1. At IPS Ltd, we strive to guide  your company's compliance  efforts  through the seemingly endless morass of reports and actions,  Our mission is to provide high-quality compliance solutions tailored to your unique needs.

Risk management is one of IPS’ strengths in delivering projects by formally integrating risk management into all aspects of the project delivery process. The tools and techniques used for risk identification, analysis, response planning, monitoring, and control are appropriately selected to meet the specific needs of the project. At each step of the risk management process, the results are documented in a form that allows the results to be used as an input into the next step and for proactive Project Delivery.

Risk management is the systematic application of management policies, procedures, and practices to the tasks of identifying, analyzing, assessing, and controlling risks to protect employees, the public, the environment, and company assets. It includes maximizing the results of positive events and minimizing the consequences of adverse events. 

Risk management planning focuses on how to approach and plan the risk management activities for a project. The risk management process includes the following steps:

Ø Defining the scope and objectives, 

Ø Defining the main outcomes desired, 

Ø Identifying the important stakeholders and their roles, 

Ø Identifying the critical project success factors and their characteristics, 

Ø Defining the risk attributes to be considered, 

Ø Defining the scales to be used for estimating the likelihood of occurrence and the severity of the consequences, 

Ø Defining the key elements for structuring the analysis, Defining evaluation criteria, and

Ø Defining the general approach and procedures

Ø Risk identification determines which risks might affect the project and document their characteristics. Risk identification answers the questions “what can happen?” and “how could it happen?”

Ø Qualitative risk analysis analyses risks to rank them in terms of their effect on project objectives. It analyses each risk in terms of existing controls, likelihood of occurrence, severity of the consequences, the precision with which the risk is understood, and the level of risk

Ø Quantitative risk analysis measures the probability and techniques to enhance opportunities and reduce threats to the project’s objectives. Strategies are identified and evaluated, and the best strategy selected and implemented.

Typical deliverables from the risk management process include:

Ø A risk management plan defining methodology, roles and responsibilities, budgeting, timing, scoring and interpretation, thresholds, reporting formats, and tracking

Ø Risk assessment report for each risk providing: risk number, risk name, risk owner, date of last update, revision number, statement of risk, description of the project objective impacted, rating and definition of the severity of the consequences, rating and definition of the likelihood of occurrence and intervention difficulty, rating and definition of the precision with which the risk is understood and the position of the risk on the likelihood/consequence matrix. The report documents the detailed results of the analysis.

Ø Likelihood/consequence matrix showing the location of each risk identified. The matrix is used to show the overall risk profile, assess the relative priority of the risks and demonstrate the effectiveness or risk response strategies

Ø Risk response plan for each major risk providing risk number, risk name, risk owner, date opened, date of last update, revision number, statement of risk, risk narrative, description of the project objective impacted, closure criteria and action number/action description/actionee/due date for each action in the response plan. The report is used for ongoing monitoring and control

Ø Action item log providing for each action item for each major risk: action number, risk number, risk name, action, actionee and due date. The log is used for ongoing monitoring and control

Ø Plots of cumulative probability versus actual value of a project objective being at or under a given value. These plots are used to select the contingency reserve to be included in capital cost estimates, select the reserve to be included in project duration or estimate the cost or duration at completion

We develop periodic sensitivity analyses and follow-up with the view to estimate the probability of occurrence and the consequences to:

Ø Establish the contingency reserve to be included in capital cost estimates

Ø Establish the reserve to be included in the project schedule

Ø Forecast the estimated cost at completion or project duration

Risk response-planning uses techniques to identify specific risk response strategies. Generic risk response strategies are:

Ø Avoid the risk by eliminating the cause

Ø Abate the likelihood of occurrence or make the risk irrelevant

Ø Mitigate the consequences

Ø Transfer the risk to another stakeholder (e.g., insurance)

Risk monitoring and control depend on periodic project risk reviews. Risk is an agenda item at all team meetings. In addition, risk response audits, earned value analysis, and technical performance analysis are used to identify significant deviations from the baseline. Significant deviations trigger another iteration of risk identification, analysis and response planning.

IPS. is an international consultancy meeting the needs of its clients as they develop and manage their business enterprises. We are organized along two disciplines: 

Ø Business Transactions and Development, and

Ø Project Delivery

We offer a comprehensive, integrated approach to international business transactions including Formation, Due Diligence, Structuring, Product Development, Financing, Fair Market Valuations, and Divesture. 

