The goal was to increase efficiency and cut prices, and both would be realized - the MOD believed - by streamlining the more than two hundred customized computer programs developed over time by each of the three services to match their unique requirements. The Texas-based Electronic Data Systems corporation (EDS) was employed to execute the project. But the first effort shortly fell: the MOD had overestimated how quickly and readily they could be harmonized, and how much those systems had in common. This case describes the unusual partnering approach in order to make their second attempt a successful one the MOD and EDS developed.
Recognizing that what was desired was a business change, the MOD revised the contract to better reflect the more fluid, rather than an IT solution and organic process that would be required. There were a variety of essential components to that new workflow: the choice to integrate EDS staff into all management meetings in order to develop mutual trust and a common knowledge base; the establishment of a clear division of labor and duties by which MOD would focus on efficacy and EDS on IT, and an arrangement to prioritize the program and work out cost overruns after the fact. HKS Instance Number 1900.0.
PUBLICATION DATE: January 08, 2009 PRODUCT #: HKS452-HCB-ENG
This is just an excerpt. This case is about LEADERSHIP & MANAGING PEOPLE
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