Key Concepts of Project Analysis
Key Concepts of Project Analysis
• Project management is a set of skills and • Keeping up the quality of the project
techniques used to plan, organize, and
Project Management – Challenge
execute projects effectively and efficiently.
For successful project management, one must • So, Project Management is the discipline of
have a clear understanding of the project planning, organizing, and managing resources
goals, scope, timelines, and budget. to bring about the successful completion of
specific project goals and objectives.
• The main purpose of project management is
to achieve the predetermined objectives of • The primary challenge of project management
scope, cost, time, quality and the satisfaction is to achieve all of the project goals and
of the participant. objectives while adhering to classic project
constraints--usually scope, quality, time and
• Project management requires developing a
budget.
project plan, which outlines the tasks to be
completed, the resources needed, and the • The secondary and more ambitious--challenge
timelines for each task. This plan will also is to optimize the allocation and integration of
need to identify risks and potential issues that inputs necessary to meet pre-defined
may arise during the project and include objectives. A project is a carefully defined set
contingency plans to mitigate them. of activities that use resources (money,
people, materials, energy, space, provisions,
• During the project, one needs to manage the
communication, motivation, etc.) to achieve
team, track progress, and communicate
the project goals and objectives.
regularly with stakeholders to ensure that the
project is on track and meeting expectations. THE PROJECT MANAGER
The project plan must also accommodate
changes and unforeseen events. • Organizations face different challenges while
managing a project due to various reasons
Project Management –Activities such as lack of management skills and
disputes among the team members.
• Project management includes developing and
implementing a plan for the project while • Project manager is the individual who
considering the available resources such as manages the project effectively and
manpower, material and cost in the efficiently.
organization. Project management involves
the following activities: • In every organization, it is the duty or
responsibility of the project manager to
• Planning and analysing the objectives manage the projects
of the project
• Following are the different challenges in
• Measuring and controlling the risk- project management:
involved in the project
• Unrealistic deadlines: The biggest challenge
• Estimating the organizational project managers face is to complete the
resources required in the project project on time and meet project deadlines.
• Assigning tasks to the employees • Communication deficit: In most organizations,
related to the project project managers and team members do not
give adequate information to the customers.
• Directing and motivating employees
to improve their performance • Resource competition: There is a lot of
competition in resources required for projects
• Organizing project activities
due to availability of the resources such as
• Formulating the project manpower and material in the organization
• Forecasting trends in the project • Undefined vision and goals: Sometimes, the
goals of a project are not clearly defined.
• Completing the project on time
• Poor feasibility studies • How much you will get?..... Will depend on
your capacity to make a good deal with
• Inadequate supervision & monitoring
resource providers.
• Natural causes
• A well formulated comprehensive project
Why do agricultural projects fail? proposal will enhance your capacity to
negotiate for a better deal.
• History records the dismal failure of the so-
called project approach. What are the reasons Project life Cycle
for this? The concept clearly proves to be
• The Project Life Cycle refers to a series of
sound. It may, however, be that the project
activities which are necessary to fulfill project
design is flawed or that implementation is at
goals or objectives.
fault; it may be a poor inaccurate project
analysis; or it may be unforeseen economic, • Projects vary in size and complexity, but, no
natural or political changes. matter how large or small, all projects can be
mapped to the following life cycle structure:
A comprehensive list of “where things went wrong”
Starting the project, Organizing and
will include the following:
preparing.
• A lack of local ownership and responsibility,
• Most of the projects are likely to be private
ie. participative planning and development.
sector driven. They may be manufacturing
• Problems of project design and projects or they could be petrochemical or
implementation. civil engineering projects.
• The use of inappropriate technology, cropping • Your key task, as a project evaluator, is to
systems and animal husbandry. carefully consider each and every project
brought to your attention and see how useful
• Inadequate or inappropriate infrastructure. or valuable they are.
• A weak support system. • A project cycle tries to describe the various
stages that are involved, from the conception
The initiation phase marks the start of the project. • Project Sponsor
This is the phase where the project is defined, its
• Project Manager
goals and objectives are established, and its feasibility
is assessed. During this phase, the project team is • Project Team: The project team is responsible
identified, stakeholders are identified, and the project for executing the project's activities and
charter is developed. delivering the project's outputs. They may
include individuals from different
• Planning:
departments or functions within the
The planning phase is where the project plan is organization or external consultants.
developed. This includes identifying the scope of the
• Customers:
project, creating a work breakdown structure,
identifying resources, developing a schedule, and Customers are the people or organizations who will
defining the budget. The project team also identifies use or benefit from the project's outputs. They may
and analyzes potential risks during this phase and be internal or external to the organization.
comes up with risk management strategies.
