Risk Dynamics Throughout the System Development Life Cycle
Risks must be controlled during the development of a new system in order to best promote success. However, resources that can be dedicated to controlling risks are often limited. To best design an effective and efficient portfolio of controls, it is important to understand if and how risks change during the course of a system development. Using a framework developed from socio-technical theories, we conduct a multiple case study to determine the pattern of risk dynamics through the stages of the development life cycle. Risks associated with structural concerns dominate and increase as the life cycle progress, while technology risks are not very common early, but become so later. Risks associated with tasks and actor are common and do not change much in incidence. The results indicate the value of the socio-technical model in identifying risks and how control portfolios should change over the course of a system development.