Group and individual decision-making in project risk management

The nature of the construction project has become increasingly complex and this highlights how project management decision-making has been supplemented with the use of risk management strategies. Subsequently the use of risk management strategies in construction project execution has had some of its weaknesses exposed, namely the failure of such strategies to consider the role of the individual within the risk management process. Consequently this research has undertaken an investigation to ascertain and understand the nature and impact of individual decision-makers upon the decision-making process. The attributes of and influences upon individual decision-making, risk and uncertainty perceptions and preferences have been explored and discussed in some detail. From those the 'risk prism', a metaphor for the perception and preference of risk and uncertainty, was developed to explore the manner in which these decision-making attributes function. An investigation was undertaken to replicate the 'risky shift' phenomenon in decision-making groups populated by construction project management professionals. The results of this investigation ascertained the influence of the group environment upon construction management decision-makers, namely that individuals were influenced to accept greater uncertainty in a group decision environment. Subsequently a case study investigation of an organisations attempt to introduce a new risk management strategy was undertaken from which an enhanced understanding of the group discussion and decision-making environment was ascertained. As a result of these investigations an improved risk management process was developed and is presented within this dissertation.