Risk Analysis and Mitigation Project

This article discusses the risk analysis and mitigation strategies for project management, using the Boston Big Dig project as a case study. It covers the project's budget, time required, rationale, difficulties, and key stakeholders. It also includes a risk matrix and a risk mitigation plan, with strategies such as proper communication, planning, estimation, stakeholder identification, and monitoring and controlling the project. Desklib offers study material with solved assignments, essays, dissertations, and more.

Running head: RISK ANALYSIS AND MITIGATION PROJECT
Risk Analysis and Mitigation Project
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RISK ANALYSIS AND MITIGATION PROJECT
Table of Contents
Part A...............................................................................................................................................3
The Overall Budget for the Project..............................................................................................3
Time Required for the Project.....................................................................................................3
The Rational of the Project..........................................................................................................3
Difficulties or Drawbacks............................................................................................................4
List of Key Stakeholders.............................................................................................................4
Part B...............................................................................................................................................5
Risk analysis................................................................................................................................5
Risk Matrix (Likelihood and Impact)..........................................................................................8
Part C...............................................................................................................................................9
Risk Mitigation Plan and Strategy...............................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................12

RISK ANALYSIS AND MITIGATION PROJECT
Part A
The Overall Budget for the Project
Boston Big Dig Project was one of the learning projects based on which various learnings
can be gained and practiced in the present and future project as a learning. The project was
highlighted globally because of complexity, technical challenges, and other factors those lead the
project delivery delayed by almost 8 years with the enhancement of budget from 2 million to 15
billion that was more than the seven times estimations (Shenhar and Holzmann 2017). The
estimated budget of the project was $ 2 billion during the estimation and planning phase and the
project was closed at $ 15 billion.
Time Required for the Project
The project was initiated in the 1984 and was expected to be delivered by 1998 however;
due to uncountable uncertainties, the project was delivered successfully in 2007. With the
passage of the time, many complications and challenges were faced for the successful
accomplishment of the project (Flybjerg 2017). The major factor for the escalation in the budget
and schedule that was reported was the failure in the identification of the underground surfaces,
mitigation costs, and enhancement in the scope of the project. The estimated time was six years
however; the project was delivered in fourteen years that was way away from the estimation and
hence, the project cannot be expected to be delivered within the scope.
The Rational of the Project
The project was initiated considering the intention of reducing the flow of the traffic by
the Boston’s city through depressing portion of the I-93 highway other than construction of the
harbor tunnel (Pinto 214). The sense behind this project was to introduce a new gateway towards

RISK ANALYSIS AND MITIGATION PROJECT
the city in addition with the improvement in the infrastructure through establishing new civic
spaces and adding parks.
Difficulties or Drawbacks
Many difficulties were faced during the development of the project that includes the
following:
Cost escalation: due to failure in the identification of the past constructions, under surface
conditions, design and construction, schedule enhancement, reconstructions, politics, delayed
integrated project management, improper communication with the stakeholders and many more
(scheduInvernizzin et al. 2017).
Schedule escalation: same elements had been resulted in the enhancement of the schedule
of the project including the improper planning and underestimating many factors. It should be
made sure that every stakeholder attends the meeting and everyone put his or her perspective and
thoughts related to the project execution for the effective and efficient execution of the
communication related to the aspects of the project.
Lack in management skills was another major factor that leads the project to be delayed
so much and escalated the cost (Verwij 2015). Complex processes, and resources displacement
was another major lagging factor for the delivery of the project.
List of Key Stakeholders
Common People: the citizens of Boston and the America were the key stakeholders in
manner to utilize the services being offered to them related to the delivery of the project.

