Project risk culture in a South African state-owned entity

Abstract

The concept of risk culture came to the fore after the 2007/08 financial crisis, when it was identified as a leading contributor to instability in the financial industry. The available literature on risk culture tends to focus on the financial sector, with few risk-culture-specific articles published on non???financial institutions such as public organisations; and none could be found on project risk culture in South African state-owned entities (SOEs). The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions of project team members of aspects related to project risk management in a South African SOE, using a risk culture indicator (RCI) model to structure the research. The research question for this study was therefore: "How do project team members perceive project risk culture in this SOE?" Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with a sample of 15 participants whose roles require project implementation decision-making in the organisation. The results of the study indicated that project team members rely on experience and information from a panel of experts and consultants in order to include project risks when making project-related decisions. Interviewees suggested that the entity's project risk management process should be improved to ensure that the risk-related information documented, as a result of the internal risk management process, is relevant and of quality to assist with project decision-making. Four indicators - risk-based incentives, communication, challenge and risk accountability - did not feature in the participants' responses, and attention to these indicators may also assist with improving the entity's project risk culture. Overall, this study contributes to the understanding of the perceived project risk culture within the organisation and exemplifies a novel research approach for other researchers interested in conducting project risk culture studies.