Research And Application Of Project Risk Management In Telecom Operators' System Development Projects

Increasing attention has been paid to project risks and their management in most industries including the field of telecommunication. The thesis reviewed the problems arisen in a previous completed system development project, where project risk management was absent. The preliminary findings demonstrated the importance of project risk management in telecom operators' system development projects. The author therefore attempted to introduce project risk management into another system development project.In this thesis, risks were first categorized into four different categories, i.e. actor, structure, technology and task risks, based on the socio-technology system theory and characteristics of system development projects. Principal risks and their mitigation measures were identified through a combination of brainstorming, risk checklist and flow process analysis. A questionnaire survey targeting all relative partners was then conducted in order to evaluate the risk criticality and mitigation measure effectiveness. The author proposed a risk mitigation framework in the stage of risk monitoring and control, taking into account the influencing relationships among these four risk categories. The author also clarified the other issues of the suggested measures such as who being charge, when and how to execute, etc. The successful outcomes of the case studied again reinforce the importance of project risk management. In light of the findings above, the author concluded a risk management framework for telecom operators'system development projects and provided improvement recommendations on the establishment of company rules and regulations.