As an Owner’s Oversight Consultant, we work to ensure the Owners’ interests are adequately served, earlier rather than later. Our approach is based on our on-site periodic risk assessment of more than 250 identified issues on a typical project. We then work with the project team to effectively deal with those risks that have been identified as material to the success of the project. 

Our group works with clients from the boardroom to the shop floor, working shoulder-to-shoulder – sometimes with small groups of senior executives, and often with multi-disciplined teams. Our team can be seen as:

Ø Expert advisors to owners, boards, company managers, outside investors, financial institutions, and governmental agencies.

Ø Researchers or analysts providing authoritive answers to specific questions about the business and its operations.

Ø Consultants who provide hands-on jointly designed assistance in achieving new objectives from the long-term and strategic to the immediate and operations-oriented change management processes.

Depending on the scope, schedule, and available resources, we partner with other organizations on a strategic or tactical basis, to meet the client needs in the most economic structure that delivers the desired results, on time, and within budget. Examples include:

Ø Our economic modelling expert will join a project feasibility study group, normally being the only financial team member, working with design, process, and industry experts for a comprehensive feasibility work product.

Ø Our transaction specialists will shepherd a business transaction from inception through closing. We contribute leading edge presentations, sample documents, proven procedures, and methodologies. Our focus is on the business issues of any particular transaction. We work closely with professionals to achieve a consensus as the transaction progresses. In this regard, the professionals are brought in for their area of expertise, are presented with a recommended solution, and are paid for their monitored time spent.

Ø How to create a sustainable competitive advantage?

Ø How to develop the business portfolio?

Ø What direction should each business unit take?

Ø What organization structure is best?

Ø How to develop our ability to plan?

Ø Which businesses should we be in?

Ø Should we ally with another business?

Ø Strategy development

Ø Capital allocation and decision support

Ø Organizational design

Ø Mergers and alliances

Ø New market and product planning

Ø Leveraging intellectual capital

Ø To develop successful strategies, we work with clients to answer questions about long-term business mixes and structures.

Ø When studying markets, competitive conditions, cost structures, and technologies, we access global information resources to ensure our research is current and well-founded in the context of the world’s best practices.

Ø How viable is the proposed investment case?

Ø What modifications should be made?

Ø How should the proposed business case be aligned with the process of raising capital?

Ø How can the balance sheet be re-structured?

Ø What is the businesses worth – together, apart – and who might buy them?

Ø What are the risks and what can be done about them?

Ø Due diligence project reviews

Ø Bankable studies

Ø Financing proposals

Ø Merger and acquisition assessments

Ø Distressed business appraisals

Ø Risk assessment

Ø Capital project monitoring

Ø Asset/Technology evaluation

Ø To make good investment decisions, investors and financial institutions require a thorough knowledge and understanding of the assets under consideration. Particularly vital is the assessment of the business’s ability to generate financial returns into the future. Through our extensive work with lenders and investors, we can see both sides of the equation – assessing the worst that can realistically happen while taking a pragmatic view of how to operate in a cyclical sector.

Ø Our assessment extends far beyond the typical objective review of financial statements and projections as compared to industry averages. We have developed a comprehensive subjective risk evaluation matrix that gives weighted average indices of a composite approach to the non-financial issues being addressed.

Business issues are constants. They’re cyclical, and they are costly. That’s why IPS Consulting has developed the following skills:

Ø How to get optimum results from existing businesses and assets

Ø How to improve profitability

Ø How to increase unit-level productivity

Ø How to improve pricing strategies

Ø How to deepen customer loyalty

Ø How to build teams

Ø How to use Interactive Planning as a business improvement tool

Ø Implementation of our Business Planning Process.

Ø Production of high-quality leading-edge presentations

Ø Preparation of competitor analysis’s

Ø Gap Analysis in systems, technology, staff development, & management skill sets.

IPS consulting brings a wealth of experience coupled to state-of-the-art skill sets in a wide range of companies with a focus on financial institutions and corporate clients in distressed asset situations. Our process of establishing a Strategic Project Delivery approach to the issues being addressed ensures focused assessments of the operational support that might be necessary to achieve the identified turnaround potential desired.

