Scenes & recordings

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A scene is an event where data was collected either from conversations or documents. Scenes are either letters or visits to a location. The scenes for the X case are listed below.

For each scene there are a number of recordings, where a recording may be a conversation or a document of some sort. The recordings for each scene show the kind of data collected and the main person involved. There is a link from each recording to the first item of evidence included in the story.


13/05/93 Open University visit

Initial contact meeting.

 X001 Conversation Roland Kaye, Darren 13/05/93
Initial meeting to discuss the possibility of X-Group being one of my cases. OU - Roland's office, Notes - 3 pages

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24/05/93 North of England letter

Letter plus background to X-Group and X.

X002 Written Darren 24/05/93
Letter enclosing annual reports and a paper on systems development practices in X-Group - stresses sensitivity of latter. Letter/Fax - 1 page

 X003 Written Darren 06/09/90
Paper on "Managing IT Projects" Note: Please treat with care, may be sensitive in parts. Document - 18 pages

 X004 Written 24/05/93
X-Group Review 1992 Contains information on structure and contact addresses. Document - 28 pages

 X005 Written 24/05/93
X-Group Profile 1991 Document - 20 pages

 X006 Written 24/05/93
X-Group Annual Report 1992 Document - 60 pages

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21/06/93 Clare letter

Letter outlining the research project and aims for first meeting.

X007 Written Clare to Darren 21/06/93
Letter/Fax - 6 pages

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30/06/93 North of England letter

Literature on project. Note from letter: "All of it is sensitive and may only be used in summary type information and then only with our approval of written draft."

X008 Written Darren 30/06/93
Accompanying memo - can only use the material in "summary type information and then only with our approval of written draft." Letter/Fax - 1 page

 X009 Written Mel, Tom, Colin 01/11/91
X - IT Strategy Study Phase one - Business Analysis Information Needs & Provisional IT Answer Overall paints a picture of X evolving and still finding its identity in a difficult market. The future for IT will depend in part on X getting itself sorted out. Those interviewed spoke of an information system although the report is aware that rather more is required. A provisional IT solution is suggested. Document - 11 pages

 X010 Written Colin 01/05/92
X - IT Strategy Study Phase two - Current IT Position Assess Technical Environment Overall paints a picture of an organisation which uses the services of a number of other parts of X-Group. Two main issues discussed are charging policies for IT services (the difficulty and cost of unravelling them) and the tremendous complexity and variety in the IT environment (hardware, networks and software). Document - 18 pages

 X011 Written Colin 01/05/92
X - IT Strategy Study Phase three - Conclusions Final Report Document - 13 pages

 X012 Written David, Keith, Gordan, Stuart, Jim, Elizabeth 05/08/92
X Multinational Project New Systems Proposal Includes a provisional entity model for underwriting and claims with a data dictionary for each entity. Document - 36 pages

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30/09/93 North of England visit

All day visit. Arrived just after 11 and left about 16.15.

 X013 Conversation Gordan 30/09/93
Only tapes 1, 3 and 4 remain. Meeting room, Notes/Trans/Tape - 28 pages 120 minutes

 X014 Conversation Jim 30/09/93
Not taped (run out of tapes). Meeting room, Notes - 1 page

X015 Conversation Matt 30/09/93
Demonstration of the system (includes his system diagram). Screen dumps and report generated during demo (see X016). At his desk, Notes - 1 page

X016 Written Matt 30/09/93
Generated during demonstration (see recording X015) Screen dumps for Update policy and View Quotation (incomplete print) and fax of programme update. At his desk, Screens/reports - 7 pages

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06/10/93 Clare letters

Letters to Gordan and Darren thanking them for the visit.

