Wood, G and Ellis, R (2001) An exploration of approaches to risk management applications within UK construction projects. In: Akintoye, A (ed.) Proceedings of 17th Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2001, Salford, UK.
Abstract
Risk Management (RM) is now widely accepted as an important tool in the management of projects. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with RM facilitators the trends and approaches to the practical application of RM are explored. The findings provide a number of soft benchmarks. The use of RM workshops for project teams is prevalent, though some prefer interviews with individual team members. The production of risk registers is routine. There is a reluctance to over-complicate the classification of risks. The use of Monte Carlo simulation through specialist software is widespread as a means of obtaining a greater degree of confidence in project budgets and associated contingency funds. Decision trees, spider diagrams and other more complex techniques are rarely, if ever, used. The use of historical data is limited. The rich data which emerges from the interview process offers a valuable insight into cost consultants' experiences of RM applications. There is a tendency to take an intuitive approach to risk attitudes. There is a degree of scepticism regarding the usefulness of complex risk analysis techniques and a predisposition to rely on judgement based on experience. These findings provide the foundation for further case-study based research.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | probabilistic estimating; risk analysis; risk attitude; risk management; workshop |
| Index terms: | routine, workshop, interview, risk attitude, cost consultant, facilitator, risk register, Monte Carlo simulation, risk management, decision tree, construction project, exploration, project team, estimating, risk analysis |
| Subjects: | decision analysis, sociology, environmental hazards, decision-making and reasoning, production management, financial risk, modelling and simulation, environmental resource management, project delivery, financial and cost management, profession, construction type, risk assessment, data collection methods, practitioner |
| Topics: | Risk Management, Roles and Professions, Construction Technology, Sustainability, Cost Management, Research Practice, Project Management, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here