This outlines the phases that an acquisition and development project and how the IPS Owner’s Oversight Consultant adds value:

Ø Submission of a conditional Offer to Purchase, 

Ø Development of a comprehensive transition plan,

Ø Existing facilities design and construction review,

Ø An appraisal as performed by a duly licensed professional, 

Ø Due diligence on legal, fiscal, financial activities under the present ownership, 

Ø A determination of the current and future Fair Market Value including a comprehensive plan for the highest and best use of the development,

Ø Development of a project budget with sensitivities,

Ø Preparation of a Project Finance Plan, including presentation to prospective lenders, investors, and potential alliance partners,

Ø Active participation in the negotiation of all agreements, contracts and funding structures,

Ø Monitoring of procurement, construction, staffing, marketing, and start-up; and 

Ø Limited oversight in full operations

Most Owners realize the value of being benchmarked in the “Best in Class” amongst its peers and the investment/funding communities as one that actively pursues projects with a “fit” of being potentially lucrative with a modest cash outlay, can be commercialized on a “fast track” schedule, and will be attractive to follow-on investors at any time during the transition, development, and commercialization, thus providing the Owner with a better than market return on the risks assumed in any one project. 

Successful Projects are delivered through the establishment of both short- and long-term goals, which are expressed in strategic action items. It is therefore essential that comprehensive understandings of the total Project implementation needs are identified.

We focus on those needs, especially issues that will enhance the “jump start” of the execution phase of the Project and initiate proactive steps that potentially could mitigate schedule and cost concerns. 

IPS Consulting, working in concert with key licensed professionals as required, with its background knowledge and understanding of similar projects, is best positioned to provide the Project team with the Owner’s expectations.

IPS assumes the oversight role for overall management and execution strategy of the Project, reviews and recommends the award contracts to third parties, and, depending on the project’s size and complexity, accepts responsibility for the management of the Project. It is anticipated that substantial portions of the work will be contracted out to both international and local contractors and suppliers in clearly defined “work packages”, which will be coordinated by IPS to ensure agreed objectives and expectations are maintained and achieved.

An integral part of any delivery plan is to have clear and concise objectives and a defined matrix of roles and responsibilities to ensure specific expectations are identified such as:

Ø Reducing capital cost by delaying capital expenditures 

Ø Back-end loading the cash flow but at the same time identifying ways of achieving positive cash flow that are mutually acceptable

Ø Reducing operating costs (labor/automation/logistics)

Ø Minimizing time to 100% capacity – ramp-up

Ø Improve investment yield potential by increased awareness to value-added improvements

Ø Absolute cost control

Ø Maximize local participation throughout the development process by developing a detailed contracting and procurement strategy for all phases of the Project

Ø Minimizing re-work

Ø Freeze the design, schedule, and budget

Ø Conduct a comprehensive risk assessment to address the environmental, cost, technical, and schedule risks

Ø Develop a project design brief for each of the major facility components

Ø Initiate a value-engineering review to ensure that the design concepts maximize the Owner’s value for environmental protection, capital cost, operating and maintenance costs, schedule, market flexibility, constructability, and risk

Ø Review ways to reduce up-front capital costs through interactive planning

Ø Identify long lead procurement items, vendors, and their contractors to identify and mitigate cost exposures owing to delayed delivery

Ø Build-in weather windows to ensure maximum productivity and performance are maintained throughout the life of the Project 

It is imperative that all options related to design and construction activities and work practices are reviewed early enough to ensure the correct decisions are made, both from a commercial and schedule perspective. 

A comprehensive way of achieving this schedule optimization is by initiating a series of Interactive Planning sessions. Once optimized by adapting project management tools such as constructability, lessons learned, value engineering, and other value-added techniques, specific actions and milestones (toll gating) are identified and established which are then transposed into the overall master schedule, with the aim of (a) reducing the schedule and (b) reducing cost by minimizing risk.

Options that can be generated from these typical sessions include: -

Ø Work packages are developed around the capabilities of contractors. It is essential that they are not overloaded. All contractors can bring in additional workers, but they might not have the depth of supervision to manage them safely and productively.

Ø Engineering to design based upon labor availability versus construction equipment availability and associated costs. 

Ø Operations to agree up front on priorities and sequence of staged completion to be incorporated into the overall schedule by the backward integration through construction and procurement and into design.

Specific milestone dates currently identified include:

Ø Completion of the Project Feasibility Study 

Ø Financial Close

Ø Contract Awards

Ø Development essentially complete date

Ø Full operations