News

  • Pre-bid risks for a large construction contract

    This case shows how qualitative and quantitative assessments of uncertainty were used when preparing a response to a large, complex request for tender. The aim was to assist the bidders to understand the risks they would face and the implications for their businesses if their tender were accepted, and to develop a realistic view of the budget and contingency they would need. This helped them to develop a negotiating strategy, and to set an appropriate bid price.

    Read more

  • Fire safety for a gas drainage plant

    This case describes an investigation into the fire safety requirements of a plant processing methane-rich waste gas from nearby mines. It demonstrates the value of tailoring the fire safety advice for the circumstances. In this case, instead of a detailed quantitative assessment of all possible fire scenarios, a comprehensive qualitative review of the fire scenarios and the general principles for their management was undertaken.

    Read more

  • Replacing a high-voltage power line

    This case study examines a quantitative risk analysis of the capital costs of a high-voltage power enhancement project. It illustrates the value of integrating quantitative analysis into project workflows, and how the outcomes from the analysis can assist in allocating contingencies to cost items for project cost control. It also demonstrates that the assumptions about the shapes of the distributions used in quantitative analyses may not always be important in terms of their impacts on the outcomes from the analysis.

    Read more

  • Security upgrade

    As part of our routine web site maintenance, we have upgraded the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate on our site. This ensures communications between your browser and our web server are encrypted.

    Read more

  • Identifying and addressing fraud in procurement

    This case study outlines risk management activities associated with potential fraud and corruption in the procurement function of a public-sector entity. The aim was to identify and determine the priority of risks associated with fraud and corruption, and to ensure that appropriate controls were in place or identified for future treatment. While this case is set in the context of a government agency, most of the lessons are relevant to any organisation.

    Read more

  • Upgrading control systems in an oilfield

    This case describes a risk assessment associated with a technical program to upgrade equipment and control systems across a major oilfield. It demonstrates the relationships between program, project and headline risks, and the value of generic key elements for structuring risk management activities. It also notes that a program risk assessment may help to identify and focus attention on improvements to broader aspects of organizational performance, far beyond the program that initiated the discussion.

    Read more

  • Options for mine ventilation

    This case describes a fast, high-level review of mine ventilation options. It used Kepner Tregoe analysis to focus on the ability of the options to achieve project goals, providing clarity and a sound rationale for management decisions. If straightforward approaches are sufficient, then there is no need to over-complicate the process or invest effort in greater detail.

    Read more

  • Gas-fired power station cost and schedule uncertainty

    This case study outlines a quantitative analysis of the contingency required to address cost and schedule uncertainty associated with building a new gas-fired power station. The project was well into the delivery phase, when attention had shifted from planning and forecasting the work to day-to-day execution. The analysis was a means of reviewing whether the established cost and schedule targets remained realistic. It drew the team’s attention away from immediate pressures to identify areas where additional effort and attention were needed to ensure longer-term success. Among other things, the case demonstrates the importance of addressing schedule uncertainty when estimating the capital costs of a project.

    Read more

  • Broadleaf and the coronavirus crisis

    Broadleaf is still at work! The Broadleaf team works from home offices, so we are facing little internal disruption to our work from the current coronavirus crisis. We remain available by telephone and email, but we’ve adjusted our face-to-face interactions with our friends and clients. We have adapted our ways of working to fit in with the new business environment in which we must all operate.

    Read more

  • Coronavirus and related case studies

    We have added two topical case studies to our web site. The first case describes how a simple yet rapid vulnerability analysis helped the management team of a university residential college to develop a comprehensive protection strategy when confronted by an evolving coronavirus threat. The second case describes work we conducted some years ago to develop a suite of spatial models of epidemic and pandemic influenza, aimed at helping policy makers explore a range of scenarios and interventions for the control of an outbreak.

    Read more
Subscribe via RSS