For Ann Harris

Christopher Mihun

Project Risk Management

PM650-1801B-01

Professor Al-Nizami

Introduction

Construction and house project development involves multifaceted processes of several activities such as; renovations, leasing of existing lands, and purchase of lands and sell of developed land. The property development processes are essential to the success of the projects. Over time we have come across a number of property development and other large scale projects which have failed or undergone critical failures in different levels before completion. There are several reasons that have contributed to the failure of these projects. For a successful project, there is the need for developing a risk management plan which will highlight all risky areas of failure of the project. For instance, in this risk management will consider the Sydney Opera house project. The Sydney Opera House became and has been today a disastrous project coupled with multiple failures from the poor risk management especially in the project planning and assessment. This project seeks to determine the major risk management processes which could have been used by the project developers in the reduction of the risk which impacted the development of the Sydney Opera House.

Project Description

The Sydney Opera House is one of the iconic structures recognized in Australia and around the world (NSW, 2017). The project was contracted to architect Jorn Utzon from Denmark, who won the bid from the New South Wales government in 1957. The project began in 1959. The project had been divided into three separate stages consisting of the podium as the first stage, outer shells as the second stage and interiors plus windows as the third stage. Architect Utzon after being selected he presented the “Red Book” in early March 1958 which was a detailed report on the Sydney Opera House. The report consisted of the indications in part of the plans, reports from consultants, sections and other elements of the project (Utzon, 2002). The New South Wales governments were not worried about the financial burden of the project. The project report established that the architect was to complete the project in 1962 and its grand opening would have been in early 1963. The original budget of the project had been estimated of AUD 7 million. But the project ended costing more than AUD 102 million and 14 years to complete.

a) Project Objectives

The project considered a number of objectives focusing on the development of the Opera House and helping to meet the expectations of the community. The developer focused on creating an iconic structure for quality and style. The aim of the project developers was to create a structure which has value for the cultural representation of the community. It was also important for the New South Wales government opting to develop a functional opera house to serve and offer cultural interactions for the community(Phil, Harrington, & Parker, 2012). The community was responsible for creating the needed resources such as support for the development and offering the community an established foundation focusing on growth and holding entertainment services. The project manager aimed to improve, develop and plan on the resources to meet the demands and timeline of the project developers and stakeholders. The project objectives for the development of the Sydney Opera House was to create a structure which will help diversify the image of the Australian society.

b) External Dependencies

The project manager had to coordinate with other members of the community and stakeholders ensure all the project deliverables were and will be met. The lead architect, Utzon worked closely with the government on the allocation of resources. There was an issue of communication within the project hierarchy and this changed and affected the outcome and relations which the management and architect. Requirement gathering and documentation was another dependency based on the stakeholders of the project. The architect and project manager failed in communication due to the process of gathering the necessary needs and user expectations. Allocation of resources through project planning was a responsibility of the New South Wales government (Phil, Harrington, & Parker, 2012). As a stakeholder for the project, the New South Wales government was also responsible for allocation, budget control and specification planning on the expectations and needs of the project. For a creative allocation of resources, there is the need for developing and meeting the expectations of external dependencies.

c) Stakeholder Analysis

The project developer and leader architect was he project stakeholder of the Sydney Opera House construction project was architect Utzon. Utzon had the responsibility to ensure the proposed project met the set budget plans and its culture aspect of its development was fulfilled. As a project manager, Utzon has the responsibility of managing and leading the project to fulfillment of its functional and operational expectations. Another stakeholder was the NSW government as the client. As the client of the project, the government needed to focus on the performance, allocation and planning to fully meet the project expectations of the project manager such as planning and creating the allocation of resources for the project (Bent, 2014). Finally, the public was another stakeholder of the Sydney Opera House construction project responsible for gathering user requirement such as on the cultural aspect and how to meet the expectations and process planning for the project.

Planned format for the Risk Management Plan

The construction industry is susceptible to more risk in comparison to other industries. The risks in the construction industry often creep from the initial appraisal of the project to the final stage of completion. There is the need to take risk management into consideration and if necessary develop different strategies to mitigate and control the risks. The risk management plan for the Sydney Opera House development will be conducted through:

· Conducting a risk process. This is through the project manager identifying the risks associated with the project.

· Conducting a risk identification: this will generate a risk log which will consider the project deliverables and identify any risk associated with the project (Smith, Merna, & Jobling, 2009).

· Conducting risk analysis: through a qualitative and quantitative risk analysis to determine the possible outcome of the risks on the project.

· Risk response monitoring by the team members.

· Finally, controlling, planning, monitoring and evaluation of the risks for reporting.

References

Bent, F. (2014). What You Should Know About Megaprojects And Why: An Overview. Project Management Journal, 45.2, 6-19.

Edwards, L. (1995). Practical Risk Management In The Construction Industry. Thomas Telford.

NSW, G.O.V (2018). About Sydney Opera House. Retrieved Feb 17, 2018, from: http://www.eoi.es/blogs/cristinagarcia-ochoa/2012/01/14/the-sidney-opera-house-construction-a-case-of-project-management-failure/

Phil, N., Harrington, M., & Parker., D. (2012). Leadership Performance Is Significant To Project Success Or Failure: A Critical Analysis. International Journal Of Productivity And Performance Management, 61.2 ,204-216.

Shenhar, Aaron, & Dvir, D. (2007). Project Management Research-The Challenge And Opportunity. Project Management Journal, 38.2, 93.

Smith, N. J., Merna, T., & Jobling, P. (2009). Managing Risk: In Construction Projects. John Wiley & Sons.

Utzon, J. (2002). ‘Design Principles: Sydney Opera House. Utzon Design Principles. Sydney: Sydney Opera House.