risk management

risk management Order Description Introduction: This assignment focuses on the concept of “risk within" rel="nofollow">in ambitious and complex” Projects. Learnin" rel="nofollow">ing outcomes: At the end of the assignment you should be able to; • Research a topic and critically appraise the content of associated documents and papers in" rel="nofollow">in order to ascertain" rel="nofollow">in their validity and contribution to the subject area • Analyse the prin" rel="nofollow">inciples of environment and culture and the relevance within" rel="nofollow">in organisations • Develop written skills required for a university assignment submission at level 7 Context: “When Eurotunnel, the private company that owns the Channel tunnel, went public in" rel="nofollow">in 1987 in" rel="nofollow">in order to raise funds for the project, in" rel="nofollow">investors were told that buildin" rel="nofollow">ing the tunnel was relatively straightforward. Regardin" rel="nofollow">ing risks of cost escalation, the prospectus read (The Economist, 7 October 1989, 37): Whilst the undertakin" rel="nofollow">ing of a tunnellin" rel="nofollow">ing project of this nature necessarily in" rel="nofollow">involves certain" rel="nofollow">in construction risks, the techniques to be used are well proven. The Directors, havin" rel="nofollow">ing consulted the Mâitre d’Oeuvre, believe that 10% would be a reasonable allowance for the possible impact of unforeseen circumstances on construction costs. (“Under water, over budget,” 1989, p. 37). Two hundred banks communicated these figures for cost and risk to in" rel="nofollow">investors, in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing a large number of small in" rel="nofollow">investors. As observed by The Economist (“Under water, over budget,” 1989), anyone persuaded in" rel="nofollow">in this way to buy shares in" rel="nofollow">in Eurotunnel in" rel="nofollow">in the belief that the cost estimate was the mean of possible outcomes was, in" rel="nofollow">in effect, deceived. The cost estimate of the prospectus was a best possible outcome, and the deception consisted in" rel="nofollow">in makin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">investors believe in" rel="nofollow">in the highly unlikely assumption--disproved in" rel="nofollow">in one major construction project after another--that everythin" rel="nofollow">ing would go accordin" rel="nofollow">ing to plan, with no delays; no changes in" rel="nofollow">in safety and environmental performance specifications; no management problems; no problems with contractual arrangements, new technologies, or geology; no major conflicts; no political promises not kept; etc. The assumptions were, in" rel="nofollow">in other words, those of an ideal world. The real risks of cost escalation for the Channel tunnel were many times higher than those communicated to potential in" rel="nofollow">investors, as evidenced by the fact that once built, the real costs of the project were higher by a factor of two compared with forecasts.” Bent Flyvbjerg, Mette Skamris Holm, and Søren Buhl, "Underestimatin" rel="nofollow">ing Costs in" rel="nofollow">in Public Works Projects: Error or Lie?" Journal of the American Plannin" rel="nofollow">ing Association, vol. 68, no. 3, Summer 2002, pp. 279-295 The World Bank coin" rel="nofollow">ined a term for this approach to project plannin" rel="nofollow">ing, Everythin" rel="nofollow">ing Goes Accordin" rel="nofollow">ing to Plan – the EGAP prin" rel="nofollow">inciple. Discuss the EGAP prin" rel="nofollow">inciple in" rel="nofollow">in detail and explain" rel="nofollow">in why it can be so pervasive in" rel="nofollow">in mega projects. What would be a more appropriate approach to project plannin" rel="nofollow">ing? You are required to further research the subject and expand on the issues raised within" rel="nofollow">in the article and may use your own case studies to draw comparisons between the projects or emphasise the poin" rel="nofollow">ints bein" rel="nofollow">ing made. PLEASE NOTE: This assignment is not just about the Channel Tunnel construction project, but about project assumptions, the approach taken to mega-projects and the consequences of gettin" rel="nofollow">ing it wrong. Method: Workin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">individually, you are to write report (usin" rel="nofollow">ing headin" rel="nofollow">ings and subheadin" rel="nofollow">ings) as set out in" rel="nofollow">in the task above. The report is to be fully referenced and all sources of in" rel="nofollow">information must be correctly identified and cited within" rel="nofollow">in the text. Reference Indexes are to be separately provided at the end of the report. The Harvard System of referencin" rel="nofollow">ing should be used. Academic neglect to reference your work correctly will lead to a poor mark and possible failure of this assignment. Note that you should use 12 Font size and Calibri or Arial Font – Times New Roman should not be used. Remember to align scripts to the left hand side not ‘justified’. The followin" rel="nofollow">ing assessment criterion is presented as a guide to the marks available for this work and each section of your paper should be reflective of this weightin" rel="nofollow">ing. For example, failure to provide an in" rel="nofollow">introduction or providin" rel="nofollow">ing recommendations will result in" rel="nofollow">in a loss of 10 marks each. Assessment criteria: % of Mark Introduction and Background Research Clear in" rel="nofollow">introduction to the issue and its background context – the role of the Risk Manager havin" rel="nofollow">ing to manage “risk within" rel="nofollow">in ambitious and complex” projects. 10 Analysis and Synthesis of the Task Critical analysis of the around the fin" rel="nofollow">inancial issues around the construction the Channel Tunnel and other similar projects. Discussion on the risk considerations which should be taken in" rel="nofollow">into account when constructin" rel="nofollow">ing and managin" rel="nofollow">ing an ambitious and complex, in" rel="nofollow">international project 30 30 Conclusion and Recommendations Summarisin" rel="nofollow">ing the main" rel="nofollow">in poin" rel="nofollow">ints raised 15 Structure and presentation The content of the paper should be clear and well - structured in" rel="nofollow">in logical sequence The paper should follow the prescribed academic format in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing referencin" rel="nofollow">ing 15