The global demands for water and power services are rapidly increasing. In this context, Saudi Arabia (SA) has one of the highest water consumption rates per capita worldwide, and its energy requirements continue to grow. In terms of producing drinking water, SA ranks first, representing 22.4% of world capacity. However, that production is not unproblematic, and typically, the Water and Power Plant (WPP) projects following the Independent Water and Power Plant (IWPP) approach have involved a plethora of risks, as they rely on long-term arrangements to transfer project risks traditionally borne by government, to the private sector. Additionally, some risk factors apply generally to all construction projects, others are specific to WPP projects, and yet others apply only to IWPP projects. Unfortunately, three of four IWPP projects in SA have failed to meet their specified objectives; hence, there is an urgent need to implement effective risk management (RM) within these projects, as this represents an important success factor in their on-time delivery. In this study, water and power practitioners in the Saudi public and private sectors, were interviewed as key informants, and related their experience. The Grounded Theory (GT) approach was adopted whereby three rounds of semi-structured interviews were performed to establish factors causing the poor implementation of RM in IWPP projects in SA. Whilst the research focused on IWPP projects, it also explored WPP projects (undertaken by government), due to the state’s long experience of such activities. After analysis, the interview data was presented in propositional diagrams, fully grounded according to the practitioners’ experiences. The findings indicate that all practitioners agree on the importance of RM in IWPP projects since these are complex undertakings that require effective RM for their success, but that currently, RM knowledge within this industry is lacking, and where RM is implemented, it is done so informally. Practitioners identified three clear factors that affect the behaviour of every single IWPP stakeholder in respect of risk, these being: the uniqueness of the Saudi Arabian culture, the high subsidies paid by the government to consumers and organisations, and the low attention paid to RM by top managements. An emergent model is proposed expressing the complex reality of IWPP projects in SA, and illustrating three major phenomena, nine categories, and 26 sub-categories affecting RM implementation in these projects. This provides a strong foundation for further research aimed at securing the effective RM implementation in IWPP projects, and developing greater insight into the risk factors involved.

The diploma thesis is focused on the use of project management methods in the company during a pandemic. The aim is to create a project proposal for the creation and promotion of a new company website with a full-fledged online store in order to increase product sales. The theoretical part describes the individual concepts and methods that are used in the analytical and design part. The analysis of the company is processed in the analytical part. Based on the information obtained about the company, a project proposal is developed using project management methods.

<p dir="ltr">The recent launch of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has caused significant changes in the IT industry. Most of the high-performance organizations started to evaluate the possibility of implementing AI as an augment or even replacement of employees due to the powerful capability of AI (McMullen et al., 2022). The way project managers (PMs) handle project risk management also requires review and update to facilitate the AI-driven industry.</p><p dir="ltr">This research aims to explore how the current project management professionals should do to adapt their current risk management skillsets to facilitate rapid change in an AI-driven industry considering all the benefits and ethical concerns brought by the implementation of AI.</p><p dir="ltr">This study was conducted through a mixed-methods approach: a systematic literature review and survey were performed. Sixty-four survey responses were analyzed after screening and twelve literature resources were carefully analyzed after a systematic search of selected databases. Although no specific resource significantly suggests the necessity of renewing PMs’ risk management skills, the results show the current PMs need to focus more on interpersonal skills than technical skills, be aware of the latest update of AI risk management tools, and stay agile to embrace the changes brought by AI. The survey shows the current PMs’ adoption of AI tools varies in age scale and the current AI tools are not mature enough to perform 100% of project risk management works.</p>

