LiveCase: Alpha 2 - NPV+

Alpha 2: NPV+ is a three-episode LiveCase simulation that helps managers build stronger business cases for sustainability investments. Set at Alpha, a European beverage bottler, the simulation challenges learners to evaluate a proposed plastic recycling project in Malta that falls short under traditional financial analysis but carries significant customer, stakeholder, and strategic implications.
In the role of Chief Innovation Officer, learners apply the NPV+ framework to identify material stakeholder pressures, connect them to financial outcomes, quantify overlooked benefits and cost savings, and develop a credible investment case. Working with senior colleagues and responding to evolving information, they must balance client expectations for recycled content with the CFO’s rigorous scrutiny of financial returns. The experience culminates in an AI-enabled pitch to the CFO, followed by a video debrief highlighting the key lessons

1. Understand why traditional NPV undervalues sustainability initiatives and how the NPV+ framework addresses this gap.
2. Master the four-step process for identifying, mapping, quantifying, and incorporating stakeholder-driven value into financial analysis.
3. Distinguish quantifiable financial impacts from intangible goodwill and link sustainability metrics to P&L, cash flow, and balance sheet outcomes.
4. Build and defend investment cases by strategically reframing decisions around the risks and benefits of pursuing or not pursuing a project.
5. Recognise that context-specific factors, such as industry dynamics, shape how stakeholder pressures translate into enterprise value.