Risk Management Assignment: Risk Analysis & Mitigation Project

Question

Task: You are a project analyst at a large construction company. You have been asked to develop a risk analysis and mitigation plan for one of the below five projects:
1. Sydney Light Rail:
https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/researchpapers/Documents/CBD%20and%20South%20East%20
Light%20Rail.pdf Also see:
• https://www.railway-technology.com/features/sydney-light-rail-fiasco/
2. Singapore Sun Cable: https://www.suncable.sg/ Also see:
• https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/14/just-a-matter-of-when-the-20bn-plan-topower-singapore-with-australian-solar
• https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/20b-plan-to-supply-solar-power-fromaustralia-to-spore
3. Future Frigates (War Ships)
https://www.defence.gov.au/CASG/EquippingDefence/SEA%205000%20Phase%201.asp Also see:
• https://www.defence.gov.au/casg/Multimedia/Hunter_Class_FFG_Fact_Sheet-9-9243.pdf
• https://www.defence.gov.au/casg/Multimedia/GCSInfographic-9-9233.pdf
4. Cross River Rail, Brisbane: https://crossriverrail.qld.gov.au/
5. Hudson Yards, New York: https://www.hudsonyardsnewyork.com/about/building-hudsonyards/
6. Western Sydney Airport, https://westernsydneyairport.gov.au/
There are three parts to the Analysis:
Part A – in which students discuss their allocated project case study (you are allocated one based
on your last name) and outline rationale, key features, funding and stakeholders
Part B – in which students develop their risk analysis framework
Part C – in which students identify mitigation measures and proposals for overcoming the risks
identified in their case study
Part A: Project Overview
For each student’s allocated case study students must be able to identify the following information through their own research:
• The overall budget for the project (real or projected)
• Social and economic rationale: Including benefits and drawbacks for the project
• Key Statistics: Provide key information about the project:
  o Scope and Size
  o Budget and estimated cost
  o Time required to complete the project
  o Key construction elements or phases (e.g. if you are building a toll road one key element may be the tunnel segment or bridge segment)
  o Environmental costs or benefits
• Funding mechanisms: How the project makes money or provide return to its promoters (2 Marks)
• Identify the Key Stakeholders in the project
Part B: Risk Analysis
In this part students develop a risk assessment analysis in which they use both qualitative and quantitative measures to identify potential risks in the project and determine how they should be weighted.
The risk analysis should draw upon principles outlined in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and material discussed in class in weeks 1 -5. Students would be expected to produce a risk matrix where the likelihood of potential risks events are mapped against their possible consequences. Other risk assessment and analysis activities might focus on a range of financial measures associated with the project. Required word count is 500-600 words.
Part C: Risk Mitigation Plan
In this part students will use the information collected and analysed in the previous two parts to develop a risk mitigation plan and strategy. Based on information identified in the risk analysis students will be expected to develop a plan for how they deal with the various identified risks. The mitigation plan should outline which risks need to be address and in what order. The plan should also identify and potential risks that they believe do not require attention.
The plan should then explain how risks might be addressed and by what means. Where possible places should include the reference to time and resource (costs) implications. Students need to take into account commercial considerations when constructing the plan and identify whether the plan is cost effective or has any implementation issues. (10 marks)

Answer

Part A: Project Overview 
Overall budget
The current risk management assignment examines the readings of Defence.gov.au.(2020) that nine frigates would be optimized by the SEA 5000 Phase 1 for the effective purpose of anti-submarine warfare. It would be helpful in replacing the AnzacClass frigates. The new name of these frigates would be Hunterclass frigates (Defence.gov.au. 2020). The initial budget of this particular project has been determined to be over $6 billion which has been approved by the Government. The project is conducted to design activities for incorporating and prototyping the ship blocks in shipyard of Osborne (South Australia) (Defence.gov.au. 2020). It has been identified in the context of risk management assignment that the present project is going to be one of the best maritime projects which would ensure the factor that a sovereign capability has been retained by Australia and it would help in building and sustaining its naval vessels. Along with that, it would help in implementing the Government’s commitment which included the continuous and hassle free building of the naval surface ships in Australia.

Social and Economic Rationale
The project examined in the risk management assignment involves the long-term sustainment for ANZAC class sustainment work undertaken at Henderson Maritime Precinct in Western Australia. The combat system can be equipped with Australian interface providing the effective navigation and advanced weapon capabilities. The project is executed for providing support for the strengthening the force of Australian Navy. The project would use a significant amount of resources and raw materials which can have an extreme negative impact on the environment. The usage of greenhouse gases and carbon emissions would be responsible for air pollution as well. Along with that, the frigates would use oil which would be released in the water. It can cause the water pollution and deaths of the sea animals. These factors outlined herein risk management assignment can be considered as the drawbacks of this particular project.

