Biblio Credit Union: Social Inequality and the Living Wage 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 Biblio Credit Union: Social Inequality and the Living Wage case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Biblio Credit Union: Social Inequality and the Living Wage case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Kent Walker, Curtis Labutte. The Biblio Credit Union: Social Inequality and the Living Wage (referred as “Wage Biblio” 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, Compensation, Ethics, Social responsibility.

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 Biblio Credit Union: Social Inequality and the Living Wage Case Study

In 2016, the community engagement manager at Biblio Credit Union, a financial institution in Ontario, Canada, was concerned about rising social inequality. The company was respected in the community for its high business ethics and careful attention to corporate social responsibility. Although most of the company's employees were paid well, some employees received little more than the minimum wage. The community engagement manager wondered how to reduce that inequality. If the company were to give a raise to the lowest paid employees, all other employees would likely also expect a pay increase. Therefore, to bring all employees to what was considered to be a living wage, the company would need to adjust its pay scale. But would the credit union's board of directors support a sudden change in expenses? Would the increased expenses be offset by a corresponding increase in revenues? Would new customers pay more for the services of a living wage employer? The company needed to weigh the implementation of a living wage against the possibility of declining revenues, which could place the company in serious jeopardy. Kent Walker is affiliated with University of Windsor. Curtis Labutte is affiliated with University of Windsor.

Case Authors : Kent Walker, Curtis Labutte

Topic : Leadership & Managing People

Related Areas : Compensation, Ethics, Social responsibility

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Biblio Credit Union: Social Inequality and the Living Wage Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10001146)	-10001146	-	-
Year 1	3470881	-6530265	3470881	0.9434	3274416
Year 2	3974919	-2555346	7445800	0.89	3537664
Year 3	3967207	1411861	11413007	0.8396	3330943
Year 4	3237873	4649734	14650880	0.7921	2564699
TOTAL			14650880		12707722

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2706576

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. Profitability Index
2. Net Present Value
3. Internal Rate of Return
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. Magnitude of both incoming and outgoing cash flows – Projects can be capital intensive, time intensive, or both. Wage Biblio 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 Wage Biblio 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 Biblio Credit Union: Social Inequality and the Living Wage

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 Wage Biblio 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 Wage Biblio 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	(10001146)	-10001146	-	-
Year 1	3470881	-6530265	3470881	0.8696	3018157
Year 2	3974919	-2555346	7445800	0.7561	3005610
Year 3	3967207	1411861	11413007	0.6575	2608503
Year 4	3237873	4649734	14650880	0.5718	1851264
TOTAL					10483535

The Net NPV after 4 years is 482389

(10483535 - 10001146 )

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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	(10001146)	-10001146	-	-
Year 1	3470881	-6530265	3470881	0.8333	2892401
Year 2	3974919	-2555346	7445800	0.6944	2760360
Year 3	3967207	1411861	11413007	0.5787	2295837
Year 4	3237873	4649734	14650880	0.4823	1561474
TOTAL					9510073

The Net NPV after 4 years is -491073

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9510073 - 10001146 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Wage Biblio 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 Wage Biblio has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Wage Biblio 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 Wage Biblio, then the stock price of the Wage Biblio 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 Wage Biblio 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.

Understanding of risks involved in 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 can impact the cash flow of the project.

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 Biblio Credit Union: Social Inequality and the Living Wage

References & Further Readings

Kent Walker, Curtis Labutte (2018), "Biblio Credit Union: Social Inequality and the Living Wage Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.