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