Browsing by Author "Fonouniolasl, Behnam"

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    Risk Management Process for Managing the Additional Risks Associated with Fast Tracking Engineering Phase of Oilsands Megaprojects in Alberta
    (2016) Fonouniolasl, Behnam; Jergeas, George; Ruwanpura, Janaka; Jugdev, Kam; Zareipour, Hamidreza; Hewage, Kasun
    Megaprojects are large-scale complex ventures that typically attract a high level of public attention. They are inherently risky due to the long duration and many complex interfaces associated with the industry and the execution environment. It is common to fast track this type of projects by overlapping phases and activities for business reasons. The compressed project schedule introduces additional risks to these megaprojects. To manage these additional risks, corporations are using a project risk management process, typically based on the Project Management Institute (PMI) methodology. The selective literature review in this research shows that different project risk management processes have similar components: risk strategy, risk identification, risk analysis, risk response and risk control. However, the poor performance of some aspects of project management in megaprojects indicates that these processes are not always successful in managing risks, and this research is designed to find out why. The researcher studied eight projects by interviewing industry practitioners in the Alberta oil sands to find out what aspect of the project risk management process does not work in the megaproject environment. Then the researcher conducted an online survey to verify the findings. The answers are synthesized resulting in the identification of four interconnected factors: Human Factors, Efficiency Factors, Integration Factors and Organization Factors. To ensure the internal validity of the research study, the triangulation strategy is used. To externally validate the research finding, the opinion of an expert panel is acquired. The research finding will enhance the PMI project risk management process and make it more applicable to the megaproject environment. The researcher proposes improvement to the PMI project risk management process by adding a few steps to emphasize on the areas that are often overlooked, enhancing the collaborative partnership in execution phase of the project by using an integrator entity, and a guideline consisting of the best practices to create a framework for managing risks in fast tracked major projects. The findings of this research will assist the researchers in optimizing the PMI project risk management process for fast tracking megaprojects and industry practitioners in effective project risk management in megaproject environment.