Question Week 1 Discussion 1 “What is Risk?” Please respond to the following:

• Analyze why it is important to address risk through the entire project life cycle. Identify three possible negative results that can occur if an organization fails to address risk in different phases of the project life cycle.
• Determine three obstacles for an organization to manage risk effectively. Suggest strategies from the perspective of a project manager to avoid the obstacles.

Week 2 Discussion 2

“Critical Success Factors” Please respond to the following:

• There are four critical success factors that are important for effective risk management: supportive organization; competent people; appropriate methods, tools and techniques; and simple, scalable process. Predict the outcome of a project if any of these critical success factors is absent for a project. Support your predictions.
• Recommend how you would approach the stakeholders of the project and persuade them that the missing critical success factor(s) must be addressed in order to maximize a successful project. Support your response.

Week 3 Discussion 1

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“Project Initiation” Please respond to the following:

• One of the most important aspects of managing risk for a project is to accurately define the size of the project. Determine the criteria that must be considered to perform the project sizing and create one additional factor with rationale.
• Suppose the size of the project was not determined correctly and a large, complex project was defined as a medium project instead. Predict the outcome of the risk management process within this organization. Include examples (i.e., the incorrect schedule of the risk management review, incorrect schedule of quantitative assessments) to support your prediction.

Week 3 Discussion 2

“Stakeholder Analysis” Please respond to the following:

• Using the “Stakeholder Analysis Template” (Appendix B2 in the Hillson and Simon text) for a company that you currently work for or you are familiar with, determine the key stakeholders and categorize them by their attitude, power, and interest dimensions. Justify the categorization for each stakeholder and post the completed appendix for the class to see.
• Analyze how stakeholder analysis affects the overall project risk management within an organization. Include an example to support your response.

Week 4 Discussion 1