The Michelin Restaurant Guide: Charting a New Course 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 The Michelin Restaurant Guide: Charting a New Course case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. The Michelin Restaurant Guide: Charting a New Course case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Mukti Khaire, Elena Corsi, Jerome Lenhardt. The The Michelin Restaurant Guide: Charting a New Course (referred as “Guide Michelin” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Business models, Entrepreneurial management, Growth strategy, Organizational culture, 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 The Michelin Restaurant Guide: Charting a New Course Case Study

Created in 1900 by the tire manufacturer Michelin, the Michelin Restaurant Guide was widely considered the international benchmark of food rating, and, by 2013, boasted paper editions in 23 countries, and had recently expanded to the United States and Asia. Paper sales however had dropped, following the emergence of free, online guides, global players, and more broadly, the wider diffusion of the Internet. In 2012, the Guide had launched a new range of services targeting restaurateurs. The Director of the Guide was contemplating developing the Guide even more internationally and on digital formats, but also knew he needed to limit costs.

Case Authors : Mukti Khaire, Elena Corsi, Jerome Lenhardt

Topic : Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Related Areas : Business models, Entrepreneurial management, Growth strategy, Organizational culture, Supply chain

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for The Michelin Restaurant Guide: Charting a New Course Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10008738)	-10008738	-	-
Year 1	3459406	-6549332	3459406	0.9434	3263591
Year 2	3962189	-2587143	7421595	0.89	3526334
Year 3	3964820	1377677	11386415	0.8396	3328939
Year 4	3227499	4605176	14613914	0.7921	2556482
TOTAL			14613914		12675346

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2666608

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. Timing of the expected cash flows – stockholders of Guide Michelin 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. Guide Michelin 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 The Michelin Restaurant Guide: Charting a New Course

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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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 Guide Michelin 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 Guide Michelin 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	(10008738)	-10008738	-	-
Year 1	3459406	-6549332	3459406	0.8696	3008179
Year 2	3962189	-2587143	7421595	0.7561	2995984
Year 3	3964820	1377677	11386415	0.6575	2606934
Year 4	3227499	4605176	14613914	0.5718	1845333
TOTAL					10456430

The Net NPV after 4 years is 447692

(10456430 - 10008738 )

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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	(10008738)	-10008738	-	-
Year 1	3459406	-6549332	3459406	0.8333	2882838
Year 2	3962189	-2587143	7421595	0.6944	2751520
Year 3	3964820	1377677	11386415	0.5787	2294456
Year 4	3227499	4605176	14613914	0.4823	1556471
TOTAL					9485286

The Net NPV after 4 years is -523452

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9485286 - 10008738 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Guide Michelin 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 Guide Michelin has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Guide Michelin 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 Guide Michelin, then the stock price of the Guide Michelin 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 Guide Michelin 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 will be a multi year spillover effect of various taxation regulations.

What can impact the cash flow of 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 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 The Michelin Restaurant Guide: Charting a New Course

References & Further Readings

Mukti Khaire, Elena Corsi, Jerome Lenhardt (2018), "The Michelin Restaurant Guide: Charting a New Course Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.