FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (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 FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Guido Stein Martinez, Jose Ramon Pin Arboledas, Marta Cuadrado. The FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) (referred as “Floria Emba” 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, .

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 FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) Case Study

In October 2011 FloriA?n was pondering his next step and the direction his career should take. The situation at work was awkward. His position at Infraestructuras BrasileA?as (IB), a state-owned aeronautical company based in SA?o Paolo, was a guarantee of comfortable, stable employment. In January 2012, eager to grow professionally and seek out new challenges, FloriA?n started an Executive MBA (EMBA) at a business school. The EMBA was part-time and so could be done while continuing to work; some classes were at weekends, with more intensive sessions held over a few weeks during vacation.From the moment he started the course, FloriA?n's boss, Rafael Oliveira, gradually reduced his workload until FloriA?n found himself virtually unoccupied much of the time.After completing the EMBA and having spent, as he put it, nearly a year "in the wilderness", FloriA?n felt strongly that it was time to do something about the situation. There were various options to be considered. The first was to talk to his boss and get the situation back under control, which he thought would be difficult. FloriA?n had his pride and knew he was not very good at managing conflicts. Given his personality, rebuilding the relationship with Rafael would be difficult: "The damage is done. What's worse, I've lost standing and authority in the eyes of my colleagues."The second option was to try to move to a different job within the company. This was more appealing, but FloriA?n was concerned that his boss might have given the heads of other departments an unfavorable impression of FloriA?n's professional ability.The third possibility was to look for a new job elsewhere. In his present state of mind, FloriA?n was inclined to plump for this last option, which would probably also mean going outside the aeronautical industry, despite his more than five years' experience and extensive industry knowledge. The economic situation in the United States and Europe, which were IB's main international markets, also made this the most risky option.FloriA?n was worried he might be overlooking some important detail and so started to reflect on the events and circumstances that had led to the present situation.

Case Authors : Guido Stein Martinez, Jose Ramon Pin Arboledas, Marta Cuadrado

Topic : Leadership & Managing People

Related Areas :

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10029219)	-10029219	-	-
Year 1	3473061	-6556158	3473061	0.9434	3276473
Year 2	3954009	-2602149	7427070	0.89	3519054
Year 3	3957737	1355588	11384807	0.8396	3322992
Year 4	3250649	4606237	14635456	0.7921	2574818
TOTAL			14635456		12693337

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2664118

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. Profitability Index
4. Internal Rate of Return

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. Floria Emba 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 Floria Emba 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 FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (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 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 Floria Emba 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 Floria Emba 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	(10029219)	-10029219	-	-
Year 1	3473061	-6556158	3473061	0.8696	3020053
Year 2	3954009	-2602149	7427070	0.7561	2989799
Year 3	3957737	1355588	11384807	0.6575	2602276
Year 4	3250649	4606237	14635456	0.5718	1858569
TOTAL					10470697

The Net NPV after 4 years is 441478

(10470697 - 10029219 )

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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	(10029219)	-10029219	-	-
Year 1	3473061	-6556158	3473061	0.8333	2894218
Year 2	3954009	-2602149	7427070	0.6944	2745840
Year 3	3957737	1355588	11384807	0.5787	2290357
Year 4	3250649	4606237	14635456	0.4823	1567636
TOTAL					9498050

The Net NPV after 4 years is -531169

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9498050 - 10029219 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Floria Emba 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 Floria Emba has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Floria Emba 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 Floria Emba, then the stock price of the Floria Emba 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 Floria Emba 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 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.

Understanding of risks involved in 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.

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 FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A)

References & Further Readings

Guido Stein Martinez, Jose Ramon Pin Arboledas, Marta Cuadrado (2018), "FloriA?n Coute: An EMBA at an Impasse (A) Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.