Hisense-Hitachi Joint Venture: Expanding in Southeast Asia 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 Hisense-Hitachi Joint Venture: Expanding in Southeast Asia case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Hisense-Hitachi Joint Venture: Expanding in Southeast Asia case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Paul W. Beamish, Liu Su. The Hisense-Hitachi Joint Venture: Expanding in Southeast Asia (referred as “Hitachi Hisense” 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, Marketing, Sales.

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 Hisense-Hitachi Joint Venture: Expanding in Southeast Asia Case Study

Before re-entering the Southeast Asian market in 2015, the Hisense-Hitachi joint venture mainly used the well known Hitachi brand to explore overseas markets. After the JV had accumulated enough capacity to adopt a product differentiation strategy, they decided to treat the Hisense brand as the focal brand in Southeast Asia and adopted a series of distribution strategies that differed from what they had used to sell Hitachi branded products elsewhere. The (B) case provides a basis for discussing target market selection, and the establishment of varying distribution channels (exclusive vs non-exclusive agents) in different countries. This case can be used with Hisense-Hitachi Joint Venture (A): Expanding Internationally.

Case Authors : Paul W. Beamish, Liu Su

Topic : Leadership & Managing People

Related Areas : Marketing, Sales

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Hisense-Hitachi Joint Venture: Expanding in Southeast Asia Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10011202)	-10011202	-	-
Year 1	3451943	-6559259	3451943	0.9434	3256550
Year 2	3978991	-2580268	7430934	0.89	3541288
Year 3	3940543	1360275	11371477	0.8396	3308556
Year 4	3225608	4585883	14597085	0.7921	2554984
TOTAL			14597085		12661377

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2650175

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

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 Hitachi Hisense 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. Hitachi Hisense 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 Hisense-Hitachi Joint Venture: Expanding in Southeast Asia

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 Hitachi Hisense 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 Hitachi Hisense 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	(10011202)	-10011202	-	-
Year 1	3451943	-6559259	3451943	0.8696	3001690
Year 2	3978991	-2580268	7430934	0.7561	3008689
Year 3	3940543	1360275	11371477	0.6575	2590971
Year 4	3225608	4585883	14597085	0.5718	1844252
TOTAL					10445601

The Net NPV after 4 years is 434399

(10445601 - 10011202 )

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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	(10011202)	-10011202	-	-
Year 1	3451943	-6559259	3451943	0.8333	2876619
Year 2	3978991	-2580268	7430934	0.6944	2763188
Year 3	3940543	1360275	11371477	0.5787	2280407
Year 4	3225608	4585883	14597085	0.4823	1555559
TOTAL					9475774

The Net NPV after 4 years is -535428

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9475774 - 10011202 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Hitachi Hisense 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 Hitachi Hisense has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Hitachi Hisense 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 Hitachi Hisense, then the stock price of the Hitachi Hisense 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 Hitachi Hisense 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 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.

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 Hisense-Hitachi Joint Venture: Expanding in Southeast Asia

References & Further Readings

Paul W. Beamish, Liu Su (2018), "Hisense-Hitachi Joint Venture: Expanding in Southeast Asia Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.