Managing Risks and Decisions in Major Projects

Making clear and defensible decisions about the acceptability of major projects and their inherent risk is a highly complex process. This book provides managers with a comprehensive yet completely accessible assessment of all the factors affecting such decisions. It develops a practical framework for the management of projects and leads the reader to arrive at realistic decisions which can be clearly justified in public.The author has extensive experience of the diverse assessment methodologies in common practice. Through an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses he develops a system for the integrated assessment of all the factors that must be considered, the so-called Risk Ranking Technique. Issues beyond a simple consideration of quantitative techniques are explained in a way which gives clear guidance to practising managers. The book focuses on the realistic rather than the theoretical through the use of diverse 'real-world' examples such as the Channel Tunnel project, Canvey Island Oil Refinery, Richmond Gas Terminal, Concorde, Sydney Opera House and the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transport System.There are five central elements to the book: an analysis of the decision making process; an evaluation of all the factors (technical, economic and socio-political) which need to be considered in determining the acceptibility of a proposal; an explanation and comparison of the various methods of assessment which can be used, including those techniques employed by financial institutions; a development of the most effective techniques into a practical managerial method; and an explanation and critical assessment of the suggested methodology through its application to various case examples.