Browsing by Author "Hall, Mark L."
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Item Open Access Deliberate ignorance in project risk management(Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam., 2010-04-01T00:00:00Z) Kutsch, Elmar; Hall, Mark L.The management of project risk is considered a key discipline by most organisations involved in projects. Best practice project risk management processes are claimed to be self-evidently correct. However, project risk management involves a choice between which information is utilized and which is deemed to be irrelevant and hence excluded. Little research has been carried out to ascertain the manifestation of barriers to optimal project risk management such as 'irrelevance'; the deliberate inattention of risk actors to risk. This paper presents the results of a qualitative study of IT project managers, investigating their reasons for deeming certain known risks to be irrelevant. The results both confirm and expand on Smithson's [Smithson, M., 1989. Ignorance and Uncertainty. Springer-Verlag, New York] taxonomy of ignorance and uncertainty and in particular offer further context related insights into the phenomenon of 'irrelevance' in project risk management. We suggest that coping with 'irrelevance' requires defence mechanisms, the effective management of relevance as well as the setting of, and sticking to priorities. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved.Item Open Access Exploring reliability in information systems programmes(Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam., 2011-05-31T00:00:00Z) Denyer, David; Kutsch, Elmar; Lee-Kelley, Liz; Hall, Mark L.The recent epidemic of information systems (ISs) programme failures worldwide suggests that the effective management of programmes to cope with uncertainty and achieve mission in the medium term remains a key challenge. Research into high reliability organisations (HROs) has shown that it is possible to avoid, trap and mitigate the risks inherent in complex socio-technical systems. Studies of HROs originally focused on the operation of high risk technologies but have begun to explore other situations that present a similar need for reliable performance. One such environment is the IS programme. By comparing and contrasting the salient features of programme environments and HROs and presenting an in-depth case study with two embedded units of analysis (two troubled IS programmes), we aim to contribute to the ongoing debate about IS programme failure and to the theoretical development of programme reliability.Item Open Access A Survey of Green Burial Sites in England and Wales and an Assessment of the Feasibility of a Groundwater Vulnerability Tool(Taylor & Francis, 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z) Kim, Kye-Hoon; Hall, Mark L.; Hart, A.; Pollard, Simon J. T.Since 1994, 200 'green' or natural burial sites have been developed in the UK and Eire, attracting regulatory attention because of perceived risks to groundwater. Here, a survey of natural burial practice in England and Wales (n=49 of 141 elicited) is presented, providing data on operational trends and supporting the design of a groundwater vulnerability assessment tool. Natural burial grounds are generally small in area (< 0.8 ha), adopt a mean single burial depth of 1.45 m bgl and a mean plot density of ca. 1480 graves ha-1. A vulnerability screening tool is described that allows a desk-based evaluation of sites by reference to seven groundwater risk attributes. Initial feasibility is evaluated through application to 131 sites.