The chapter identified six areas of project feasibility that need to be evaluated for any new project. However, as indicated, each of these areas of feasibility can also be considered an evaluation of the potential risks of the project. Based on your understanding of Rocky Mountain Outfitters, both from this chapter and the information provided in Chapter 1, build a table that summarizes the risks faced by RMO for this new project. Include four columns titled (1) Project risk, (2) Type of risk, (3) Probability of risk, and (4) Steps to alleviate risk.
Identify as many risks to the project as you can. Type of risk means the category or area of the project feasibility that is at risk. It might help you think about risks in the different categories, for example (1) risk management, (2) economic, (3) organizational and cultural, (4) technological, (5) schedule, and (6) resources. The chapter provided a few examples of risk in each of these areas. However, many other risks can cause project failures. Think as broadly as possible and expand the list of potential risks in each area.
Obviously, other kinds of risks are associated with a project of the magnitude of the customer support system. You might want to consider some risks external to the company, such as economic, marketplace, legal, environment, and so forth. Other types of internal risks might also be associated with components that are purchased or outsourced, such as development tools, learning curves, poor quality of purchased components, and failure of vendors.
A common risk management technique is to build a table and identify the top 10 risks to the project. Contingency plans can then be built for the top 10 risks. Periodically, the project management team reevaluates the risk list to determine the current top 10 risks. After you build the table, identify which risks you would classify as the top 10 risks.