Between risk and decision: a case of educational infrastructure

Learning outcomes After completion of the case study, the students will be able to: Case overview/synopsis IDC OBRAS CIVILES SAS was a company located in the Department of Norte de Santander, Colombia. In 2014, the company was founded by Engineer Viviana Osorio Jaramillo. In 2022, the company bid before a governmental entity for the execution of the project of construction and adequacy of works in the San Bartolomé school in the municipality of Cúcuta, Norte de Santander for a budget of US$700,000 in a time of 14 months. Given the geographic conditions and the volatility of the market, Viviana Engineering assumed management of the project. However, the positioning and recognition of the construction brand would depend on the success of the execution of a large-scale project, which would boost the quality of education of hundreds of children belonging to the Comuneros neighborhood and would be under the supervision of state control entities. Consequently, the author asked the team the following question: how can we increase the probability of the project’s success in a highly uncertain environment? To this end, she received from a collaborator a report consolidating the analysis of the project’s reality through a forecasting exercise pertaining to risk management. Focusing on the category of quality, management or environmental risks? These were the challenges that the civil engineer and her interdisciplinary team had to face. Complexity academic level The teaching case is designed for graduate level academic programs such as: master’s degree in civil engineering, master’s degree in risk management, master’s degree in project management or Master of Business Administration. Subject code CSS 2: Built Environment.