Front-end Risk and its Consequences for Interorganisational Collaboration in Complex Projects.

Research led by Dr Katherine Bloomfield

with the support of:

Professor Yasmin Merali, Professor Terry Williams, Professor Christopher Bovis.

University of Hull

This research addresses the emergence of risk and its consequences over the lifetime of complex projects entailing inter-organisational collaboration by plotting risks as they materialise from project initiation into project duration for four public sector case studies of varying complexity. Identification and comparison of points where significant risks arise in each project timeline reveals empirically significant trends, and shows the inadequacy of relying solely on up-front measures to contain risk. We highlight the importance of information sharing, and advocate a more nuanced use of contractual and relational governance mechanisms to mitigate against the unfolding risk profile over the duration of projects.

This research was presented at EurOMA Annual Conference 2020, and has been shortlisted for a Special Issue of the International Journal of Operations and Production Management (IJOPM) due to be published in 2021.