RISK ANALYSIS AND MITIGATION PROJECT
Project Manager: Project manager would be responsible for the management of the
project constraints and due to the vast size of the project; there were project t managers who
were handling the growth and development of the project.
Suppliers: The resources are the most crucial factor for the development of any project
and suppliers are the key stakeholders responsible for managing the resources (Flvberg and
Budzier 2018).
Government: The funds, budget, and allowance of the construction was the responsibility
of the government.
Contractors: Contractors are responsible for managing the labors and accomplishment of
the activities under their sections.
Part B
Risk analysis
Sl. No. Risk/Vulnerabilities Description Likelihood Impact
1 Schedule Escalation Case study states how such a mega project
can result in the increment of the schedule
of the project
3 5
2 Budget Escalation Boston Big Dig is the current example
that states that the budget might be
increased drastically
4 5
3 Design Risk Construction project always face such
risks that might affect the whole project
3 4

RISK ANALYSIS AND MITIGATION PROJECT
constraint (Davies et al. 2017)
4 Underground
Surface
Digging and highway construction needs
proper evaluation of the underground
surface as this might affect the overall
development and growth of the project
2 4
5 Resource jump Resource lacking was not the cause in this
project however, estimated budget was
increased due to the wastage of the
resource that was due to underestimation
of the underground surface (Erikson and
Kadefors 2017)
4 4
6 Improper
communication
Executing the project without any proper
communication plan could result in the
conflicts that will affect the project
negatively
3 5
7 Stakeholder
Conflicts
Conflicts can be arise during the
development of the project and hence, the
project might deviates from the scope and
objective (Boateng, Cheng, and Ogunlana
2015)
2 2
8 Resource
displacements
Distance of the resources such as fuels,
gas and others could alternatively affect
the schedule and budget of the project
3 3

RISK ANALYSIS AND MITIGATION PROJECT
9 Improper estimation If the manger lacks in making the
estimation of the resources and other
constraints would affect the execution
phase of the project
2 5
10 Transportation |Construction areas need proper and
effective transport facility for ensuring the
displace of the objectives (Rolstadas et al.
2014)
1 3
11 Technical risk Lifting of the loads and other technical
appliances utilized for the
accomplishment of the construction
3 3
12 Environmental risk Natural calamities can affect the overall
growth of the project
1 3
13 Dust and Dirt These are the risks that can result in health
and medical issues including the vision
problem at the sites (Dimitriou, Ward and
Wright 2016)
4 4
Risk Matrix (Likelihood and Impact)
5

RISK ANALYSIS AND MITIGATION PROJECT
4
R 5
R 13
R 2
3
R 8
R 11
R 3 R. 1
R 6
2
R 7 R 4 R 9
1
R 10
R 12
1 2 3 4 5
Impact
The above mentioned risks can be eliminated through following steps and procedures:
Risk identification: this is the first phase of the risk management strategy that emphasizes
on the identification of the risks those might affect the overall growth and development of the
project through affecting the project constraints (Pinto and Winch 2016). It includes the
consideration of every phase involved in the project development ensuring the identification of
the actions and sections those might affect the project development or any one phase of the
project.
Risk Prioritization: Prioritizing the risk is the second major phase for the listing of the
risks those need higher concentration than others as these risks are capable of influencing the
project at the maximum level (Cole 2017).

RISK ANALYSIS AND MITIGATION PROJECT
Risk handling: Risk handling is another major factor that includes the management of the
risks that whether risks needs to be eliminated, mitigated, transferred or ignored. There are many
course of actions and identification of the proper action is the crucial part for the successful
execution of this phase (Winch 2017).
Monitoring and controlling: This phase should concern the project at the same level as
the changes needs to be applied accordingly in the project and proper evaluation should be done
in manner to identify whether the imposed strategy is capable of minimizing the impact of the
risk or not (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017).
Part C
Risk Mitigation Plan and Strategy
Following are the techniques and processes those are capable of eliminating the risks
from the project:
Proper communication: This strategy can be utilized for the effective and efficient
growth and development of the project considering that every involved stakeholder is well aware
of the constraints of the project including the scope, objective and aims for delivering the project.
Regular meeting can be held, video conferencing can be arranged of some stakeholders cannot
attend the meeting physically, questionnaires, surveys, and many more are some of the
techniques for communicating with every stakeholder.
Proper Planning: the planning was made poorly in the condition of the case study as it
lags in identifying the age of the buildings, pipes, and conditions of the underground surface
those can be considered as the vital factor for such a big loss. Planning includes the consideration
of every aspect of the project and that is what the project managers fail in the case of the Boston

