a peer feedback system facing major issues regarding employee engagement, the quality of the data, timeliness of feedback, outdated technology, methodological issues in instrument design, program execution, and contributions to employee development, among others.

Case Authors : Joseph K Kavanaugh, Sanjay Mehta, Donya Brewer

Topic : Leadership & Managing People

Related Areas : Assessing performance, Change management

---

Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Peer Feedback At Stress Engineering Services, Inc. (B): Process Design for the 21st Century Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10006203)	-10006203	-	-
Year 1	3457488	-6548715	3457488	0.9434	3261781
Year 2	3971836	-2576879	7429324	0.89	3534920
Year 3	3936982	1360103	11366306	0.8396	3305566
Year 4	3248063	4608166	14614369	0.7921	2572770
TOTAL			14614369		12675037

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2668834

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. Net Present Value
2. Profitability Index
3. Payback Period
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. Timing of the expected cash flows – stockholders of Feedback Peer 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. Feedback Peer shareholders have preference for diversified projects investment rather than prospective high income from a single capital intensive project.

---

Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of Peer Feedback At Stress Engineering Services, Inc. (B): Process Design for the 21st Century

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 Leadership & Managing People 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 Feedback Peer 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 Feedback Peer 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	(10006203)	-10006203	-	-
Year 1	3457488	-6548715	3457488	0.8696	3006511
Year 2	3971836	-2576879	7429324	0.7561	3003279
Year 3	3936982	1360103	11366306	0.6575	2588630
Year 4	3248063	4608166	14614369	0.5718	1857091
TOTAL					10455510

The Net NPV after 4 years is 449307

(10455510 - 10006203 )

---

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	(10006203)	-10006203	-	-
Year 1	3457488	-6548715	3457488	0.8333	2881240
Year 2	3971836	-2576879	7429324	0.6944	2758219
Year 3	3936982	1360103	11366306	0.5787	2278346
Year 4	3248063	4608166	14614369	0.4823	1566388
TOTAL					9484194

The Net NPV after 4 years is -522009

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9484194 - 10006203 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Feedback Peer 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 Feedback Peer has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Feedback Peer 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 Feedback Peer, then the stock price of the Feedback Peer 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 Feedback Peer 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 can impact the cash flow of the project.

What will be a multi year spillover effect of various taxation regulations.

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.

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 Peer Feedback At Stress Engineering Services, Inc. (B): Process Design for the 21st Century

References & Further Readings

Joseph K Kavanaugh, Sanjay Mehta, Donya Brewer (2018), "Peer Feedback At Stress Engineering Services, Inc. (B): Process Design for the 21st Century Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.