Sealed Air Corporation: Deciding the Fate of VTID (Abridged) 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 Sealed Air Corporation: Deciding the Fate of VTID (Abridged) case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Sealed Air Corporation: Deciding the Fate of VTID (Abridged) case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Elie Ofek. The Sealed Air Corporation: Deciding the Fate of VTID (Abridged) (referred as “Vtid Tracking” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Sales & Marketing. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Customers, Innovation, Strategy execution, 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

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Case Description of Sealed Air Corporation: Deciding the Fate of VTID (Abridged) Case Study

In mid 2010 the Sealed Air Corporation has to decide on next steps for its novel video tracking technology (called VTID) after unsuccessful attempts to market it in three different industry settings. The company must determine whether its most recent target market, the quick-serve restaurant segment, is still worth pursuing or whether the company should look for a different application and market altogether. The company could also revisit the previous two applications, tracking and tracing processed meat and tracking employee safety practices. At the other extreme, after seven years of R&D and marketing efforts and millions of dollars in expenses, the company could cease attempts to commercialize VTID.

Case Authors : Elie Ofek

Topic : Sales & Marketing

Related Areas : Customers, Innovation, Strategy execution, Supply chain

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Sealed Air Corporation: Deciding the Fate of VTID (Abridged) Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10023360)	-10023360	-	-
Year 1	3466430	-6556930	3466430	0.9434	3270217
Year 2	3977236	-2579694	7443666	0.89	3539726
Year 3	3949395	1369701	11393061	0.8396	3315988
Year 4	3243918	4613619	14636979	0.7921	2569487
TOTAL			14636979		12695418

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2672058

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. Magnitude of both incoming and outgoing cash flows – Projects can be capital intensive, time intensive, or both. Vtid Tracking 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 Vtid Tracking have higher preference for cash returns over 4-5 years rather than 10-15 years given the nature of the volatility in the industry.

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Formula and Steps to Calculate Net Present Value (NPV) of Sealed Air Corporation: Deciding the Fate of VTID (Abridged)

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 Sales & Marketing 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 Vtid Tracking 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 Vtid Tracking 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	(10023360)	-10023360	-	-
Year 1	3466430	-6556930	3466430	0.8696	3014287
Year 2	3977236	-2579694	7443666	0.7561	3007362
Year 3	3949395	1369701	11393061	0.6575	2596791
Year 4	3243918	4613619	14636979	0.5718	1854721
TOTAL					10473161

The Net NPV after 4 years is 449801

(10473161 - 10023360 )

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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	(10023360)	-10023360	-	-
Year 1	3466430	-6556930	3466430	0.8333	2888692
Year 2	3977236	-2579694	7443666	0.6944	2761969
Year 3	3949395	1369701	11393061	0.5787	2285530
Year 4	3243918	4613619	14636979	0.4823	1564389
TOTAL					9500580

The Net NPV after 4 years is -522780

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9500580 - 10023360 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Vtid Tracking 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 Vtid Tracking has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Vtid Tracking 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 Vtid Tracking, then the stock price of the Vtid Tracking 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 Vtid Tracking 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.

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

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.

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 Sealed Air Corporation: Deciding the Fate of VTID (Abridged)

References & Further Readings

Elie Ofek (2018), "Sealed Air Corporation: Deciding the Fate of VTID (Abridged) Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.