Escalation in Decision-Making: The Tragedy of Taurus Hardcover - 1997

From the rear cover

Getting projects going is one thing. Stopping them is another. This book examines how and why organizations become ensnared in disastrous decisions. The focal point is Taurus, the now notorious IT venture commissioned by the London Stock Exchange. Taurus was intended to replace London's antiquated share settlement procedures with a state of the art electronic system that would be the envy of the world. The project collapsed after three years' intensive work at a cost to the Stock Exchange and the City of London totalling almost (pound)500 million. The book is an absorbing study of what the author calls 'escalation' in decision-making-'persistence with a decision well beyond the point where a sensible person would give it up'. Such things can happen in any organization on any project, although some may claim that it happens disproportionately often with major IT projects. The Taurus project was nicknamed 'The Mad Hatter's Tea Party'. This book is a salutary tale of rationality, expertise, committees, and human failing. It will be of interest to all concerned with organizational decision-making, IT investment, project management and the workings of the British financial system.