As the manager of the pension fund, you are frequently targeted by software companies peddling investment simulation software. You have finally narrowed down your choice to two applications. You need to analyze the options by calculating NPV, IRR and Payback Period based on their purchase price and savings to your company over time. Your staff has prepared a cash-flow table to help you. Year zero shows the purchase price of each application, and the figures listed for years 1-3 represent the savings to the company in successive years.

Year	Application I	Application II
0 (today)	-$1.5 million	-$1 million
1	$0.8 million	$0.5 million
2	$0.7 million	$0.24 million
3	$0.3 million	$0.6 million

You are considering three possible scenarios.

Question 7: If the payback period is two years, which application should be selected?

Question 8: If the required rate of return is 15 percent, which application should be selected?

Question 9: If the selection criterion is IRR, which application should be selected?