A risk oriented model to assess strategic decisions in new product development projects

The project management team has to respect contractual commitments: in terms of deadlines and budgets, that are often two antagonistic objectives. At the same time, the market becomes more and more demanding as far as costs and delays are concerned while expecting a high quality level. Then, the project management team has to continuously consider novelty and a risk management strategy in order to determine the best balance between benefits and risks. Based on the principles of a synchronized process between risk management and project management, and on the concepts of risk scenario, we propose a decision-making tool to help the project manager choose the best way to improve project success rate while controlling the level of risks. As a finding, the project manager would be able to evaluate and compare different novelties or development strategies taking into account their repercussions on potential risks and risk treatment strategies. Finally, a case study in the aerospace industry and specifically on satellite integration and tests is developed to validate this approach. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.