Generally, it is accepted that small businesses are becoming increasingly important in terms of employment, wealth creation, and the development of innovation in the global economy. Unfortunately, many small businesses fail before reaching maturity, mainly due to inadequate entrepreneurial skills to establish and grow their businesses. It is, therefore, vital to understand the management abilities that are required to enable start-up businesses to survive. This study's main aim is to propose a risk management training tool to assist business start-ups to mitigate their risks. This is expected to allow for increased business start-up success rates. The aim of the proposed risk mitigation tool will be to provide training to allow small business owners to deal with challenges they face. The tool should assist with minimising the risk of failure and therefore support increased growth and survival of small businesses. The research questions aimed at achieving the primary objective deal with: *The typical risks per start-up phase for small businesses *How to mitigate the risk per business start-up phase *How best to teach entrepreneurs to identify and manage business start-up risk per phase. The research was conducted by means of a literature and empirical study. The literature study reviewed business start-up phases, challenges facing start-up businesses, project life cycle phases, critical factors leading to project failure, project risk management, and principles of serious games design. The challenges facing start-up businesses were tested empirically in practice by means of a measurement instrument, and subsequently evaluated. The size of the sample used was 58 entrepreneurs from start-up businesses. The results from this study show a need for improvements in the following skills for start-up owners/managers: risk management skills, entrepreneurial skills, people management skill, business management skill, and financial management skill. This study proposed a tool to teach entrepreneurs to identify and manage start-up risks per phase. The tool is proposed to be a blended model tool. Thus, the tool consists of the workshop part; whereby, the facilitator is face-to-face with the trainee, and post-training application-based support. / MSc (Computer Science), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Generally, it is accepted that small businesses are becoming increasingly important in terms of employment, wealth creation, and the development of innovation in the global economy. Unfortunately, many small businesses fail before reaching maturity, mainly due to inadequate entrepreneurial skills to establish and grow their businesses. It is, therefore, vital to understand the management abilities that are required to enable start-up businesses to survive. This study's main aim is to propose a risk management training tool to assist business start-ups to mitigate their risks. This is expected to allow for increased business start-up success rates. The aim of the proposed risk mitigation tool will be to provide training to allow small business owners to deal with challenges they face. The tool should assist with minimising the risk of failure and therefore support increased growth and survival of small businesses. The research questions aimed at achieving the primary objective deal with: *The typical risks per start-up phase for small businesses *How to mitigate the risk per business start-up phase *How best to teach entrepreneurs to identify and manage business start-up risk per phase. The research was conducted by means of a literature and empirical study. The literature study reviewed business start-up phases, challenges facing start-up businesses, project life cycle phases, critical factors leading to project failure, project risk management, and principles of serious games design. The challenges facing start-up businesses were tested empirically in practice by means of a measurement instrument, and subsequently evaluated. The size of the sample used was 58 entrepreneurs from start-up businesses. The results from this study show a need for improvements in the following skills for start-up owners/managers: risk management skills, entrepreneurial skills, people management skill, business management skill, and financial management skill. This study proposed a tool to teach entrepreneurs to identify and manage start-up risks per phase. The tool is proposed to be a blended model tool. Thus, the tool consists of the workshop part; whereby, the facilitator is face-to-face with the trainee, and post-training application-based support. / MSc (Computer Science), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Распространение в бизнес-среде проектной формы организации деятельности обуславливает необходимость оценки уникальных рисков конкретных проектов с целью нивелирования финансовых потерь от реализации возможных проектных рисков, соблюдения сроков и бюджета проектов и, следовательно, развития компаний и экономики страны. Целью магистерской диссертации является развитие теоретических положений, разработка методических и практических рекомендаций по оценке рисков проекта с учётом особенностей процессов проектного управления в организации. В работе рассматривается теоретические и прикладные аспекты специфики проектных рисков и особенности их оценки. В качестве источников использовалась учебно-методическая и научно-исследовательская литература, результаты эмпирических исследований автора и данные корпоративной статистики. В рамках исследования разработана и апробирована методика оценки проектных рисков для организаций, осуществляющих проектное управление, предполагающая перенос этапов идентификации и анализа рисков в зону ответственности функциональных дисциплин проекта, а также классификацию рисков по двум уникальным критериям: по ключевым направлениям реализации проекта и по уровню управления, отличающаяся непрерывностью процесса оценки на протяжении всех этапов проекта с применением предложенного показателя совокупного экономического эффекта выявленных рисков, что позволяет выявить максимально полный перечень возможных рисков и определить их стоимостную оценку и влияние на показатели эффективности проекта. Результаты расчетов, проведенных в ходе апробации разработанной методики, позволяют говорить о существенном сокращении финансовых потерь и предотвращении снижения показателей эффективности проекта. / The development of project management in the business necessitates the assessment of the unique risks of specific projects. This is necessary for leveling financial losses from the implementation of possible project risks, meeting the deadlines and budget of projects and, consequently, the development of companies and the country's economy. The purpose of the dissertation research is to develop theoretical provisions, methodological and practical recommendations for assessing project risks for organizations that use project management. The paper considers theoretical and applied aspects of the project risks specific and its assessment. Educational and research literature, corporate statistics data as well as self-conducted empiric research were used as basis for the study. The methodical approach for assessing project risks for companies, that use project management is developed and tested as part of a dissertation research. The methodical approach involves the transfer of the stages of risk identification and analysis to the project's functional disciplines. In addition, it involves the classification of risks according to two unique criteria: by key areas of project implementation and by the level of management. The methodological approach is distinguished by the continuity of the assessment process throughout all stages of the project using the proposed indicator of the aggregate economic effect of the identified risks, which makes it possible to identify the most complete list of possible risks and determine their cost estimate and impact on project performance indicators. The results of calculations for approbation of the developed methodology allow us to speak of a significant reduction in financial losses and prevention of a decrease in project performance indicators.

