Why is it important that major capital projects those which will require a significant up-front investment and produce a return over multiple future periods be carefully analyzed and compared to each other before a decision to proceed is approved? How can a simple tool like Payback Period help us evaluate a projects attractiveness by itself as well as against other projects? Why is using time value of money tools like NPV important? How can we factor in the amount of risk inherent in various projects as we perform the analysis?