The manager for a growing firm is considering the launch of a new product. If the product goes directly to market, there is a $50$ percent chance of success. For $$181,000,$ the manager can conduct a focus group that will increase the product's chance of success to $65$ percent. Alternatively, the manager has the option to pay a consulting firm $$396,000$ to research the market and refine the product. The consulting firm successfully launches new products $80$ percent of the time. If the firm successfully launches the product, the payoff will be $$1\mathrm{.}96$ million. If the product is a failure, the NPV is $$0.$

Calculate the NPV for each option available for the project. $($Do not round intermediate calculations and enter your answers in dollars, not millions of dollars, rounded to the nearest whole dollar amount, e$.$g$.1,234,567.)$

Which action should the firm undertake?