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Multinational Requirements study (May 92 - Aug 92): User involvement

'Once the Group support had been obtained for the project to go ahead, then Colin disappeared from the scene and Gordan came as the person from GIS who was going to head this project. Part of the planning of the project was that it should be seen to be very much a partnership between the IT people and the business people and we needed to identify the right level of business person ... when we'd done the abortive project earlier with XUK that again was clearly established as a partnership between IT and business, but in the end I think the business guys had no control over what was going on and IT was ... such an important force in XUK that I don't think it would have made any difference whatsoever the business guys had wanted. ...

Whereas this time round the partnership was actually taken much more as a, well man and wife type in a way, much more of an equal partnership ... I think the business side would dictate what had to be done rather than the technology dictating what the business was. ... I think that's very much the style of the GIS operation, a number of the people had just come from a project with XE and seen there what could be achieved with the right sort of partnership with the business people ... and that was critical in their view to what would make this project successful as well. I wouldn't disagree with that, ... it is critical to success in the end and our big debate was who that person should be. ...

I think we decided that it had to be a member of the senior management team ... and that meant in effect a choice between myself and two colleagues, the one level down from me. ... whilst I would argue the case that the guy below me was the person who should have done this it was decided that his role was more valuable than mine ... it's a small management team, very much hands on management style and therefore much more difficult to take that person out of circulation for an extended period than the top person ... So the finger pointed at me.'

X021 page 001.05 (tape 01.1.05) David Notes/Tape 19/10/93

Social influence: Team: Composition
Technical influence: Process: Project management


Recording
Story
Social influence
Technical influence

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