Introduction
Risk management in a project undertaking is an instrumental component that project managers must beware of, to help influence positive project outcomes. For this paper, XYZ (fictitious) Hospital’s Electronic Medical Record System adoption is considered; and the associated risks and uncertainties discussed in details.
Probability Risk and Impact Matrix
The probability risk and impact matrix offer a definitive picture of the current risks, including technical performance, cost, and timelines. Starting with technical performance, if the system does not meet a certain threshold, it shall be rendered unacceptable. This may include the incapability to perform the required tasks of managing the hospital records. A significant severity is evidenced by unstable performance, which essentially means that the system can execute necessary tasks, but not with possible significant downturns. A moderate score of (3), on the other hand, is set when the system is working but not meeting expectations, while a minor score (2) is noted where below target performance, but still rendering the system acceptable for involvement in the hospital. The last and the most desired is when the system only requires minor adjustment, such as setting, where the impact is identified as minimal.
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Cost and project timelines are also essential elements worth consideration. Starting with cost, the impact would be severe when the budget exceeds $200k, significant when it is $50k, and moderate when below $10k. On the other hand, an excess of 5k is labeled minor, and an excess of $1k is identified as minimal impact. The last element is about the timelines, where a delay by over a month would pose a severe effect, three weeks significant effect, two weeks moderate. 1-week delay is deemed minor impact and equally five days extension that poses minimal impact on the project's success.
Overcoming the Risks and Uncertainties
Risk forecasting is strategic in determining various gaps and helps ensure that identified gaps are addressed to mitigate probable project failures. According to Makridakis, Wheelwright, and Hyndman (1988, p.557), forecasting enables project managers to make short-term and long-term predictions and further aids the organization aspect of the project. For instance, as illustrated in the risk/impact matrix, a higher budget could pose severe implications to the project and, to some extent, even impact some liquidity problems to the firm. Similar postulations are evidenced in Kwak and Stoddard (2004, p.915), calling for careful considerations to ensure that every component is well evaluated and various targets met to avoid the project failure. A project manager, along with the team, should strictly adhere to the timelines and budgets to stimulate the undertaking's success (Jaafari, 2001, p.89). Risks should also be measured as postulated by Raydugin (2016, p.255) and scored to ensure that various risk mitigation strategies are employed. Walker (2015, p.256) opine that such could include providing a budget for extra staff to accelerate work productivity if the present workforce is insufficient to actualize desired results within operational timelines.
Evaluation
Though risk evaluation remains a vital tool in stimulating the project's success, it is worth noting that risks can only be reduced and not eliminated. As such, the project managers should ensure that the impact is reduced to acceptable limits (Blomquist et al., 2010, p.16). Cost and timelines are within the project manager's control. Therefore, he/she should ensure that all the necessary measures are applied to stimulate success. The measures include inducing a high level of productivity by offering some incentives to the team. Also, key performance metrics should be in place and enforced to limit the chances of failure ( Ventocilla and Riveiro, 2020, p.318) . Factor analysis could also predict various outcomes and effectively guide the project managers (Agathangelou et al., 2020, p.41). The analysis could involve correlation analysis as offered in section 4 of Gujarati (2011) that identifies regression analysis as a vital economic forecasting tool. The last component is regarding the performance of the system, which is mainly determined by the supplier. Ethical suppliers should be considered and effective contracts drafted to ensure that the developer has an obligation in the event of non-performance ( Dennis et al., 2003, p.173) . Indeed, the project manager should apply a hands-on approach in every department to stimulate the project's success.
Conclusion
The project's success is determined by critical issues, including the ability to operate within budgets and timelines. Also, quality assurance is vital and discovered in the implementation phase of the project. Being a hospital setup, expected risks should be limited in the minor and minimal clusters. Further, necessary measures should be put in place, including the regression forecasting model to determine the effects of various actions and expected results, which will avail a suitable environment for the project managers to seamlessly conduct the vital exercise for the benefits of the XYZ (fictitious) Hospital. Indeed, by having the project executed within the budget, the organization can avoid potential liquidity challenges. Finalizing the project within the timelines will ensure the expected impact is realized in real-time.
Reference List
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