Solving for Project Risk Management: Understanding the Critical Role of Uncertainty in Project Management

INTRODUCTION

Before its launch, the Titanic was touted as being unsinkable. Its tragic maiden voyage in 1912 is a realization of risk, which is the possibility of a hazardous event. Risk has a variety of dimensions that can be broken into two distinct categories: technical and resource. Technical risks are those that threaten the performance of a system. Resource risks are those that present the possibility of cost increases or schedule delays. When technical risks are realized, they result in system impairment or even outright failure. The occurrence of resource risks leads to additional cost and/or longer schedules.

There are some notable examples of technical risks. These include the Space Shuttle disasters in 1986 and 2003; the nuclear disasters ...