Project Risk Management
"Risk is inherent to any activity. A project risk represents an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, could have an undesirable effect on a project objective. A project manager may accept or ignore risks depending on the possible consequences." (University of Phoenix, 2003)
The risk management process follows three steps: identification, analysis, response. "Risk identification is generally done as part of a feasibility study, at the beginning of the active project work, and at each new phase of a large project. The process of identification is assisted by use of risk factor tables that capture indicators of commonly encountered risks." (Texas DIR, 2000) Some project managers add a tracking and control step ? a post-mortem of sorts.
The identified risks are then "analyzed to establish the project exposure for each risk and to determine which risk items are the most important ones to address. Risk exposure is defined as the product of the likelihood that the risk will occur and the magnitude of the consequences of its occurrence." (Texas DIR, 2000) By addressing the most significant risks items, the project should proceed smoothly with optimal success.
Robert Tusler (1996) quotes Larry Krantz, Chief Executive of Euro Log Ltd as saying that "A risk is a combination of constraint and uncertainty." Every project has constraints and uncertainty. The risk to the project can be minimized either by eliminating constraints or by identifying and reducing uncertainty.
Risk Identification
Some risks are inherent in every project some are very specific. Generic risks such as lack of money, people or time and natural and manmade disasters are risks to every project in ...