ABSTRACT
The CMT (Criticality Management Tools) project is a major development of a risk management system, which now is about to be implemented in several acquisition projects in the Norwegian Defence Authorities (NDA). The implementation of a risk management system, meaning that it shall serve its intended purpose and actually be used, is by no means a trivial task. One of the reasons for starting the CMT development in the first place was to improve the ability of the NDA to manage risks in projects. The development of the systematics and procedures, and the tool development, are probably less difficult compared to the challenge of making it work in projects and line organisations.
Some of the critical factors for a successful development and in an organisation will be discussed in the paper, as they have been experienced through the 3 years development period and the 5–6 pilot project applications so far. The CMT development project will be finalised in February 1998, and the implementation of the system will then be on the agenda.
Some of the problems experienced during the development and initial pilot applications in the CMT project were of a more principal nature. They prompted ideas and solutions that were used in the design of the PRM system, following the simple logic that if this could happen to us, it can happen to other projects as well.
The problems ranged from “When there are no end users” to the human tendency to underestimate or avoid uncertainty. Common to all the problems were that they could have been significantly minimised or solved earlier if the participants in the projects had been trained in action science and organisational learning, thus increasing their communicational and problem solving abilities. The need for such abilities will be even larger when the system is to be implemented in the end user organisation.