X017A Written Clare to Gordan 06/10/93
Letter/Fax - .5 pages

X017B Written Clare to Darren 06/10/93
Letter/Fax - .5 pages

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18/10/93 North of England letter

Letter with enclosures: Overview of Multinational system Original IT Strategy implementation plans Prototype workshop agenda

X018A Written Gordan 18/10/93
Accompanying letter. Letter/Fax - .5 pages

 X018B Written 01/07/93
X multinational Business System Overview The author and date of this document is not known but from the contents it was written sometime between June 1993 and October 1993 and probably describes what went live in phase I. Document - 4 pages

 X019 Written 11/03/92
X IT Plans 1992 & 1993 - Version 4 Document - 4 pages

 X020 Written 18/09/92
Property Design Workshop notes Document - 25 pages

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19/10/93 City of London visit

Two hour morning visit.

 X021 Conversation David 19/10/93
Tape very faint because David is quietly spoken and he leant back in his chair. His office, Notes/Tape - 6 pages 120 minutes

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27/01/94 North of England visit

All day visit. Arrived about 11.00, left 16.15.

 X022 Conversation Gordan 27/01/94
Someone else's office (corner of open plan office), Notes/Trans/Tape - 29 pages 150 minutes

 X023 Conversation Stuart 27/01/94
Not taped (ran out of tapes) Interesting (in the light of the future problems of phase II) that when I asked him what he was doing he focused rather more on phase III. Someone else's office (corner of open plan office), Notes - 3.5 pages

 X024 Conversation Nigel 27/01/94
Someone else's office (corner of open plan office), Notes - 1 page

 X025 Conversation Matt 27/01/94
Demonstration of the system. At his desk, Notes - .5 pages

 X026 Written Project team 12/01/94
Review workshop invitation. Document - 1 page

 X027 Written Teddy, Gordan 10/11/93
QA review reply and implementation summary Document - 3 pages

 X028 Written Teddy 10/11/93
X Multinational system Post implementation review report Document - 14 pages

 X029 Written 27/01/94
Multinational System phase two Development plan: October 1993 - Februrary 1994 Includes timescales, team allocations and bar charts. Document - 5 pages

X030 Written Gordan 17/01/94
Programme for X IT visit to USA w/c 17 Jan 1994 Document - 2 pages

 X031 Written Jim 26/01/94
X Multinational Business System Security Review Conclusions Document - 17 pages

 X032 Written Jim 26/01/94
X Multinational Business System Security Review Action Plan Document - 2 pages

X033 Written 01/02/94
X Finance Review presentation Slide prints - 3 pages

X034 Written Jim 27/01/94
X Multinational Business system Motor Fleet Review Basic requirements Summarizes the changes needed to include motor fleet business. Document - 12 pages

 X035 Written Two people from Marine, Gordan, Chris 15/12/93
Marine Systems Review Document - 43 pages

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02/03/94 City of London visit

Two hour morning visit.

 X036 Conversation Jenny 02/03/94
She gave me an organisation chart for Multinational (Oct 93) (X037) Her office, Notes/Tape - 3 pages 100 minutes

X037 Written 01/10/93
Organisation chart for Multinational (given to me by Jenny see X036) Org. chart - 1 page

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03/05/94 North of England call

Telephone conversation to reorganise visit to the North of England planned for 4/5/94.

 X038 Telephone Gordan 03/05/94
Telephone call, Notes - .25 pages

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09/06/94 Essex visit

Two hour afternoon visit. Office was in the middle of a move so not possible to see the system or any of the service case handlers.

X039 Written Lucy 17/05/94
Fax from Lucy explaining how to get to her office Letter/Fax - 2 pages

 X040 Conversation Lucy 09/06/94
Meeting room, Notes/Tape - 4.5 pages 105 minutes

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14/06/94 North of England visit

All day meeting, 11.00 - 16.15.

 X041 Conversation Gordan 14/06/94
Someone else's office (corner of open plan office), Notes/Tape - 7.2 pages 140 minutes

 X042 Conversation Matt 14/06/94
Someone else's office (corner of open plan office), Notes/Tape - 1.8 pages 65 minutes

 X043 Conversation Alan 14/06/94
Someone else's office (corner of open plan office), Notes/Tape - 1.1 pages 50 minutes

 X044 Written Gordan 13/06/94
Proposal to migrate Sybase Database Server to Unix Given to me by Gordan on 14/6/94 (X041). He was due to discuss this proposal at a meeting in the City the following day. Document - 3 pages

 X045 Written Two people from Marine Manny, Chris 01/02/94
X Marine Package Evaluation Given to me by Chris (but no time for interview). Document - 4 pages

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05/07/94 North of England letter

Papers from Colin, prior to meeting at OU on 18 July 1994 re review of Phase II of Multinational system.

