Abstract
The project management environment is exposed to risk. When an organization identifies a gap or opportunity it will decide to embark on an endeavor to address the need. A project has specific objectives to fulfil. In the process of implementing a project, there may be events that should they occur will threaten the successful completion the project. These events are what pose a risk to a project and if realized, will have an impact on a project. A project management process should enable the identification of potential risks to the project so that actions to minimize the risk impact and/or to mitigate can be developed. Once identified, the probability that the risk event will occur can be determined, and subsequently the extent of its impact can be assessed.
A risk management process enables the organization to be aware of its exposure to risk. It also allows the organization to deal with the anticipated risk proactively. The risk management process evaluates the potential risks that could be realized in a project. Risk management should be built into the organization’s process of project implementation. Project success is somewhat dependent on the ability of the project management process practiced by the organization. A project management process should be able to focus on all aspects contributing to the achievement of project objectives. The elements often used by organizations to measure project performance are cost, time, and quality. The project management body of knowledge (PMBOK) gives definitions of these elements. The cost element refers to the completion of the project within the set budget. The project cost involves determining and allocating of funds towards acquisition of the resources required for the execution of the project. The time element refers to the timely completion of the project. The project duration is determined by defining the activities required to complete the project scope. The quality element refers to delivering the project to meet the specified performance requirements. Quality compliance is ensured through identifying the specifications that apply to the project, and constantly evaluating the performance of the completed work within a project.
A risk management process identified in literature is described by Farias et. al. 2003, is divided into the evaluate process and control process. Three factors which potentially impact on risks that could be anticipated in infrastructural development projects that are a focus of this research are human, organizational and technological. The objective of the study is to identify the risk factors impacting infrastructural development projects and to propose the mitigating factors to reduce these risks.
Chapter 1 gives the background information of the study and also describes the problem statement, research objectives and the research questions. Chapter 2 provides the literature review studied in order to understand the broad subject matter relevant to the study. Chapter 3 presents risk management models identified in literature and a deduced integrated framework. Chapter 4 describes the research methodology undertaken to carry out the study, whereby a survey was used to gather information and data that pertains to infrastructural development projects. Chapter 5 presents the research findings. A statistical analysis of the findings will produce conclusions and recommendations presented in Chapter 6.
M.Ing. (Engineering Management)