Running head: RISK MANAGEMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMET 1

Risk Management in the Development of the Comet

William Taylor Pittman
PJM380-1 Project Management Tools
Colorado State University Global Campus
Professor Michael Laverty
June 6, 2014











RISK MANAGEMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMET 2

Risk management in the development of the Comet
Introduction
From the article, little is known about the Havillands companies risk assessment on and
during the development of the comet. For the purposes of this case analysis, we will assume no
risk analysis took place in any of the phases associated with design and production. Risk
management, if it had been implemented into the comets development may have highlighted
many potential issues.

Risks for the Comet
Various types of risk were present in the development of the Comet. Here, we will
examine the technical, commercial, and expectation risks associated with the project.
Technical. We will first consider the technical risk. With designing any new airframe,
there is already an inherent technical risk associated with producing a new product. This risk was
amplified by two factors. First, the technical risk was increased with the planes new design,
including many new technologies. Technologies not familiar to those in charge of
implementation into a project are at a higher risk for failure from improper utilization. There is
also an associated higher risk with new technologies sourced from outside vendors. The technical
risk was next amplified by the speed at which the project was undertaken, in the design phase.
This speed up in time caused less time to be spent in the design phase, leaving room for failure

Commercial. Facing competition from boing, Havillands goal was to introduce its new
aircraft as quickly as possible With any new product to be sold there is an associated
commercial risk. This baseline commercial risk is associated with a products viability in the
market place as well as dealing with competition. Havillands goal was to beat their competitor
RISK MANAGEMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMET 3

Boing to the market place with their new fifty passenger jet. It is advantageous for a company
producing a new product to get to the market first. This establishes a foothold in the market,
enables no competition, and provides the producing company with one-hundred percent market
share. Although Havilland produced their jet first and eliminated the largest factor in the
commercial risk, the rate of design and production caused inferior quality and testing.
Execution. The execution risk associated with the comets production was caused by two
factors. The new technologies and methods of construction were unknown to those performing
production. With less understanding of what youre working with comes more risk in its
implementation. The most obvious added risk to the Comet project is the increase in execution
risk associated with the speeding up of production. This speed increase in production most likely
directly influenced final quality of the Comet aircraft.
Critical Error in the Development of the Comet.

Given that a modified version of the Comet was successfully used by the British
government in anti-submarine warfare suggests that the problems with the Comets operation
were design oriented and solve-able. With more time, the British government made a successful
fleet of Comet aircraft. If Havilland had devoted more time to the design and testing of the
aircraft, a successful application to the market may have taken place.
Failure is the price we pay for technological advancement.
In technology, finding are made through research and development, as well as mistakes.
The mistakes and failures made when implementing new technologies should always be
thoroughly documented as we can learn from them.


RISK MANAGEMENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMET 4

Conclusion.
If Havilland had implemented risk assessment and mitigation strategies, a successful application
of the Comet to the air fleet comprised of many commercial airlines could have been realized. The speed
at which design took place ultimately caused the failure of the project. This is a valuable example how
not considering the appropriate risks can prove to be disastrous.

Qualitative Risk Matrix

Insignificant Moderate Major Severe
Rare
Unlikely Commercial
Possible Execution
Likely Technical
Almost Certain
P
r
o
b
a
b
i
l
i
t
y

Consequence