A behavioral model of software project risk management

Prior research suggests that software project managers do not widely use project risk management prescriptions. This study adopts the view that this situation may be because the assumptions underlying the majority of software project risk management prescriptions diverge from how project managers actually view risk and respond to it. To advance our understanding of project managers' risk response behavior, the study first applies a problematization methodology to a selection of 55 articles and identifies, articulates, and revises the assumption-ground underlying most of these studies. It then proposes a conceptual model that aims at explaining and predicting software project managers' risk response behavior and that takes into account the revised assumption-ground. This conceptual model is developed by using the reasoned action approach as a canvas to integrate behavioral decision making under uncertainty research and prior behavioral research in the software project risk management context. Finally, the paper derives several propositions from this conceptual model and provides suggestions for future research.