Key statistics
Scope and Size: The dimension of the nine frigates would be 149.9 meters in length and 20.8 meters would be the length of the maximum beam (Defence.gov.au. 2020). The devices would be fully loaded of 8,800 tons. 2 electric motors and 1 gas turbine are included in the major elements for these frigates. 27+ knots would be the top speed of this system. The range of the frigates would be more than 7,000 nautical miles and electric motor drive would be used.

Estimated Cost: The ASC shipbuilding, which is located at the Osborne Naval Shipyard, would be responsible for the building of the Hunterclass frigates (Defence.gov.au. 2020). The Commonwealth owns the ASC shipbuilding and it would become the BAE systems subsidiary. The initial budget for this project has been determined to be $ 6 billion which has been approved by the Government. It is evident herein risk management assignment that the Australian Defence Force would be provided the maximum level of anti-submarine capability (Defence.gov.au. 2020).

Time Required: The Defense white paper has been outlined in 2016 and the Naval shipbuilding plan has been planned in 2017. In 2015, the Government announced the announcements regarding the project. The first approval from the end of the government was approved in April, 2016. A Request for Tender of RFT was passed in March 2017 and in October 2017, the Combat Management System was selected for the project (Defence.gov.au. 2020). As per the research on risk management assignment, the Government approved the second approval in June 2018 when the Competitive Evaluation Process was completed. Therefore, commence construction will happen in 2020 and it happened in Adelaide, South Australia. 

Key Construction Element: The weapons which would be used in the frigates are MU90 torpedoes, Mk45 Mod 4 5” gun, SM2 and ESSM missiles, advanced anti-ship missiles, Mk41 Vertical Launch System and Nulka Decoy System. In the sensors, CEAFAR2 Radar, S2150 Hull Mounted Sonar, S2087 Towed Array and Variable Depth Sonar, Electro Optical Sensors and Electronic Warfare Systems would be used (Defence.gov.au. 2020). On the other hand, Aegis with Saab Australian Interface would be implemented in the Combat system. 

Funding Mechanisms
It is evident in this segment of risk management assignment that the new frigates would be sufficiently advanced and would be capable of balancing the operations. The systems would be cheap and eligible for preventing the fleets from shrinking. The newly implemented technologies have ensured the factor that the frigates are capable of fighting as the major part of a giant cyber network. In this network, every individual weapon can share information to each other and stay connected. The entire process assists in reduction of the cost of overall system and it can provide benefits to the promoters also. The entire funding for this project has been provided by the Government. The successful deliverance of the frigates would be beneficial for the promoters as they would receive more tenders. Along with that, the frigates would be helpful for providing social benefits as these would fight for the society and make the society safe and secured.

Key stakeholders
Some key stakeholders are identified for this particular project explored in the segments of risk management assignment. The following section would mention the stakeholders and their contributions.

Part B: Risk Analysis 
Potential risks
According to Varajão, Colomo-Palacios and Silva, (2017), it is stated herein risk management assignment that risk management plays a crucial role in a project as it helps to identify the risk factors and mitigate them. It also helps in providing opportunities to the project authority by minimizing the negative impacts of the harmful factors. The present study deals with the optimization of nine frigates which would be served as warships. A significant amount has been provided by the government and it is essential for the project to be completed within the predetermined budget. Along with that, the timeframe has also been provided before the initiation of the project. PMBOK methodology can be used in this project for identifying the risk factors. The Project Management Book of Knowledge comprises six steps such as qualitative risk analysis, quantitative risk analysis, risk identification, risk management planning, risk monitoring and control, and risk response planning (El Yamamiet al., 2017). 

Risk management planning: in this step, the risk management planning would be done. This step would describe how to deal with the risk factors and how to mitigate them. The project team can have a discussion with the project manager and make an efficient risk management plan. The discussion would include budgeted cost, provided timeframe, schedule, the responsibilities and risk templates would be created based on the significant factors. In the present project, the overall cost and the time have been provided from the end of the client so that the schedule must be maintained.

Identification of the risks: in this step of PMBOK illustrated within this risk management assignment, the risk factors would be identified. Since it is a project of optimizing the frigates, there would be sufficient safety for the workers who are working under this project. Along with that, the government has provided a significant amount of money which is the ultimate budget for this project. Hence, it can be said that the lack of safety, cost overrun, time overrun are the identified risk factors. It is essential for the project authority to create an effective schedule for the project that the entire project can be submitted within the predetermined budget and timeframe. The project requires a large amount of technologies that are required to be implemented in the project aspects. 

