Lessons Learned from the 14-Year Systems Development of the Marine Corps Standard Accounting, Budgeting and Reporting System (SABRS)

Abstract

In August of 1978 the Marine Corps initiated the development of a consolidated financial management system. On October 1, 1992, after 14-years of systems development effort, the Standard Accounting, Budgeting and Reporting System (SABRS) was finally implemented throughout the Marine Corps. This thesis chronicles the 14-year SABRS systems development effort using the historical case study research method. Data is presented from both archival sources and personal interviews. The SABRS project reveals some important general lessons about the systems development process that will prove useful to future project managers tasked with developing large-scale administrative information systems. These lessons learned include, but are not limited to, the importance of top management support, the role of the project manager as leader, rather than technical expert, the use of adaptive prototyping, the importance of fitting the right people to the right task, and the ability of management to alter its commitment to a failed course of action.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1994
Accession Number
ADA281641

Entities

People

  • Jeffrey L. Tavares

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Business Administration
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Economic Analysis
  • Financial Management
  • Information Systems
  • Lessons Learned
  • Management Personnel
  • Marine Corps
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Project Management
  • Software Development
  • Systems Engineering
  • Systems Management
  • United States

Readers

  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.
  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies
  • Software Engineering.