An Assessment of Risk Management Practices: A Case Study of El-Virtues Construction Limited

Abstract

The purpose of study was to understand and assess the risk management practices and their effectiveness using El-Virtues Construction Limited as a case study. The study employed the cross-sectional design and the qualitative approach to gather data from 20 employees through semi-structured interviews and with the aid of a questionnaire. The study found that there was an adequate understanding of risk management among the respondents as including a tool to facilitate the project, a systematic application of management policies, processes and procedures on risks, establishing the context of and identifying risks, the analyzing and assessing risks of risks, the treating and monitoring of risks and the communication of risks. The study secondly found that there was no laid-down procedure for doing risk management, but risk management seemed to be done in an ad hoc manner, that is, as and when they are confronted with risks. The next finding of the study showed that majority of respondents felt risk management was effective to a good extent. However, there was no laid-down procedure to determine that risk management has been effective and they relied heavily on subjective experiences as they work from project to project. Lastly, the study found that a huge majority indicated that major risk management challenges included high level of complexity, size and difficulty on a project, financial constraints and demands, environmental factors (the project‟s surrounding, location and overall regulations), among others. The study recommended that the organisation must endeavour to draw up a comprehensive risk management policy that is all encompassing, taking into consideration the factors and characteristics of the industry and context. This will help guide the workers in managing risks better.