• Suppliers:
• Execution:
• Suppliers are the people or organizations
The execution phase is where the project work is who provide the resources, materials, or
performed. This includes implementing the project services required for the project's success.
plan, managing resources, and monitoring and They may include vendors, contractors, or
controlling the project work. The project team also service providers. Regulators: Regulators are
communicates progress to stakeholders and makes the government or regulatory bodies that
necessary adjustments to keep the project on track have an interest in the project's outcomes.
They may set standards or guidelines that the
• Monitoring and Control:
project must adhere to.
The monitoring and control phase is where the
• Effective stakeholder management involves
project team monitors the project's progress against
identifying the stakeholders, understanding
the plan, identifies variances, and takes corrective
their interests, expectations, and
action. This includes tracking progress, managing
requirements, and engaging them
change requests, and managing risk.
throughout the project's lifecycle. It is
• Closure: essential for managing project risks,
managing change, and ensuring successful
The closure phase marks the end of the project. completion of the project.
During this phase, the project team completes all the
remaining tasks, obtains final approval from PROJECT ORGANIZATION
stakeholders, and closes the project. The team also
• Project organization refers to the specific
conducts a final review to identify the lessons learned
structure, roles, and responsibilities assigned
from the project
to individuals and teams involved in a project.
Stakeholders of a Project Let's understand this with the help of an
example. Suppose a large manufacturing
• Stakeholders are individuals or groups who company wants to launch a new product line.
have an interest or stake in the outcome of a To do so, they will need to create a project
project. They can affect or be affected by the team with the necessary skills and resources
project's activities, decisions, and results. to manage the project from start to finish.
• The project organization structure may look often used in organizations where projects are critical
something like this: to the business but not the primary business function.
-Causal Methods
Demand forecasting
Demand and Supply Projections for Smartphones (in
• Qualitative method
units)
• Jury of executive method: This
method involves soliciting the opinion
of a group of managers on expected
future sales
that there are no significant shortages that financial costs emanating from the financing
could impede project implementation. alternative considered for the project.
• Cost Estimation: Estimate the costs associated • This provides enough information for the
with acquiring and implementing the required calculation of the financial bottom line of the
technology. This includes not only the initial project. The financial feasibility check involves
investment but also ongoing maintenance and a detailed financial analysis. Financial analysis
operational costs. includes quite a few assumptions and
calculations. Some are briefly described
• If there is an ample market demand without
below:
enough supply, the focus should shift over to
technology. The following inquiries must be • Estimates
made with respect to technology analysis:
Projections are made for price of product, the cost of
a) Availability of commercially exploitable various resources required for manufacturing goods
technology and its alternatives: and capacity utilization. Use of the thumb rule or
actual data of some comparable projects are generally
If technology is available, then should one buy the
included in the estimates.
latest technology or would an old one be fine?
Usually, in a cheap labour economy, less than the • Period of analysis
latest technology works fine from the labour-to-
The period of estimate is determined and the terminal
capital ratio angle. However, the choice has to
value of the project is forecast. The period of estimate
depend on the effects of technology on the
should be justified by factors like, the product life
desired quality of product and cost of product
cycle, business cycle, ability to forecast, period of debt
versus investment needed in a given technology.
funds, etc.
b) Transferability of those technologies
• Financing alternatives
• Whether the transfer of technology is possible
Financing alternatives are considered and a tentative
from the political angle
choice of financing mix is made together with
• Whether transfer of technology is possible assumptions regarding the cost of funds and
from the operations (environment) angle repayment schedules
• Based on the projected financial statements, • Project delays can plague any industry, any
some important financial indicators are team and any individual project.
calculated for a quick viability check. Here are
• Delay and cost overrun are intrinsic part of
some key financial indicators commonly used
most projects despite the much acquired
in project analysis
knowledge in project management. Although
• The interest cover ratio (also known as times- some may argue that this is negligible.
interest-earned or TIE)
• A project delay can represent a costly
Since indicates the safety and timely payment occurrence for any organization especially in
of interest to the lenders of money, it is calculated the present age of cut throat competition and
with the help of the following formula: diminishing margins.
