After taking into account both quantitative and qualitative

factors, the company is strongly advised to select Option #1.

In formulating our recommendation, the first step we took

was to identify and eliminate those factors that do not differ
among the presented options as they are irrelevant in the
decision making process; these are the net present value and
the payback period of each option.

Proceeding with the analysis of the quantitative factors we

can notice that first option requires a significantly smaller
initial investment which translates into more savings and less
risk for the company. On the other hand, the initial investment
required by the second option appears excessive and
unjustified. In fact, the second option, which entails the
investment in a entirely different computer system, goes way
beyond the company’s wish regarding its existing computers
which is actually a simple software update.

Nevertheless, what really made our judgement tip toward

the first option were the qualitative factors.

As a matter of fact, the first option is more suitable to the

company since, unlike the second option, it is in harmony with
the company’s wish of a more up-to-date software and
improved printing capabilities. In fact, the company is still not
well known, therefore investing too much in new computers
would be a gamble that the company should not take.

In addition, the first option will be easier to implement

since the company would be able to retain the present
computer system, and the employees, being already familiar
with their equipment, will not experience hard times in coping
with the changes brought by the software update. In addition,
the company would also avoid eventual costs and time to be
invested in training the employees to adapt to the new
computer system.

Lastly, the first option would render the company’s

operations more efficient by providing better
telecommunications equipment that would allow electronic
transmission among the different work stations. By contrast,
option 2, though providing better equipment, would make the
operations more complicated for the employees who have yet
to cop with the drastic changes cause by both software and
hardware update.