Charting a Course in a Storm: US Postal Service and the Anthrax Crisis 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 Charting a Course in a Storm: US Postal Service and the Anthrax Crisis case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Charting a Course in a Storm: US Postal Service and the Anthrax Crisis case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Arnold Howitt, Kirsten Lundberg. The Charting a Course in a Storm: US Postal Service and the Anthrax Crisis (referred as “Anthrax Postal” 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, Leadership, Operations management, Security & privacy.

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 Charting a Course in a Storm: US Postal Service and the Anthrax Crisis Case Study

On October 21, 2001, a postal worker from a mail sorting facility in Washington, DC, died of inhalation anthrax-a disease virtually unseen for a century. The next day, a second employee from the same facility died. Fear of anthrax had already infected the public: media workers in Florida and New York City had contracted the disease. In addition, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) had received an anthrax-laden letter, his staff were all on antibiotics, and the Senate and House of Representatives buildings had closed for anthrax tests. This new threat re-ignited a sense of public panic. Virtually overnight, the United States Postal Service (USPS) found itself at the eye of a national security and public health storm. This case discusses how the USPS dealt with the anthrax crisis. HKS Case Number 1692.0.

Case Authors : Arnold Howitt, Kirsten Lundberg

Topic : Leadership & Managing People

Related Areas : Leadership, Operations management, Security & privacy

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Charting a Course in a Storm: US Postal Service and the Anthrax Crisis Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10013234)	-10013234	-	-
Year 1	3472399	-6540835	3472399	0.9434	3275848
Year 2	3973887	-2566948	7446286	0.89	3536745
Year 3	3957863	1390915	11404149	0.8396	3323098
Year 4	3234862	4625777	14639011	0.7921	2562314
TOTAL			14639011		12698005

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2684771

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. Internal Rate of Return
2. Profitability Index
3. Net Present Value
4. Payback Period

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 Anthrax Postal 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. Anthrax Postal 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 Charting a Course in a Storm: US Postal Service and the Anthrax Crisis

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 Anthrax Postal 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 Anthrax Postal 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	(10013234)	-10013234	-	-
Year 1	3472399	-6540835	3472399	0.8696	3019477
Year 2	3973887	-2566948	7446286	0.7561	3004829
Year 3	3957863	1390915	11404149	0.6575	2602359
Year 4	3234862	4625777	14639011	0.5718	1849543
TOTAL					10476209

The Net NPV after 4 years is 462975

(10476209 - 10013234 )

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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	(10013234)	-10013234	-	-
Year 1	3472399	-6540835	3472399	0.8333	2893666
Year 2	3973887	-2566948	7446286	0.6944	2759644
Year 3	3957863	1390915	11404149	0.5787	2290430
Year 4	3234862	4625777	14639011	0.4823	1560022
TOTAL					9503762

The Net NPV after 4 years is -509472

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9503762 - 10013234 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Anthrax Postal 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 Anthrax Postal has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Anthrax Postal 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 Anthrax Postal, then the stock price of the Anthrax Postal 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 Anthrax Postal 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 are the key aspects of the projects that need to be monitored, refined, and retuned for continuous delivery of projected cash flows.

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

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 Charting a Course in a Storm: US Postal Service and the Anthrax Crisis

References & Further Readings

Arnold Howitt, Kirsten Lundberg (2018), "Charting a Course in a Storm: US Postal Service and the Anthrax Crisis Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.