X046 Written Colin 05/07/94
Accompanying memo re visit on 18 July. Importance of keeping details of review confidential. Letter/Fax - 1 page

 X047 Written From Colin to Kevin 24/06/94
Memo re Review of Multinational System Version Two Letter/Fax - 1 page

 X048 Written Colin ? 05/07/94
Multinational Operations - Version Two Post Implementation Review - Terms of Reference Document - 3 pages

 X049 Written Colin 05/07/94
Post Implementation Review - Questionnaire for Business Users Document - 2 pages

 X050 Written Colin, Kevin 27/06/94
Notes of Colin's interview with Kevin. Document - 1.5 pages

 X051 Written Colin, Gordan 28/06/94
Notes of Colin's interview with Gordan. Document - 2 pages

 X052 Written Colin, Hans 30/06/94
Notes of Colin's interview with Hans. Document - 1 page

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18/07/94 Open University visit

Visit by Colin to discuss review of Phase II of Multinational system with me.

X053 Conversation Colin 18/07/94
Conversation with Colin re Review of Multinational Phase Two. My office at OU, Tape - 0 pages 105 minutes

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21/07/94 Clare letter

Letter accompanying research day slides.

X054 Written Clare to Colin 21/07/94
Letter/Fax - 1 page

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24/08/94 City of London visit

Meeting from 10-14.

 X055 Conversation Jenny 24/08/94
During the conversation, her boss (Neville) put his head round the door and when he found out who I was, said they'd considered cutting me because of the sensitivity of a project which has gone wrong. She gave me documents X056A & X057 Jenny's office, Notes/Tape - 1.75 pages 100 minutes

 X056A Written Colin 16/08/94
X Multinational Version Two Post Implementation Review Document - 33 pages

 X057 Written Jim 20/07/94
X Multinational Business System Process Integration Analysis and Recommendations Document - 38 pages

 X058 Conversation Noah 24/08/94
Included a demo of the system Meeting room and then later at his desk, Notes/Tape - 4 pages 60 minutes

 X059 Conversation Donald 24/08/94
Meeting room, Notes/Tape - 3 pages 40 minutes

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01/09/94 North of England letter

Letter from Colin with final version of post-implementation review of Phase II of Multinational system.

 X056B Written Colin 01/09/94
Letter from Colin attaching final version of post-implementation report and explaining differences Letter/Fax - 1 page

 X056C Written Colin 31/08/94
X Multinational Version Two Post Implementation Review - final version. Changes from draft 'do not materially affect the findings and recommendations, which have been discussed and accepted by X and GIS'. Document - 33 pages

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14/10/94 North of England visit

All day visit to development team 11.30-16.45.

 X060 Conversation Gordan 14/10/94
Main topics of conversation: Gordan's response to Colin's report Gordan's new job (see X061) and associated reorganisation of responsibilities Recruiting a project manager Current state of the projects (see X063 for Finance project) Progress of unix migration (see X062) Gordan's office, Notes/Tape - 4.5 pages 130 minutes

 X061 Written 14/10/94
Development Projects and Standards Manager job description Document - 1 page

 X062 Written Alan 15/08/94
X: Migration of Multinational System Database to UNIX servers, Development Plan Document - 7 pages

 X063 Written 15/08/94
X Multinational Business System - X Holland Finance Project, Progress Review August 94 Slide prints - 5 pages

 X064 Conversation Stuart 14/10/94
Mainly focussed upon his response to Colin's report, it's difficult to get at what he's really thinking as he relies on 'accepted wisdom'. Gordan's old office, Notes/Tape - 2 pages 40 minutes

