Meta-Network Assessment of Intangible Risks in Portfolio of Projects

This paper presents an intangible risk assessment framework and methodology utilizing a behavior-oriented intangible risk breakdown structure (IRBS), risk assignment matrix (RAM), and meta-network construct. The proposed approach conceptualizes a meta-network composed of different types of entities (i.e., agents, risk triggers, risk events, and tasks), as well as the interdependencies between them. The organizational interaction of actors (i.e., staff engineer to executive management), the impact of risk triggers (i.e., lack of clear priorities), behavioral risk events (i.e., lack of trust), and project tasks (i.e., basis of design) are networks in the meta-network. Project intangible risks are assessed for each stage of the project development cycle—feasibility/concept, front-end engineering design (FEED), and project execution)—in a case study of an oil and gas project portfolio. A methodology to catalog the risk triggers and intangible risk events is explored. This work contributes to the risk management discipline by providing a framework and methodology to address intangible risks in a structured and objective way at each stage in the project cycle.