Planning to Accommodate Change (Risk Management) - Research Paper Example

Kitchen Remodeling Critical success factors Contingencies chiefly affect all responsibilities from top to bottom. Unintended delivery duties will upset the whole Remodeling timetable. Therefore it becomes important to identify critical success factors. 1. If the owner has gotten himself into a legal written contract instead of a verbal contract that is half the battle won. As there will be very low number of discrepancies and the contractor won’t leave the owner, overpaid and unsatisfied. 2.

Keeping track of the budget and remaining within the budget line will likely help the remodeling plan to be success. This is a critical success factor as it decides the fate of the remodeling project. 3. Having a skillful and competent contractor is another critical success factor as an incompetent workman can leave the work in between and that would be almost equal to not beginning at all since if the old contractor wont show up, signing a new contractor will cost money and time and probably a re-re-modeling.

Key issues for management One of the key issues for management (the owner and the contractor) is having contingency plans and appropriate application procedures. Because contingencies and unprecedented costs appear in any operation, therefore keeping some extra money safe for such incidents and appropriate use of this leverage is one of the key issues for management. Without a monetary cushion, new expenditures will not be treated and the remodeling can come to a halt. Another key issue that troubles the management is replacing old equipment in case the current setup including the old equipment will not do.

Reviewing the model is another crucial issue for management because there are usually some necessary nips n tucks required, which if not adjusted can result in over expense. Erroneous construction by rogue builders will affect the basic construction process and the basic plumbing and faucet fixing. This is a serious issue for the management as it will test the management skills of both the contractor and the home owner (regarding the ‘do it yourself’ tasks). Standards and guidelines First standard that should accompany the remodeling project would be to have the proposal in hard copy form.

This qualifies as a standard because it will serve as the blue print for anything that commences from there on. Kitchen remodeling project will start when this first standard is met. The guideline that will follow the standard is the proposal should contain everything in detail. This is crucial as detailed sketched out proposal will cover everything and it will be more likely to do everything according to the plans. In case detailed sketches are not provided, the contractor is likely to find loopholes to influence and overcharge the home owner.

Implications for Risk Management There are many implications for Risk management in this remodel. If the requirements of the home owner’s association are not met it can have serious consequences as without fulfilling the requirements of home owner association remodeling will be useless. This will have a legal implication on the remodeling project and for the risk management (home owner and contractor). Another implication for risk management is of cost effectiveness. In case the equipment wears out before time, low warranty of the product will cost extra money to buy replacements.

The implication here is the tradeoff between cost and durability of equipment. Mitigation techniques There are several mitigation techniques that each remodeling contingency will be accompanied with. For instance, if the house is an old one and whenever kitchen remodeling is initiated, there is something else that needs to be fixed before proceeding, this is a classic case of mitigation technique where risk management will come into play. First question for this mitigation would be why the need for remodel.

If it is only for home renovation, then everything should be done according to the current condition of the house. This will have several mitigation benefits as there will not be any need for home improvement other than the kitchen itself. Another mitigation is when the contractor runs away during work in progress. As it has been stated under the heading ‘critical success factors’, contract should have legal documentation so that the court will decide in the favor of home owner. This will mitigate any damages occurred as well as potential ones.

Measurement and Monitoring Techniques The best monitoring technique that management can apply is scheduling a milestone. Every payment must be related to a milestone. This way, jobs will be done according to schedule and the home owner will not have to worry about the quality. If he/she finds something wrong with the quality of work or he/she is unsatisfied with the way any job was done, payments can be halted. So that payments will be made only if the job is done according to the desired standards.

Moreover, checking the whole remodeling schedule should be done at least weekly. It also depends on the amount of work and size of the kitchen. But in any case, it should be monitored and measured at least weekly. Source Previous Assignment