Managing the Unknown A New Approach to Managing High Uncertainty and Risk in Projects

by Loch, Christoph H.; DeMeyer, Arnoud; Pich, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780471693055
• ISBN10: 0471693057
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-03-10
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

This book covers project risk management (PRM) differently than any other book available. The authors' present a new way of looking at the problem of managing projects in unusual and unknown environments: rather than working harder, straining to consider more possibilities in planning and formal risk management, they stress that a project manager must recognize that a project's unusual circumstances or complexity make planning approaches insufficient. In such cases, project managers must make use of two fundamentally different approaches: learning, or a flexible adjustment of the project approach as one learns more about the project, its environment and their interactions (as opposed to a contingent approach that utilizes planned 'trigger points'), and selectionism, or pursuing multiple approaches independently of one another and then picking the best one.

Author Biography

Dr. Christoph H. Loch,  Dr. Arnoud DeMeyer, Dr. Michael T. Pich, Department of Technology Management, ISEAD, Fontainebleu, FRANCE
The authors are professors at Europe’s leading business school – INSEAD.  All have been in both the private sector and in academia and all are currently involved in teaching project management, strategic management, and technology management.

Table of Contents

Introduction.

PART I. A NEW LOOK AT PROJECT RISK MANAGEMENT.

Chapter 1. PRM Best Practice: The PCNet Project.

Chapter 2. The Limits of Established PRM: The Circored Project.

Chapter 3. A Broader Look at Project Risk Management.

PART II. MANAGING THE UNKNOWN.

Chapter 4.   Diagnosing Complexity and Uncertainty.

Chapter 5. Learning Projects.

Chapter 6. Multiple Parallel Projects: Selectionism.

Chapter 7. Selectionism and Learning in Projects.

PART III. PUTTING SELECTIONISM AND LEARNING INTO PRACTICE.

Chapter 8. Establishing the Project Mindset.

Chapter 9. Putting the Infrastructure in Place.

Chapter 10. Managing Relationships and Project Governance.

Chapter 11. Managing Project Stakeholders in Presence of Unk Unks.

PART IV. MANAGING THE UNKNOWN: THE ROLE OF SENIOR MANAGEMENT.

Chapter 12. The Role of Senior Management in Novel Projects.

References.

Index.