• Therefore, it is important for an organization
• Interest Cover Ratio = PAT + Interest Expense/
to understand what causes a delay and how
Interest Expense
to prevent it from occurring. The major causes
• The payback period (PBP) of project delay are as follows:
• Design errors
• Discounted payback period • Subcontractor Delays
• The net present value (NPV) • Scope change
• Shipping and Supply Delays
• The internal rate of return (IRR) • Inappropriate and inadequate
• MIRR procurement
• Climate Delays
• Profitability Index (PI) • Complexity of project
• Client-End Delays
• Sensitivity Analysis
• Post execution phase Delay
• Return on Investment (ROI):
The project objectives are to: Creating a development environment with the
necessary tools and infrastructure.
Develop a mobile application that helps users
track their daily water intake and reminds Prepare a Financial Plan:
them to stay hydrated.
The financial plan includes:
Improve users' health and well-being by
Identifying the project costs, including
promoting healthy hydration habits.
salaries, infrastructure, and marketing
Generate revenue by selling the application expenses.
to users.
Developing a revenue model based on the
The project scope includes: application's price and projected sales
volume.
Designing and developing the application for
both iOS and Android platforms. Analyzing the project's financial viability,
including the return on investment and
Integrating the application with third-party
break-even analysis.
tools for tracking and analysis.
Develop a Risk Management Plan:
Testing and debugging the application.
The risk management plan includes:
Launching the application in the market.
Identifying potential risks such as
Conduct a Feasibility Study technical issues, market competition, and
The feasibility study includes: regulatory compliance.
-Use a FV table.
-Use a spreadsheet.
EIR = (1 + [ i / m ] )m – 1
Example
Future Value of a Single Amount
Suppose you invest Rs.1,000 CD in a bank. The
(Spreadsheet Example)
interest rate is 6% compounded quarterly for 1 year.
-FV(rate,nper,pmt,pv,type) What is the Effective Annual Interest Rate (EAR)?
-fv is the future value Effect of Compounding Frequency on Future Value &
EAR
-Rate is the interest rate per period
Find the future value at the end of one year if the
-Nper is the total number of periods present value is Rs.20,000 and the interest rate is
-Pmt is the annuity amount 16%. Use the following compounding frequencies:
Annual Compounding
-pv is the present value Semiannual Compounding
Quarterly Compounding
-Type is 0 if cash flows occur at the end of the period
Monthly Compounding
-Type is 1 if cash flows occur at the beginning of the Daily Compounding
period Effect of Compounding Frequency on Future Value
Examples
1. Find out compound value of Rs.1,000, interest
rate being 12 percent per annum if compounded
annually, semi-annually, quarterly and monthly.
• Suppose a firm is considering replacing an Net cash flow Revenues Expenses Taxes
equipment at book value of Rs. 5000 and NCF REV EXP TAX
market value of Rs. 3000. New equipment • The computation of the after-tax cash
will require an initial cash outlay of Rs flows requires a careful treatment of non-
10,000, and is estimated to generate cash cash expense items such as depreciation.
flows of Rs 8,000, Rs 7,000 and Rs 4,500 • Depreciation, calculated as per the income
for the next 3 years. tax rules influences cash flows indirectly
• The book value of old machine is a sunk by way of depreciation tax shield.
cost. Market value is opportunity cost. Example
• Thus, on an incremental basis the net cash
outflow of new equipment is: Rs 10,000 –
Rs 3,000 = Rs 7,000.
• Also, The differences of the cash flows of
new equipment over the cash flows of old
equipment are incremental cash flows.
COMPONENTS OF CASH FLOWS
• Initial Investment
• Net Cash Flows
– Depreciation and Taxes
– Net Working Capital
• Change in accounts
receivable
• Change in inventory
• Change in accounts • Calculate operating cash flow. =
payable 17,160+75,000=92160
– Free Cash Flows
• Terminal Cash Flows Net working capital
– Salvage Value
• It is the difference between change in current
• Salvage value of the new
asset assets (e.g., receivable and inventory) and
• Salvage value of the change in current liabilities (e.g., accounts
existing asset now payable) to profit.
• Salvage value of the • Increase in net working capital should be
existing asset at the end of subtracted from and decrease added to after-
its normal tax operating profit.
• Tax effect of salvage
value NCF EBIT (1 T ) + DEP NWC
– Release of Net Working Capital
Initial Investment Terminal Cash Flow: Salvage Value
• Initial investment is the net cash outlay in
the period in which an asset is purchased. • Salvage value is a terminal cash flow.
