ABSTRACT
This chapter explores projects, their nature and complexity, and what makes them susceptible to risk. It will be argued that the nature of projects is determined by their environments and their constituent elements of tasks, technologies, resources and organisation. The environments of projects are determined by their phases of development. Each element of a project is capable of further subdivision into subelements, and the extent of uncertainty that these exhibit contributes towards project complexity. Complexity, however, is only one aspect to consider. Other factors which make projects ‘risky’ are discussed and illustrated through examples and case studies.
