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Best practices in risico-inventarisatie : het gebruik van input, heuristieken en organisatorische middelen binnen het risicomanagement van Heijmans Wegen&Civiel

Meer, H.J.D.T. van der (2015) Best practices in risico-inventarisatie : het gebruik van input, heuristieken en organisatorische middelen binnen het risicomanagement van Heijmans Wegen&Civiel.

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Abstract:Introduction: During construction projects, construction companies always have to cope with risks. These risks can influence the project results in many ways, for example by thriving the costs up or delaying the completion. Because of these influences, it is important to identify, quantify and control the risks with a risk management process. Heijmans Integrated Projects wants to gain insights in the way the risk management process is implemented on various projects and what the corresponding results are. This is formulated in the objective of the research: Gain insights in the input, heuristics, and organizational assets of Heijmans Integrated Projects and their corresponding results. To reach this goal, a main question is formulated: What input, heuristics, and organizational assets of Heijmans Integrated Projects deliver the best results relating to risk management and how can this be used to improve the risk management in the future? Method: In order to answer the main question, a structure based on literature was composed to map the implementation of the risk management process. Then the data of three projectphases from the risk management of seven projects was accessed: the end of the tender, start of construction and completion. This data is analyzed in order to determine what project delivered the best result. The research also investigated the average unexpected overrun on project costs due to risks. After this data analysis, the involved risk managers and process managers of the various projects were interviewed. During these interviews, the used input and heuristics and the applied organizational assets during the project were registered. After these interviews the outcomes of the best practices were compared to the other projects. Based on these outcomes a model is composed for future projects. Theory: The theoretical research focused on the implementation of risk management. A project risk is the possibility of an unwanted deviation from the objectives as a consequence of uncertainty regarding incidents and consequences and the diminished influence on these uncertainties. Organisational assets describe the capacity of an organization regarding risk management, in which five categories are distinguished: Competence and knowledge, resources, rules, norms and regulations, decisions, and communication. Input and heuristics can be made explicit with the use of an “adaptive toolbox”, which consists of search, stop, and decision rules. Results: The number of risks during a project in the risk file increases on average from 78 at the end of the tender, to 173 at completion. During the tender, a relative high number of design risks are mentioned, while the number of construction site risks are relatively low represented. The predictability of the top-10 risks at completion is at the end of the tender two risks, eight risks are not yet mentioned. At the start of the construction, this is six risks, whereas four risks are not yet identified. With the exception of the identification, nothing regarding risks is structurally recorded at Heijmans. The risks cause an average overrun of 4,7% of the projects budget. The best projects from the past five years are “Spoedpakket E” and “Sluizen Belfeld-Sambeek”. Conclusions: The risk managers of the best practices used seven different input sources: Risk session, consultation in the project team, interviews with risk owners, consultation with the client, informal talks with attendants at the construction site, random input from people, and a list with common risks. Almost all heuristics are based on sense, which makes them hard to formulate SMART. The risk managers of the best practices used a wide variety of stop and decision rules. A couple of topics form the basis of the stop rules: awareness of risks, participation in discussions, the ratio between different risks, and the core formulation of the risk. The decision rules and corresponding decision making proceeds in three general steps: First, a proposition is done by the attendants of a risk session. Second, the risk owner determines a preliminary decision in the risk interview, and finally the project team can change this decision if they disagree with him. Seven out of the twenty-two parameters for organizational assets show a significant deviation between the best practices and the other projects. The use of project related information, the explicitness of the reference control, the number of meetings between the risk manager and the project controller, and the communication plan for risks score higher at the best practices. On the other hand, heterogeneity of experience, learning culture, and decision-making authority score higher at the other projects. Recommendations: Heijmans has to develop a clear company-wide vision about the future of risk management. About the way they want it to be positioned between other disciplines and how it has to interact with them. Heijmans also has to develop a risk database, determine a general acceptance and cost level for risks, and encourage content based meetings between risk managers. An improved support base by creating awareness and training about risk management will also improve the risk management. Finally, Heijmans has to use the list of risks, the proposed model from the research, and take into account the recommendations about the organizational assets.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Clients:
Heijmans Wegen & Civiel, Rosmalen, Nederland
Faculty:ET: Engineering Technology
Subject:56 civil engineering
Programme:Construction Management and Engineering MSc (60337)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/66832
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