Stakeholder Risk Assessment: An Outcome-Based Approach

Managing software projects can often degrade into fighting fires lit by the embers of unrecognized and unmanaged risks. Stakeholders are a recognized source of significant software project risk, but few researchers have focused on providing a practical method for identifying specific project stakeholders. Furthermore, no methods provide guidance in identifying and managing project risks arising from those stakeholders. We developed the outcome-based stakeholder risk assessment model to provide this practical guidance. OBSRAM offers the project team a step-by-step approach to identifying stakeholders during requirements engineering, identifying stakeholder influences on the project, identifying the project´s impact on stakeholders, and assessing the risks that their potential negative responses pose. We illustrate OBSRAM using a case study of a simulated airline-crew-scheduling system project that aims to reduce aircraft ground turnaround time to 30 minutes or less