Understanding software project risk: a cluster analysis [An article from: Information & Management]

This digital document is a journal article from Information & Management, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Understanding software project risk can help in reducing the incidence of failure. Building on prior work, software project risk was conceptualized along six dimensions. A questionnaire was built and 507 software project managers were surveyed. A cluster analysis was then performed to identify aspects of low, medium, and high risk projects. An examination of risk dimensions across the levels revealed that even low risk projects have a high level of complexity risk. For high risk projects, the risks associated with requirements, planning and control, and the organization become more obvious. The influence of project scope, sourcing practices, and strategic orientation on project risk dimensions was also examined. Results suggested that project scope affects all dimensions of risk, whereas sourcing practices and strategic orientation had a more limited impact. A conceptual model of project risk and performance was presented.