 X065 Conversation Jim 14/10/94
Talked about the data audit and his newsletters (X066, X067). Gordan's old office, Notes/Tape - 2 pages 40 minutes

 X066 Written Jim (editor) 15/07/94
Multinational Newsletter No 1 July 1994 Newsletter - 2 pages

 X067 Written Jim (editor) 15/09/94
Multinational Newsletter No 2 Sept 1994 Newsletter - 2 pages

 X068 Conversation Alan 14/10/94
Following a training session with Sybase on the way the optimiser works. Discussed his job on the Unix migration, what he likes doing and what he might do next. Meeting room, Notes/Tape - 1.5 pages 30 minutes

 X069 Conversation Gordan 14/10/94
Final short conversation on throwaway vs evolutionary prototyping and which was planned and actually implemented for Multinational version I. Gordan's office, Notes/Tape - .5 pages 10 minutes

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22/10/94 Open University visit

Darren was visiting the OU to attend the research student's day.

 X070 Conversation Darren 22/10/94
Roland's office, Notes/Tape - 1 page 40 minutes

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20/01/95 City of London visit

Arrived at about 11 and left at 2.30 included lunch at a wine bar.

 X071 Conversation Keith 20/01/95
Our conversation was interrupted by Jenny and by lunch. Jenny's office, Notes/Tape - 7 pages 100 minutes

 X072 Conversation Jenny 20/01/95
Agreed to my having a copy of the audit report (X073) Jenny's office, Notes/Tape - 1 page 20 minutes

 X073 Written Paul 20/01/95
Underwriting Data Quality Audit. Letter to Neville (looks incomplete but Keith printed it off for me so perhaps he printed a draft. Underwriting Data Quality Audit - Multinational Business System - September 1994 Audit Enhancements/Comments Document - 11 pages

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03/02/95 North of England call

Telephone conversation to fix up cancelled meeting.

X074 Telephone Gordan 03/02/95
Notes - .5 pages

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17/02/95 North of England visit

A bit of a disastrous visit - train was delayed by 1.5 hours so didn't arrive until 12.40 by which time lunch with the team was off because they were on a Sybase course. Gordan couldn't have lunch with me because he had another appointment. In the end I talked to Colin first (but no lunch) and then talked to Gordan but he had to keep disappearing to tell the people on the floor about X-Group's new advertising campaign.

 X075 Conversation Colin 17/02/95
Discussed his report and his new role in the team. Went through hierarchy chart (see sketch X076), plan (X077), new standards (X078, X079) and overview of accounts system (X080) Colin's desk in open plan office, Notes/Tape - 4.7 pages 80 minutes

X076 Written Colin 17/02/95
Sketch of new organisation drawn by Colin. Org. chart - 1 page

 X077 Written Colin 30/11/94
High level project plan for Accounts project. Plan - 2 pages

X078 Written 27/01/95
X SE to Standards Mapping Document - 2 pages

 X079 Written Colin 17/02/95
Programming on XBS Finance System - General Approach Document - 1 page

X080 Written Ned 25/01/95
Slide out of a slide pack that was part of a presentation to Tim: X Holland Finance Project System Overview Included to demonstrate to Tim that it is complex and will therefore take a long time. Document - 1 page

 X081 Conversation Gordan 17/02/95
A rather disjointed conversation. Gordan's open plan office, Notes/Tape - 5 pages 75 minutes

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21/07/95 North of England call

Telephone conversation with Jim re newsletters.

X082 Telephone Jim 21/07/95
Asked for latest newletters - no more were published - changed the way we do things - release notes. Notes - .1 pages

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04/09/95 North of England call

Telephone conversation with Keith to clarify early developments.

X083 Telephone Keith 04/09/95
Clarified the discrepancies between Keith and Donald over whether Q&A system predated the abortive year long study - it didn't (although Keith had some difficulty in remembering). Notes - .1 pages

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INDEX | ORGANISATION | TIME LINE | PEOPLE | STORY | RESEARCH METHOD | COMMENTARY | FINDINGS | HELP | TOP

© Clare Tagg 2000