A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) 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 A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Charles Dhanaraj, Monidipa Mukherjee, Hima Bindu. The A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) (referred as “Nokia Defective” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Global Business. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Crisis 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

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Case Description of A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) Case Study

This case addresses the theme of crisis leadership in a multinational enterprise in a powerful way, to help students internalize the critical challenges of a multinational company in an emerging market. In August 2007, a routine product feedback and defect analysis process identified a defective batch of batteries supplied by a Japanese vendor, Matsushita. India happened to be the recipient of the largest proportion of the defective batch. Nokia's corporate communications team, based in Finland, in cooperation with the Indian team, responded with a customary global product advisory. Instructions were made available on the Internet for customers to diagnose a defective battery and get a free replacement. Nokia was shocked to see the antagonistic response from the Indian press to the product advisory and the ensuing mayhem that spread quickly through the country. The head of Nokia India and his team had to act swiftly to preserve the company's hard-earned reputation and market share.Case A is set at a midnight strategy session at Nokia's Indian headquarters to chart the way forward. Case B is a short version of what actually happened: how Nokia and the team successfully steered the organization through the crisis and not only survived but also used the situation to create new organizational capabilities.

Case Authors : Charles Dhanaraj, Monidipa Mukherjee, Hima Bindu

Topic : Global Business

Related Areas : Crisis management

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10001872)	-10001872	-	-
Year 1	3445448	-6556424	3445448	0.9434	3250423
Year 2	3955240	-2601184	7400688	0.89	3520150
Year 3	3943448	1342264	11344136	0.8396	3310995
Year 4	3232852	4575116	14576988	0.7921	2560722
TOTAL			14576988		12642289

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2640417

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. Profitability Index
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 Nokia Defective 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. Nokia Defective 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 A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A)

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 Nokia Defective 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 Nokia Defective 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	(10001872)	-10001872	-	-
Year 1	3445448	-6556424	3445448	0.8696	2996042
Year 2	3955240	-2601184	7400688	0.7561	2990730
Year 3	3943448	1342264	11344136	0.6575	2592881
Year 4	3232852	4575116	14576988	0.5718	1848394
TOTAL					10428046

The Net NPV after 4 years is 426174

(10428046 - 10001872 )

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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	(10001872)	-10001872	-	-
Year 1	3445448	-6556424	3445448	0.8333	2871207
Year 2	3955240	-2601184	7400688	0.6944	2746694
Year 3	3943448	1342264	11344136	0.5787	2282088
Year 4	3232852	4575116	14576988	0.4823	1559053
TOTAL					9459042

The Net NPV after 4 years is -542830

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9459042 - 10001872 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Nokia Defective 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 Nokia Defective has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Nokia Defective 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 Nokia Defective, then the stock price of the Nokia Defective 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 Nokia Defective 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 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 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 A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A)

References & Further Readings

Charles Dhanaraj, Monidipa Mukherjee, Hima Bindu (2018), "A Bomb in Your Pocket? Crisis Leadership at Nokia India (A) Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.