RISK ANALYSIS AND MITIGATION PROJECT
Big Dig (Winch 2017). Planning should also focus on the estimation of the risks those are
capable of affecting the project. Leaving behind the aspects of the project during the planning
phase results in the biggest risk for the project during the execution as identified in the case study
and hence, all the corners should be evaluated while planning the project.
Estimation of Every Aspect: As explained earlier underestimating the aspects of the
project results in the evolvement of the risks and those risks could affect the project severely and
hence, will be affecting the overall growth of the project (Shenhar and Holzmann 2017). It
includes the consideration of the causes and their relative causes on other phase and being
prepared to tackle them in future without any hesitation. Being prepared for the future
consequences is better strategy for the mitigation of the identified risks and uncertainties
resulting in the effective and efficient delivery of the project with high quality. It also emphasize
on the estimation of the risk impact on the project and if the mitigation strategy is not capable of
eliminating the risks to the extent level, risk handling should be executed again in an efficient
and effective manner.
Stakeholder identification: It includes engaging the stakeholders as per their capability
and assigning them proper role and responsibilities throughout the whole project. It will be
helpful in making sure that the individual performance is being increased and thus, resulting in
the enhancement of the overall growth of the project with high standard. Stakeholder
identification also emphasizes on the selection of the stakeholders capable of delivering
objectives and responsibilities being assigned to them (Flyvberj 2017). It assures the efficiency
of the project as every individual would be contributing his or her part and hence, the whole
project will be delivered in an efficient and effective manner.

RISK ANALYSIS AND MITIGATION PROJECT
Proper managerial and leadership: this was another major factor for the failure of the
Boston Big Dig project as the experienced managerial and leadership can be experienced
considering the slow growth and large investment on the project. Manager should must be
experienced and the project manager including the tough decisions those are capable of
managing the scope and delivery of the project should do better decision-making (Pinto 2014). A
proper leadership quality is the most crucial key for the delivery of the successful project
ensuring that the project is being delivered in an efficient and effective manner.
Monitoring and Controlling the Project: Regular audit and monitoring helps in managing
and manipulating the activities and schedule of the project sub activities in manner to make sure
that the ultimate delivery is within the estimated time and cost. It focuses on identifying whether
the milestones are being delivered within the expected schedule or not and if not additional
resource or human power can be adjusted within the project for the delivery of the project within
the estimated time and budget (Dimitriou et al. 2017). This was one of the lagging factor in the
Boston big dig project, which resulted in the many drawbacks including the escalation of the
budget and the cost.
Guidance from an experience player: Experienced managers who have handled similar
types of project can be communicated for the guidance and acquiring their learning for the
enhancement in the performance and output of the project. It results in gathering their knowledge
that can be helpful in identifying the opportunities among the risks and utilize them within the
project for enhancing the quality of the project. The above risk matrix can be prepared from the
experienced player, it is one of the tool for prioritizing the risks, and the risks identified in the
red section are capable if influencing the project in negative manner and stopping the growth and
development of the project.

RISK ANALYSIS AND MITIGATION PROJECT
References
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Projects. In Proceedings of the International Conference Theory and Applications in the
Knowledge Economy (pp. 483-497).
Davies, A., Dodgson, M., Gann, D. and MacAulay, S., 2017. Five rules for managing large,
complex projects. MIT Sloan Management Review, 59(1), p.73.
Dimitriou, H.T., Ward, E.J. and Wright, P.G., 2016. 3 Megaprojects and mega risks: Lessons for
decision-makers of large-scale transport projects. Socioeconomic Evaluation of Megaprojects:
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Dimitriou, H.T., Ward, E.J. and Wright, P.G., 2016. Megaprojects and mega risks: lessons for
decision-makers of large-scale transport projects: OMEGA Centre lessons derived from
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RISK ANALYSIS AND MITIGATION PROJECT