Dispelling Misconceptions and Providing Guidelines for Leader Reward and Punishment Behavior 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 Dispelling Misconceptions and Providing Guidelines for Leader Reward and Punishment Behavior case study

At Oak Spring University, we provide corporate level professional Net Present Value (NPV) case study solution. Dispelling Misconceptions and Providing Guidelines for Leader Reward and Punishment Behavior case study is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study written by Nathan P. Podsakoff, Philip M. Podsakoff, Valentina Kuskova. The Dispelling Misconceptions and Providing Guidelines for Leader Reward and Punishment Behavior (referred as “Punishment Behaviors” 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, Motivating people.

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 Dispelling Misconceptions and Providing Guidelines for Leader Reward and Punishment Behavior Case Study

One unfortunate consequence of the focus on "charismatic," "transformational," and "visionary" leader behaviors during the past few decades has been the tendency to diminish the importance that transactional leadership behaviors have on leadership effectiveness. We say that this is unfortunate because recent research has shown that transactional leadership, in the form of contingent reward and punishment behaviors, can have substantial effects on a variety of important employee attitudes, perceptions, and measures of job performance. Therefore, in this article we discuss some possible reasons why transactional leadership has been relegated to a lesser role than transformational leadership, summarize the research that indicates the importance of leader contingent reward and punishment behavior to leadership effectiveness, and identify some of the mechanisms that these forms of leadership behavior work through to influence employee attitudes and behaviors. Following this, we address ten misconceptions managers often have regarding the administration of rewards and punishments, and provide some recommendations about how leaders can improve their effectiveness in administering recognition and discipline in organizational settings.

Case Authors : Nathan P. Podsakoff, Philip M. Podsakoff, Valentina Kuskova

Topic : Leadership & Managing People

Related Areas : Leadership, Motivating people

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Calculating Net Present Value (NPV) at 6% for Dispelling Misconceptions and Providing Guidelines for Leader Reward and Punishment Behavior Case Study

Years	Cash Flow	Net Cash Flow	Cumulative     Cash Flow	Discount Rate @ 6 %	Discounted Cash Flows
Year 0	(10013996)	-10013996	-	-
Year 1	3455823	-6558173	3455823	0.9434	3260210
Year 2	3981813	-2576360	7437636	0.89	3543799
Year 3	3943328	1366968	11380964	0.8396	3310894
Year 4	3248956	4615924	14629920	0.7921	2573477
TOTAL			14629920		12688381

The Net Present Value at 6% discount rate is 2674385

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. Net Present Value
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. Punishment Behaviors 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 Punishment Behaviors 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 Dispelling Misconceptions and Providing Guidelines for Leader Reward and Punishment Behavior

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 Punishment Behaviors 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 Punishment Behaviors 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	(10013996)	-10013996	-	-
Year 1	3455823	-6558173	3455823	0.8696	3005063
Year 2	3981813	-2576360	7437636	0.7561	3010823
Year 3	3943328	1366968	11380964	0.6575	2592802
Year 4	3248956	4615924	14629920	0.5718	1857601
TOTAL					10466289

The Net NPV after 4 years is 452293

(10466289 - 10013996 )

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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	(10013996)	-10013996	-	-
Year 1	3455823	-6558173	3455823	0.8333	2879853
Year 2	3981813	-2576360	7437636	0.6944	2765148
Year 3	3943328	1366968	11380964	0.5787	2282019
Year 4	3248956	4615924	14629920	0.4823	1566819
TOTAL					9493838

The Net NPV after 4 years is -520158

At 20% discount rate the NPV is negative (9493838 - 10013996 ) so ideally we can't select the project if macro and micro factors don't allow financial managers of Punishment Behaviors 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 Punishment Behaviors has a NPV value higher than Zero then finance managers at Punishment Behaviors 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 Punishment Behaviors, then the stock price of the Punishment Behaviors 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 Punishment Behaviors 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 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.

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.

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 Dispelling Misconceptions and Providing Guidelines for Leader Reward and Punishment Behavior

References & Further Readings

Nathan P. Podsakoff, Philip M. Podsakoff, Valentina Kuskova (2018), "Dispelling Misconceptions and Providing Guidelines for Leader Reward and Punishment Behavior Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.