• A major element of the initial investment • Salvage value may be defined as the market
is gross outlay or original value (OV) of
price of an investment at the time of its sale.
the asset, which comprises of its cost
(including accessories and spare parts) and • No immediate tax liability (or tax savings)
freight and installation charges. arises on the sale of an asset because the
• Original value is included in the existing value of the asset sold is adjusted in the
block of assets for computing annual depreciable base of assets.
depreciation.
Net Cash Flows Cash Flow Estimates for New Products
• Consist of annual cash flows occurring
• It depends on forecasts of sales and operating
from the operation of an investment, but it
expenses.
is also be affected by changes in net
working capital and capital expenditures • Sales forecasts require information on the
during the life of the investment. quantity of sales and the price of the product.
• Anticipation of the competitors’ reactions. • Suppose that a project requires a cash outlay
of Rs 20,000, and generates cash inflows of Rs
Cash Flow Estimates for Replacement Decisions
8,000; Rs 7,000; Rs 4,000; and Rs 3,000 during
• The initial investment of the new machine will the next 4 years. What is the project’s
be reduced by the cash proceeds from the payback?
sale of the existing machine.
3 years + 12 × (1,000/3,000) months
• The annual cash flows are found on
3 years + 4 months
incremental basis.
DISCOUNTED PAYBACK PERIOD
• The incremental cash proceeds from salvage
value is considered. • The discounted payback period is the number
of periods taken in recovering the investment
Evaluation Criteria
outlay on the present value basis.
– Payback Period (PB)
• The discounted payback period still fails to
– Discounted payback period (DPB) consider the cash flows occurring after the
payback period.
– Accounting Rate of Return (ARR)
ACCOUNTING RATE OF RETURN METHOD
– Net Present Value (NPV)
• The accounting rate of return is the ratio of
– Internal Rate of Return (IRR) the average after-tax profit divided by the
– Modified Internal Rate of Return average investment. The average investment
(MIRR) would be equal to half of the original
investment if it were depreciated constantly.
– Profitability Index (PI)
PAYBACK
Rs 50,000
PB 4 years
Rs 12,500
• Unequal cash flows In case of unequal cash Calculation of Accounting Rate of Return
inflows, the payback period can be found out
by adding up the cash inflows until the total is
equal to the initial cash outlay.
C C2 C3 Cn
NPV 1 C0
(1 k ) (1 k ) (1 k ) (1 k ) n
2 3
Acceptance Rule
• This method will accept all those projects n
Ct
whose ARR is higher than the minimum NPV C0
t 1 (1 k )
t
rate established by the management and
reject those projects which have ARR less
than the minimum rate. Example
• This method would rank a project as • Consider an investment which has the
number one if it has highest ARR and following cash flows:
lowest rank would be assigned to the • Initial investment is 32,000/-
project with lowest ARR. • Compute NPV at 14% Cost of capital/
Evaluation of ARR Method
discount rate. Should this project be
accepted or not?
• The ARR method may claim some merits
Evaluation of the NPV Method
Simplicity
• NPV is most acceptable investment rule
Accounting data
for the following reasons:
Accounting profitability
– Time value
• Serious shortcomings
– Measure of true profitability
Cash flows ignored
– Value-additivity
Time value ignored
– Shareholder value
Arbitrary cut-off
• Limitations:
Net Present Value Method
– Involved cash flow estimation
• Cash flows of the investment project
– Difficult to determine the discount
should be forecasted based on realistic
rate
assumptions.
– Mutually exclusive projects
• Appropriate discount rate should be
– Ranking of projects
identified to discount the forecasted cash
INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN METHOD
flows.
• The internal rate of return (IRR) is the rate
• Present value of cash flows should be
that equates the investment outlay with the
calculated using the opportunity cost of
present value of cash inflow received after
capital as the discount rate.
one period. This also implies that the rate
• Net present value should be found out by
of return is the discount rate which makes
subtracting present value of cash outflows
NPV = 0.
from present value of cash inflows. The
project should be accepted if NPV is
positive (i.e., NPV > 0).
Net Present Value Method
• The formula for the net present value can
be written as follows:
CALCULATION OF IRR
• Level Cash Flows
-Let us assume that an investment would cost
Rs.20,000 and provide annual cash inflow of Rs.5,430
for 6 years
2000 1566
3 -3,750
Acceptance Rule
• Accept the project when r > k
• Reject the project when r < k
• May accept the project when r = k
• In case of independent projects, IRR and
NPV rules will give the same results if the
firm has no shortage of funds.