Qualitative risk analysis: this type of risk analysis outlined herein risk management assignment depends on experience (Villegas et al., 2017). The project authority can think about reviewing the old case histories related to this project and can have a broad understanding regarding the risk factors of this project. The old case histories would provide the benefits of understanding the nature and requirements of the stakeholders which would help the project to satisfy them. The creation of the risk templates would be easy after reviewing the case histories. This particular project can do qualitative risk analysis and gain an idea from the similar projects from the past. 

Quantitative risk analysis: this analysis depends on the likelihood of the identified risk factor. It helps to identify the negative impacts of the external risk factors and mitigate them.

Risk response planning: this step of PMBOK mentioned in the risk management assignment helps to determine how to make responses when risk factors arrive (Schmidt, 2017). Brainstorming process can be used in this step by the project manager and this step helps to create a note of all the identified risks. In this project, the identified risks are cost overrun, time overrun, lack of safety, lack of technological equipment, inefficient employee and improper schedule management. The risk response planning would create a note based on these risks and possible solutions would be written beside every risk.

Risk monitoring and control: this step of PMBOK would help in monitoring the risk factors and identify the solutions that can be effective for minimizing the negative impacts of the risk factors. 

Risk matrix

Part C: Risk Mitigation Plan 
Risk evaluation
The identified risk factors discussed in the risk management assignment are cost overrun, time overrun, lack of safety, lack of technological equipment, inefficient employee and improper schedule management. 

Cost overrun: the Government has provided a fund of $6 billion for the successful completion of this project. This project requires a significant amount of strategy implementation which needs a large amount of money (Defence.gov.au. 2020). It can be said that the cost would be divided into every part of the project that the problem of cost overrun cannot occur once the project has been initiated. The suppliers would be required to supply the essential equipment with a fair price that the project can be submitted within the predetermined cost. $50,000 can be saved before the initiation of the project that can be helpful when the issue of cost overrun arrives. It can be saved for the environmental budget.

Time overrun: since the first half of the project has been completed within 20s, the Government has decided to carry on the second half of the project in the late 20s. However, the entire cost has been provided so that the timeframe should be created and maintained. Time overrun can have a negative impact on the budgeted cost which is a negative factor for the project. Time management tool can be used for completing the project within time.

Lack of safety: it is essential for the project authority to provide sufficient safety to the workers who are working under this project. Sufficient life jackets, lifeboats, medicines and other essential equipment would be available at the workplace (Defence.gov.au. 2020). The workplace would be well maintained and the working hours would be justified. Lack of enough safety can cause deaths of the workers which can have an extreme negative impact on the overall project completion. Hence, the project authority has to be careful regarding this risk and implement the possible solutions for the case scenario of risk management assignment.

Lack of technological equipment: the entire project is depending on the implementation of different technologies. The entire process would require a significant amount of technological equipment. Lack of proper equipment can stop the smooth running of this project. The project authority would have to create a good relationship with the suppliers that they can supply the required raw materials on time and with reliability.

Inefficient employees: it has been identified from the investigation on risk management assignment that the implementation of different technologies would require a significant number of experienced and efficient employees. Lack of experienced employees can result in errors which would be time and cost consuming. Errors can change the entire project and it can cause failure (Defence.gov.au. 2020). On the other hand, an unhealthy workplace can make the employees dissatisfied which can have a negative impact on productivity. The project authority would hire experienced employees who are capable of these tasks and provide them facilities that they can be satisfied with the organization. It would help them to provide the best services which would help in improving the project.

Improper schedule management: since the cost and the time are predetermined, the project authority needs to make an efficient and proper schedule management. WBS can be used in this project to break the entire project into small parts and distribute them among the employees. As stated in the context of risk management assignment, it would help the project to be completed part by part and aligned with the estimated cost.

Reference list
Defence.gov.au. 2020. [online] Available at: [Accessed 8 April 2020].

Defence.gov.au. 2020. [online] risk management assignment Available at: [Accessed 8 April 2020].

Defence.gov.au. 2020. Future Frigate : Equipping Defence : Department Of Defence. [online] Available at: [Accessed 8 April 2020].

El Yamami, A., Ahriz, S., Mansouri, K., Qbadou, M. and Illoussamen, E., 2017. Representing IT projects risk management best practices as a metamodel. Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, 7(5), pp.2062-2067.

Schmidt, K.E., 2017. Augmented Reality Navigation: The use of Augmented Reality on the bridge to aid navy personnel with safe navigation on future frigates.

Varajão, J., Colomo-Palacios, R. and Silva, H., 2017. ISO 21500: 2012 and PMBoK 5 processes in information systems project management. Risk management assignment Computer Standards & Interfaces, 50, pp.216-222.

Villegas, P., Mena, L., Constantine, A., Villalba, R. and Ochoa, D., 2018, August. Data Imaging Acquisition and Processing as a Methodology for Estimating the Population of Frigates Using UAVs. In 2018 IEEE ANDESCON (pp. 1-4). IEEE.