Process oriented Risk Management of Product Risks (Dissertation)

This is the second contribution to my series on doctoral dissertations on Supply Chain Risk Management. An immense effort and dedication is spent on these works only to find the results hidden in the libraries. So the goal is raise interest in their research.

Author / Topic

This dissertation was written by Jörn Dahmen 2009 as his doctoral thesis at the RWTH, Aachen (one of the most renowned Technical Universities in Germany). It was published by Shaker, Aachen and can be ordered here from amazon.deor your local library. The title can be translated as:

Process oriented Risk Management of Product Risks

Summary

The dissertation is a short read with 140 pages. The goal of this dissertation is to create a framework for the management of product risks. Product risks combine the risks associated with the product. Nowadays the risks associated with the product-customer relationship are usually highly regulated by law (product liability), so increasing product complexity can lead to higher product risks.

The framework is straight forward and consists of three elements:

• Risk management elements
  containing the risk policy, analysis, measures and monitoring
• Drill down view
  The aforementioned risk management process has to be repeatedly executed for different levels of detail in the company.
• Execution
  The measures have the be elaborated in teams and executed to be effective.

The author then tests his framework at three different companies (automobile, turbine and cable car producer) and provides evidence that his framework is effective in managing product risks.

Conclusion

Jörn Dahmen delivers a well structured work on product risks and its management. The focus the dissertation sheds light on an often neglected risk. The case studies were interesting and supported the study very well. Caveat: I was missing some really new aspects on the differences of managing product risks.