Back in 2000 the Department of the Navy awarded EDS a nearly-$7-billion,
7-year contract to provide all the Navy’s IT data, voice,
and video services, plus all desktop and laptop PC’s, for 400,000
or so Navy and Marine Corps members.
Now, I defer to no one as a fan of "privatization" on general principles, but this has evidently
been a disaster for both the Navy and EDS. Some of the problems
are attributable to the peculiar delights of government contracting—for
example, that the roughly 40% of the work previously done by minority-,
women-owned, and otherwise protected subcontractors could not be diminished
regardless of productivity gains—but according to this
account, the root problem is the toxic mixture generated by the collision between
a sloppy RFP and the sales culture of IT service providers.
The "winner’s curse" in yet an other incarnation.
As they say, can’t win for losing.
I can’t remember the seven deadly sins, but this story makes it clear that greed, arrogance and lying are enough characteristics to qualify someone as a Loser. I’m compelled to note that the only parties who develop those three qualities into gainful competencies are usually called “criminals” !!