EVALUATING CONTRACTORS' RISK MANAGEMENT FOR TELECOM POLES CONSTRUCTION IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Thesis Publication
ISSN: 2201-2796

EVALUATING CONTRACTORS' RISK MANAGEMENT FOR TELECOM POLES CONSTRUCTION IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Author/s: Hansel Fajardo Vitalicio

Author/s Affiliation: Masters in Project and Operations Management, Geneva Business School

Preface: This study evaluates the contractor's risk management system for the construction of telecom poles in the United Arab Emirates. When the project team lacks knowledge of risk management processes and fails to identify the risks to mitigate them, project objectives are affected causing the project delivery to be impacted as well.

In this research, certain sources of risks are categorized into four (4) distinct types where it highlights management risk, external risk, commercial risk, and technical risks that are present in the project life cycle of telecom tower construction. These risk sources were delineated from the risk breakdown structure in the PMBOK Guide 6th edition. Whereas risk management tools and techniques effectiveness have been examined, guided by the PMBOK Guide 5th edition and several authors on risk management. Moreover, it also outlines the contractor's perception of how they perceive risks that can impact project objectives in terms of scope, cost, time, and quality.

The research questions have been formulated and answered through the identification of knowledge gaps from the systematic and comprehensive literature review on risk management systems grounded on existing theories and empirical studies by several scholars in the construction industry.

By applying the deductive approach, the author utilizes a quantitative mono method, supported by the self-administered questionnaire as a research strategy in data collection. A survey questionnaire has been disseminated to prospective participants by acquiring the self-selection method and snowballing technique. Out of one-hundred sixty-eight (168) sample population, forty-three (43) samples have been validated for data collection. The survey was participated by nineteen (19) contractors and one (1) project owner represented by various positions in the telecom industry such as engineers, civil engineers, project coordinators, civil foremen, and senior engineers among others.

Descriptive analysis shows that among the sources of risks investigated for Q7 to Q18, external risk denoted by the Q8 risk factor obtains the highest frequency of feedback at 48.84%. Inferential analysis verified the claim for Hypothesis 1 that commercial risk denoted by Q16 can impact project success at 24.59%.

Descriptive analysis indicates that among the risk management tools and techniques for Q19 to Q34, the use of a checklist for risk identification is the most effective tool with 67.44%. The use of risk probability and impact assessment for qualitative risk analysis is the most cost-effective with 65.12%. Whereas the dependence of the project management team on the expert judgment in undertaking risk for quantitative risk analysis is the most useful tool with 74.42%. Inferential analysis of Hypothesis 2 proves the claim that the use of the risk register has a 0.04% correlation to project success.

Descriptive analysis shows that among the sources of risks with risk description for Q35 to Q44, technical risk denoted by Q41 obtains the highest frequency at 60.47%; commercial risk denoted by Q43 gets the highest rating at 60.47%; while management risk denoted by Q44 has the highest magnitude at 60.47%. Inferential analysis on Hypotheses 3 corroborates the claims that technical risk denoted by Q41 can have an effect to project objectives with 0.11%, which means the results are not statistically significant.

Publication Details:
Submission Date: 23rd July 2022
Publication Date: 18th August 2022

Licence:
This publication is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY.

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