In this paper we characterise the propensity of big capital investments to systematically deliver poor outcomes as "fragility," a notion suggested by Nassim Taleb. A thing or system that is easily harmed by randomness is fragile. We argue that, contrary to their appearance, big capital...

This study provides an independent, outside-in estimate of the cost and schedule risks of nuclear waste storage projects. Nuclear waste storage is here defined as special facilities for the wet and dry storage and disposal of high-level (HILW) and low and intermediate-level nuclear waste (LILW)....

Out-of-control information technology (IT) projects have ended the careers of top managers, such as EADS CEO Noël Forgeard and Levi Strauss' CIO David Bergen. Moreover, IT projects have brought down whole companies, like Kmart in the US and Auto Windscreen in the UK. Software and other IT is...

This essay briefly shines light on the current, normative, and positivist philosophies of how risk is debated in the field of project and program management. Then an alternative view is offered - Social Theories of Risk. This essay then analyses the National Programme for IT in the NHS (NPfIT),...