+ MANAGING PROJECT RISK 183 accurately dealt with. Business risks, however, can have positive or negative outcomes for the project: cost savings with new vendors, time-saving techniques, the use of new materials, and investments in training. All of these examples can have a posi- tive outcome, as they can help the project reach its objectives, or they can have a negative outcome, waste, if they don't help the project. The best example of a business risk is the investment in the project. When your company launches a new project, there's an investment in the time, materials, labor, and other out-of-pocket project expenses. If the project doesn't succeed, if the client re- fuses to pay for the project, or if the project team doesn't do the work with quality, then the investment in the project is lost. If the project is successful, then the reward for the investment in it is the profit. Risk and reward go together when it comes to business risk. As you may have already realized, there is no re- ward for pure risk in a project. When most project managers think about risk, they see it as a bad thing: It's something that could keep the project from suc- ceeding. This is a natural belief, as risk often has negative impacts on the project. There are, however, positive risk events that can bring about positive outcomes. That's right: There are both neg- ative and positive risk events. Negative risk events are easy to see and identify, as they threaten the project. Positive risks, however, are sometimes trickier to identify. Positive risk events are opportunities to help the project succeed. Consider a project that needs 8,000 meters of electrical wiring. The vendor reports that the cost of the wiring will be 15 percent less if the project manager orders 10,000 meters. Even American Management Association · www.amanet.org