The world can be a dangerous place. The Y2K scare demonstrated that technological interdependence has created an environment where if one thing goes wrong, it can have global consequences. The terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, the collapse of the dot-com ventures, and the corruption scandals of the early 2000s have piqued people's interest in the employment of risk management methods to protect them against the untoward consequences of harmful events.

The best-known techniques in risk management include Monte Carlo simulation, expected value analysis, conditional probability analysis, and the employment of different statistical distributions. Clearly, these techniques lie in the realm of quantitative analysis, which leads to an important question raised by risk management practitioners: Does effective risk management require the use of quantitative techniques?

In The Quantitative vs. Qualitative Perspective in Risk Management CD, Dr. Ed Naser of UMT examines the role of quantitative and qualitative approaches to managing risk. He demonstrates that it is not really an either-or situation, because often insufficient data exists to pursue quantitative approaches. He also points out that when quantitative approaches can be taken, they can produce powerful guides to decision making.

CD-ROM Contents

This CD contains a 50-minute long video playable on Windows Media Player that covers:

• What are the issues?
• The problem of data limitations
• The lack of quantitative skills in the workforce
• What quantitative skills risk managers need to have
• The pay-offs of quantitative approaches
• The value of qualitative approaches
• Demo: Quantitative and qualitative approaches to the likelihood-impact matrix
• Demo: Quantitative and qualitative approaches to decision trees
• Demo: How the PERT Beta distribution allows you to reach hard data conclusions based on soft data inputs

Dr. Ed Naser

Dr. Ed Naser was a professor and practitioner of project management, technology management, and risk management. He received his doctorate in technology management from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. He was on the faculty of the University of Management and Technology, where he was Director of the graduate program on Computer Science and Information Technology.

How to Obtain this CD-ROM

There are two ways to obtain this CD-ROM:

1. Purchase a copy for only $14.95 at UMT's secure Online Payment page.

2. Register for UMT's self-paced, online course Risk and Quality Management. In addition to the CD-ROM, you will receive the following:

• Course textbook: Managing Risk in Organizations, by J. Davidson Frame
• Course modules
• Think and Review sections for each module
• Answers to the Think and Review sections
• Final exam
• Certificate of Completion.

If you successfully complete the course, you are eligible to earn 30 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from the Project Management Institute.