Risk Management: Concepts and Guidance

Customer Reviews

Pritchard's emphasis is not on designing assessments and mitigation strategies for all circumstances, but on building useful information that can be applied toward a particular project situation. This book has a natural alignment with the principles and concepts of <>, produced by the Project Management Institute's (PMI) Standards Committee. While the PMI identifies four phases of risk management, Pritchard adds a fifth phase upfront, called risk planning.

The book is divided into two major sections: Section 1 addresses risk processes and practices; Section 2 is concerned with specific risk management techniques. The four appendixes contain information on contractor risk management, list of risk sources, basic probability concepts, quantifying expert judgment, and special notes on software risk. The book concludes with a glossary of terms, bibliography, and index.

Of particular value in the book are the 50+ figures and tables that illustrate some of the more complex statistical/probability models used in risk assessment and mitigation. Each chapter follows a template that structures the same type of information. For example, each chapter in Section 2 contains the following subheadings:Technique Description; When Applicable; Input and Output; Major Steps in Applying the Technique; Use of Results; Resource Requirements; Reliability; Selection Criteria; Output; Summary

The 218-page book (softcover)is an easy read and a highly useful desk reference for any project manager concerned about planning for and mitigating risk to projects. My dog-eared, heavily highlighted copy has served me well over the past 3 years.