PRACTICE OF PROJECT RISK MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF CHALLENGE TB PROJECT UNDER MANAGEMENT SCIENCES FOR HEALTH

Abstract

The central question of this study is what the practice of project risk management of Challenge TB project looks like. The respondents were selected purposively to include Challenge TB project management, project technical support and project operation support teams who are believed to have knowledge in one or more of the steps of project risk management process. Semi-structured questionnaire was distributed to 33 respondents and a total of 31 responses were collected. In-depth interview was conducted with the senior management of the project and the organization. The collected data was entered on Epidata software and then transferred to IBM SPSS Statistics for analysis. Descriptive data analysis technique was used in which frequencies, mean, standard deviations and percentages were calculated. The transcribed qualitative data was categorized under each thematic area of the study and were narrated in detail. Lack of formal training of project staffs on project risk management, poor practice of risk management planning, lack of participation of stakeholders and beneficiaries on the process of risk identification, lack of effort by the management to maximize opportunities and poor practice of risk monitoring and control were the major finding of the study. The implementing partner and /or the project (Challenge TB) should work on organizing detailed training to its staff on project risk management and proactive response strategy to manage security risks, should have risk management plan which outline the risk management tools and techniques to be used, outline risk ownership and required risk management budget. The organization should also focus on increased participation of beneficiaries and stakeholders in the process of risk identification.