Embarking on a construction project means taking a risk. Project risk management (PRM) provides an effective approach to improve decision making and minimise project risk. Project risks may not possess the same level of significance for different countries, markets and projects. Current research on PRM in China has been rather theoretical, addressing technology issues. Considering the current practice in the Chinese construction industry (CCl), the PRM needs understanding and support from the industry and a mature market environment. This research aims to establish PRM strategies for identifying and adopting the best practice to provide practical guidelines for the CCl, thus improving the PRM, motivating the reform of the Chinese construction market, and enabling the CCl to function in the competitive environment of globalisation. An extensive literature review and a number of case studies for construction projects in China have been conducted, addressing issues closely related to the research. A systematic analysis is employed and developed for project planning and decision making. Contractual risks are considered as the first step and catalyst for improving the PRM in the CCl. Built on the findings from the case studies and analysis, the research puts forward a framework of contractual risk management to study the concept, identification and classification of contractual risks. Contract interfaces are analysed for contractual risk management under various project procurement routes (PPRs). The potentially large improvements to the PRM and reform of the Chinese construction market from the introduction and application of innovative PPRs and their contractual conditions are addressed. Two mathematical models -a probabilistic analysis model and an effective information entropy model for key contractual risks -are presented. The validity and applicability of the models are demonstrated with sample data for the CCl. Detailed recommendations and guidelines for the implementation of the proposed strategies are suggested.

The diploma thesis focuses on optimization of the current project management in the organization. It assesses compliance with the seven principles of project management according to the PRINCE2 methodology in particular. Moreover, the thesis elaborates a project proposal. The overall objective of the thesis is to implement project management tools in the company.

The recent increase in international projects has resulted in higher risk along with difficulties in control and coordination. Effective project management can therefore be seen as being essential to the success of projects. The purpose of this paper is to understand how a large multinational company currently handles these issues. This paper conducts a case study that will look at the relationship between contingencies and their effects on project risk management. The findings show that although project risk management handles contingencies in standard projects it still requires improvement within complex projects. Therefore, based on research into agile project management a concept is proposed as an alternative for the case company to select project management method.

This thesis studies the overall parameters affecting projects’ risks and analyze different methodologies of project risk management in order to narrow down and develop a customized methodology applicable for Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) projects in the oil and gas industry. To approach this goal, Bidboland II Gas Treating Plant project was selected as an appropriate case study. This case project has been analyzed by combining various risk management methodologies, and based on this analysis a new methodology was suggested to the company for risk management. Additionally, necessary changes in the organization have been proposed to handle the project risk issues in different levels with higher performance. The developed methodology can be applicable for other companies involved in EPC projects.