UFC Risk Management

OCLC Systems & Services, 2006

Risk is defined as an event that has a probability of occurring, and could have either a positive or negative impact to a project should that risk occur.(Van Scoy, 1992) Risk management is a broad factor affecting quite a number of business sectors however it’s also a factor which must be addressed by every human being on earth regarding their way of living otherwise if ignored human life is left in harm’s way and susceptible to death, diseases and poverty. However to a project, risk management is an ongoing process that continues through the life of a project. It includes processes for risk management planning, identification, analysis, monitoring and control. Many of these processes are updated throughout the project lifecycle as new risks can be identified at any time. It’s the objective of risk management to decrease the probability and impact of events adverse to the project. On the other hand, any event that could have a positive impact should be exploited. (Laurie Williams 2004). The purpose of this Essay is to address the challenge of dealing with risks and opportunities professionally which is becoming one of the key success factors in business today. Most companies have realized the requirements turbulent markets present and have started to adapt to this turbulence. But risks and opportunities are greater in turbulent markets, so they call for active strategic risk management.

Problem background: The problem of this research paper is centered on project risk management process and its relation to the success of construction projects. Organizations, project managers and all other stakeholders have been complaining of myriads of challenges on how to identify critical factors that can lead to project success. This issue has made these scholars and practitioners to concern themselves with the issue of project success and try to establish some other appropriate factors that measure project success from early as 1960s.These scholars have identified different critical success factors of construction project but how it is impacted on by risk management process is a research gap that this study will try to fill. Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to establish the effect of project risk management process on the success of construction project. Methodology: The study empirically review literatures on the theoretical framework of project risk management process and its relation to project success in construction industry Conclusions: The study found out that risk factors have significant impact on the success of constructions project success regardless of the type or complexity of the project. This means that the traditional success factors of cost, scope, time and quality are universally inherent in all construction projects and should always be considered as a base for all other forms of critical success factors however this is not a guarantee of project success since the main weakness of project success is not from the traditional success factors but rather the society that is pressurizing project managers to succeed in all tasks. Therefore, critical success factors are necessities aimed at supporting projects managers in tracking various risk factors associated with projects and make an informed decision. Recommendations: Therefore, project managers need to develop a more appropriate critical success factor identification technique in order to avoid the problem of over planning or under planning at the start of the project. When the construction project is being planned, an appropriate measuring tool for critical success factor analysis may need to be identified and defined; this is a gap that needs further research. Also, the literature review on was limited to construction projects only and it is not exhaustive thus confirmation of this work may be done in other sectors. Keywords: Project, risk, risk factors, risk management, project management, project success, success criteria and critical success factors.