AN APPRAISAL OF FACTORS MILITATING AGAINST THE EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF FORMAL RISK MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES IN PROJECT DELIVERY

Non utilization of Formal Risk Management Techniques in project delivery by the project team has been identified as one the causes of project failure This prompts the question ‘what factors are responsible?’ This study therefore first presents Risk management in project delivery as it relates to an integrated project team as well as internal issues. It then focuses on formal Risk management techniques and their processes of implementation with a view to revealing the internal and external barriers that inhibit their utilization in project delivery in Abuja Metropolis, Nigeria. A total of 391 questionnaires were distributed to construction firms and stakeholders in ABUJA metropolis but a total of 203 firms responded. Data retrieved were analyzed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA and spearman correlation coefficients. The internal barriers were found to be cost and time intensiveness, argumentative sessions that create riskier stance including subjective judgment that lacks accurate results while the external barriers were found to be lack of risk assessment training in place, lack of collaboration by parties on a project, low level of risk consciousness, ineffective monitoring by heads of firms and lack of historical data across the project team’s spectrum. The study recommends strategies such as improving the grey areas in the implementation processes through research for internal barriers and conducting sensitization, legislation, business regulations and mandatory training to overcome the external barriers.

Despite its numerous challenges, it is the Construction Industry that shapes the development parameters of any nation (Zeiss, 2007). So a firm grasp of the nature and effects of key issues affecting the Industry is always the beginning of developmental wisdom.

The construction industry is bedeviled with global climate change, aging infrastructure, shrinking workforce, declining productivity and information island (Akintoye and Macleod, 1997; El-sayeh, 2008; Smith, 1999 Zeiss, 2007; Hillson, 2002; Wang et al., 2004). Gandu and Musa-Haddary (2007) in their work mentioned high risks and uncertainties as additions to these problems.

In Nigeria, in particular, experts on management studies have lamented the complete neglect of formal risks management principles in the management of most construction projects (Akintoye and Macleod, 1997; Smith, 1999; Kartam and Kartam, 2001; Aina and wahab, 2011). Why most firms opt for the use of informal principle to the detriment of the formal and most beneficial ones is a puzzle that requires an organized study. In an assessment of some special challenges facing the Nigerian construction industry, Odonkor (2011) ranked poor risk understanding and management as the most unappreciated. The nature of this risk challenges as Odonkor (2011) partly observed lies in the failure to employ formal Risks Management Techniques available.