Improving Risk Management in Megaprojects

Studies suggest that, despite the recent improvements in project risk management, 50-70% of Megaprojects do not meet cost, time or performance objectives, a much higher proportion than that for conventional projects. A critical appraisal of conventional risk management approaches revealed that many of the conditions for the successful application of these approaches were not satisfied in Megaprojects; in particular, problems arose from incomplete, insufficient and inaccurate data. These constraints severely limit the capability of conventional approaches to manage risks in Megaprojects, to the extent that they might not produce meaningful and realistic results. Accordingly, this research aims to improve the Megaproject delivery performance by introducing a better way of risk management beyond the conventional approaches. Thus, Adapted Grounded Theory was conducted to collect and analyse empirical data from semi-structured interviews with Megaproject experts. Drawing on the analysis of empirical findings, a new risk management approach in Megaprojects was grounded and developed. The new approach is unique in that it comprises for the first time a combination of practical mitigation measures that could be applied systematically and consistently to manage and mitigate Megaproject Common Risks (MCRs) collectively. Until now, there has been no such comprehensive approach; this research study is the first to attempt to do this. The contents, structure, viability and practicality of the proposed approach were tested and validated by another set of Megaproject experts through the Delphi method. The Delphi results confirm that the proposed approach has the potential to drive significant improvements to the Megaproject delivery performance that may not otherwise be achievable by conventional approaches. Accordingly, it can be concluded that the current research study succeeds in filling the knowledge gap by introducing a paradigm shift from conventional risk management into a systematic risk management approach. The research study provides an original contribution theoretically, methodologically and practically, which adds to the body of knowledge of risk management and to Megaprojects.