Bernard Aritua

Risk Management for Major Public Sector Capital Infrastructure Schemes: a Systems Perspective for Multi-project Environments Bernard Aritua

Risk management is integral to the success of major public sector capital infrastructure schemes. A number of texts on the theory and practice of risk management exist. However, this book is unique in dealing with the reality that public sector infrastructure projects are increasingly undertaken in a multi-project milieu. Recent focus on the relationship between public sector strategy, public services and concomitant infrastructure has led to adoption of integrated procurement routes; which are inherently multi-project in nature. Based on the experience of four major public sector clients in the United Kingdom, this book proposes a systems perspective for managing risk in multi-project environments. The study provides evidence that multi-projects are not scaled up versions or extensions of single projects. Hence, the classic event based view of multi-project risk is inapt. Instead, such risks need to be treated as holistic and dynamic. This perspective should help shed some light on alternatives for handling risks at programme management level, and should be useful to professionals in public sector client organisations and to organisations that finance major capital infrastructure.