Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers 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 Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Gerry Yemen, Charles Stunson. The Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers (referred as “Marshall Pluria” from here on) case study provides evaluation & decision scenario in field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship. It also touches upon business topics such as - Value proposition, Entrepreneurial management, Race, Risk 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 Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers Case Study

This case explores the challenge of creating and sustaining entrepreneurship in the very competitive newspaper industry. The case also opens channels to discuss techniques for managing costs in urban environments. Pluria Marshall Jr. president of Marshall Media, is offered an opportunity to purchase the Wave Community Newspapers, a 13-newspaper chain. The Los Angeles Times had decided to pass on the deal, which bothers Marshall. He had thought that the Times's strategy was to merge the Wave with the Times's own weekly neighborhood paper to better serve the ethnically diverse and segregated neighborhoods of greater Los Angeles. The trigger issue focuses on whether Marshall Media is capable of competing against the resources of the much larger Los Angeles Times to capture the market share of L.A.'s Latino and African-American communities.

Case Authors : Gerry Yemen, Charles Stunson

Topic : Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Related Areas : Entrepreneurial management, Race, Risk management

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10012251)	-10012251	-	-
Year 1	3443832	-6568419	3443832	0.9434	3248898
Year 2	3978912	-2589507	7422744	0.89	3541218
Year 3	3942036	1352529	11364780	0.8396	3309809
Year 4	3237116	4589645	14601896	0.7921	2564099
TOTAL			14601896		12664024

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2651773

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. Internal Rate of Return
3. Net Present Value
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. Marshall Pluria 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 Marshall Pluria 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 Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers

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 Marshall Pluria 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 Marshall Pluria 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	(10012251)	-10012251	-	-
Year 1	3443832	-6568419	3443832	0.8696	2994637
Year 2	3978912	-2589507	7422744	0.7561	3008629
Year 3	3942036	1352529	11364780	0.6575	2591953
Year 4	3237116	4589645	14601896	0.5718	1850832
TOTAL					10446050

The Net NPV after 4 years is 433799

(10446050 - 10012251 )

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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	(10012251)	-10012251	-	-
Year 1	3443832	-6568419	3443832	0.8333	2869860
Year 2	3978912	-2589507	7422744	0.6944	2763133
Year 3	3942036	1352529	11364780	0.5787	2281271
Year 4	3237116	4589645	14601896	0.4823	1561109
TOTAL					9475373

The Net NPV after 4 years is -536878

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9475373 - 10012251 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Marshall Pluria 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 Marshall Pluria has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Marshall Pluria 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 Marshall Pluria, then the stock price of the Marshall Pluria 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 Marshall Pluria 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 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.

What can impact the cash flow of the project.

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 Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers

References & Further Readings

Gerry Yemen, Charles Stunson (2018), "Pluria Marshall Jr. and the Wave Community Newspapers Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.