POSTED BY
rwilliamson
on Nov 18th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
IN RESPONSE TO
IT OFFSHORING: AFTER THE GOLDRUSH
Matulas past is littered with Big Ideas that have never materialized. GSAP is simply the latest. He was the mastermind behind SAP Megacentre which was an attempt to standardize the hardware platform used to run the various SAP systems within Shell. He could not even get Lubricants to use it (they continued to use the Pennzoil / Quaker State platform).
Matula, (shown right) like many other leaders within Shell, hasnt stayed in the same position very long. He moves on and someone else has to come in and deal with the Big Ideas and Promises that he made. I wouldnt be surprised to find out he has spent longer in the CIO role than he has in any of his previous assignments. How much longer will he last?
And his Big Ideas extend beyond IT. While in Corporate Planning in the US, he was a leader to push governance and autonomy out to the various business units. This led to total chaos and was the beginning of the commercial model for IT with Shell (Shell Services International) which was a total disaster that took years and years and millions of dollars to correct.
Comment by IT4me: 2009/11/19 at 9:35am
Interesting. Similar stories abound from his Chemicals days. Endless revolutionary initiatives supported by aggressive suppression of bad news. The opposite of what many consider to be good IT, yet his seat at the top table is reconfirmed almost immediately in Peter Vosers review. I guess well have to wait till he gets bored and moves on to Microsoft or wherever.
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
MORE DETAILS:
A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
Interesting. Similar stories abound from his Chemicals days. Endless revolutionary initiatives supported by aggressive suppression of bad news. The opposite of what many consider to be good IT, yet his seat at the top table is reconfirmed almost immediately in Peter Voser’s review. I guess we’ll have to wait till he gets bored and moves on – to Microsoft or wherever.