Evaluation of IRR Method Example
• IRR method has following merits: • Suppose we have a strip-mining project that
Time value requires a Rs.6,000/- investment. The
Profitability measure investment cash flow in the first year will be
Acceptance rule Rs.15,500/-. In the second year, the mine will
Shareholder value be depleted, but we will have to spend
• IRR method may suffer from Rs.10,000/- to restore the terrain.
Multiple rates
Mutually exclusive projects
Value additivity
NPV vs. IRR
• Conventional Independent Projects:
In case of conventional investments, which Case of Ranking Mutually Exclusive Projects
are economically independent of each other, NPV
and IRR methods result in same accept-or-reject •Investment projects are said to be mutually
decision if the firm is not constrained for funds in exclusive when only one investment could
accepting all profitable projects. be accepted and others would have to be
• Lending and borrowing-type projects: excluded.
Project with initial outflow followed by inflows is • Two independent projects may also be
a lending type project, and project with initial mutually exclusive if a financial constraint
inflow followed by outflows is a borrowing type is imposed.
project, Both are conventional projects. • The NPV and IRR rules give conflicting
ranking to the projects under the following
conditions:
– The cash flow pattern of the
projects may differ. That is, the
cash flows of one project may
increase over time, while those of
Problem of Multiple IRRs others may decrease or vice-versa.
• A project may have both lending and – The cash outlays of the projects
borrowing features together. IRR method, may differ.
when used to evaluate such non- – The projects may have different
conventional investment can yield multiple expected lives.
internal rates of return because of more Timing of cash flows
than one change of signs in cash flows. The most commonly found condition for the conflict
• Consider the following project between the NPV and IRR methods is the difference in
Period Cash flow the timing of cash flows. Let us consider the following
1 -1,000 two Projects, M and N.
2 4,000
– Project indivisibility.
Profitability Index
• The objective of the NPV rule under
capital constraint should be to maximise
NPV per rupee of capital rather than to
maximise NPV.
• Projects should be ranked by their
profitability index, and top-ranked projects
should be undertaken until funds are Acceptance Rule
exhausted.
• The following are the PI acceptance rules:
• The Profitability Index does not always
– Accept the project when PI is
work. It fails in two situations: greater than one. PI > 1
– Multi-period capital constraints.
by inflation since
1.14
depreciation is allowed on K 1 0.0654
the book value of an asset, 1.07
irrespective of its
replacement or market
price, for tax purposes.
Example
Nominal VS. Real Rates of Return
• A company has the following projected
• For a correct analysis, two alternatives are cash flows estimated in real terms:
available:
– either the cash flows should be
converted into nominal terms and
then discounted at the nominal
required rate of return, or
– the discount rate should be
converted into real terms and used
to discount the real cash flows
compare it with Project X. Project Y costs investment for the original life, n and k is the
more than project X. opportunity cost of capital.
AEV: Example
•
(1 k ) n An equipment or asset should be replaced
NPV (NPVn )
whenever a more economic alternative is
(1 k ) n
1
available.
Example
where NPV∞ is the present value of the investment
indefinitely, NPVn is the present value of the • A company is operating equipment, which is
expected to produce net cash inflows of Rs
4,000, Rs 3,000 and Rs 2,000 respectively for
next 3 years. A design, which is considered to will cost Rs.24,500/- and will produce net cash
be a technological improvement and more saving of Rs.4800/- per year. Machine B has
efficient to operate, has appeared in the an expected life of 5 years will cost
market. It is expected that the new machine Rs.20,000/- and will produce net cash savings
will cost Rs 12,000 and will provide net cash in operating costs of Rs.6000/- per year.
inflow of Rs 6,000 a year for 5 years. What Company’s cost of capital is 14%.
should the company do? Assume 12 per cent
discount rate. Activities
01. Assume that you are a financial analyst for
Example
the H Company. The director of capital
• The correct method of analysis is to compare budgeting has asked you to analyze two
the annual equivalent value (AEV) of the old proposed capital investments, Projects X
and new equipments as given below. and Y. Each project has a cost of
Rs.1,000,000, and the cost of capital for
• A chain of new machines is equivalent to an each is 12%. The projects’ expected net
annuity of Rs 9,630 3.605 = Rs 2,671 a year cash flows are as follows:
for the life of the chain. The existing machine
is still capable of providing an annuity of: Rs
7,390 2.402 = Rs 3,076. So long as the
existing machine generates a cash inflow of
more than Rs 2,671 there does not seem to
be an economic justification for replacing it.