Unilever and Oxfam: Understanding the Impacts of Business on Poverty (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 Unilever and Oxfam: Understanding the Impacts of Business on Poverty (A) case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Unilever and Oxfam: Understanding the Impacts of Business on Poverty (A) case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Crawford Robert, N. Craig Smith. The Unilever and Oxfam: Understanding the Impacts of Business on Poverty (A) (referred as “Poverty Oxfam” 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, Emerging markets.

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 Unilever and Oxfam: Understanding the Impacts of Business on Poverty (A) Case Study

In 2003, Unilever and Oxfam embarked on a groundbreaking "learning project" designed to better understand the impacts of business on poverty. Developing countries were seen as an essential component of Unilever's corporate strategy, with developing and emerging markets forecast to account for 90% of the world's population by 2010. Unilever had long been present in many of these markets and was increasingly aware that its future growth would depend upon its ability to address issues of social and economic development in developing countries, including poverty. Oxfam, one of the world's most prominent nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), was focused in its campaigning and other activities on the alleviation of poverty. Thus, despite the often adversarial relationship between corporations and NGOs, the two organisations shared a common interest which formed the basis for their collaboration. The goal was to examine the role of business in poverty reduction, specifically by studying Unilever's operations in Indonesia. Case A describes how this collaboration came about and provides background on Unilever, Unilever Indonesia (UI), and Oxfam, including its campaigns against the pharmaceutical and coffee industries. It also examines the role of NGOs, the challenge of tackling poverty in developing countries, the Millennium Development Goals, and the UN Global Compact. The case ithe difficulties inherent in better understanding the role of MNCs in poverty alleviation as well as in forging effective collaboration between corporations and NGOs.

Case Authors : Crawford Robert, N. Craig Smith

Topic : Leadership & Managing People

Related Areas : Emerging markets

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Unilever and Oxfam: Understanding the Impacts of Business on Poverty (A) Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10013132)	-10013132	-	-
Year 1	3458088	-6555044	3458088	0.9434	3262347
Year 2	3957349	-2597695	7415437	0.89	3522027
Year 3	3939776	1342081	11355213	0.8396	3307912
Year 4	3225917	4567998	14581130	0.7921	2555228
TOTAL			14581130		12647514

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2634382

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. Net Present Value
3. Profitability Index
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. Poverty Oxfam 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 Poverty Oxfam 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 Unilever and Oxfam: Understanding the Impacts of Business on Poverty (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 Poverty Oxfam 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 Poverty Oxfam 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	(10013132)	-10013132	-	-
Year 1	3458088	-6555044	3458088	0.8696	3007033
Year 2	3957349	-2597695	7415437	0.7561	2992324
Year 3	3939776	1342081	11355213	0.6575	2590467
Year 4	3225917	4567998	14581130	0.5718	1844429
TOTAL					10434253

The Net NPV after 4 years is 421121

(10434253 - 10013132 )

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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	(10013132)	-10013132	-	-
Year 1	3458088	-6555044	3458088	0.8333	2881740
Year 2	3957349	-2597695	7415437	0.6944	2748159
Year 3	3939776	1342081	11355213	0.5787	2279963
Year 4	3225917	4567998	14581130	0.4823	1555708
TOTAL					9465570

The Net NPV after 4 years is -547562

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9465570 - 10013132 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Poverty Oxfam 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 Poverty Oxfam has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Poverty Oxfam 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 Poverty Oxfam, then the stock price of the Poverty Oxfam 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 Poverty Oxfam 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 –

Understanding of risks involved in the project.

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.

What are the key aspects of the projects that need to be monitored, refined, and retuned for continuous delivery of projected cash flows.

What can impact the cash flow of 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 Unilever and Oxfam: Understanding the Impacts of Business on Poverty (A)

References & Further Readings

Crawford Robert, N. Craig Smith (2018), "Unilever and Oxfam: Understanding the Impacts of Business on Poverty (A) Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.