DOOMED TO FAILURE - NARRATIVES OF INEVITABILITY AND CONSPIRACY IN A FAILED IS PROJECT

Episodes of failure provide an interesting arena for the observation o f alternative interpretations of organizational events. The social psy chology literature suggests that individuals tend to attribute failure to external forces and that this may be due to selective perception, which may be motivated by the preservation of self-esteem and/or image enhancement. This paper discusses the differing narratives describing the failure of an information system in a UK hospital. It is suggeste d that these narratives may be seen as attributing failure to either t he occurrence of particular events, or to the deliberate actions of sp ecific groups or individuals. These are characterized as narratives of inevitability and conspiracy. Some possible reasons for the promotion of these alternative narratives are discussed.