A project manager is part of a committee selecting one of four potential projects. The organization's primary criterion for project selection is maximizing business value, which is measured by Net Present Value (NPV). However, a secondary strategic goal is to improve short-term cash flow by favoring projects with a quicker payback period. Given the following data, which project should the project manager recommend?
The project with an NPV of $290,000 and a 2-year payback period.
The project with an NPV of $250,000 and a 2.5-year payback period.
The project with an NPV of $310,000 and a 4-year payback period.
The project with an NPV of -$20,000 and a 1.5-year payback period.
The correct answer is the project with an NPV of $310,000 and a 4-year payback period. When making financial decisions for project selection, Net Present Value (NPV) is considered a superior metric to Payback Period. NPV accounts for the time value of money and a project's total profitability over its entire lifecycle, providing a more complete picture of business value.
The project with a negative NPV of -$20,000 should be rejected immediately, as it is projected to result in a financial loss.
While other projects offer a shorter payback period, the Payback Period metric is less comprehensive. It only indicates the time required to recover the initial investment and ignores all cash flows and profitability after that point.
Since the primary criterion is maximizing value via NPV, the project with the highest positive NPV ($310,000) is the best choice, even though it has a longer payback period.
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