Escalation in Decision-Making

This work describes the Taurus project - a #500m project to automate settlement systems on the London Stock Exchange. Begun in 1986, it was eventually abandoned in 1993. How was it that a major project promoted by the Stock Exchange could go wrong?

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Getting organizations going is one thing. Stopping them is another. This book examines how and why organizations become trapped in disastrous decisions. The focal point is Project Taurus, an IT venture commissioned by the London Stock Exchange and supported by numerous City Institutions. Taurus was intended to transform London's antiquated manual share settlement procedures into a state of the art electronic system that would be the envy of the world. The project collapsed after three year's intensive work and investments totalling almost £500 million.

This book is an in depth study of escalation in decision making. The author has interviewed a number of people who played a key role and presents a most readable account of what actually happened. At the same time she sets the case in the broader literature of decision making.