Understanding the “90% syndrome" in software project management: a simulation-based case study
Journal of Systems and Software
Software engineering risk analysis and management
Software engineering risk analysis and management
Software Engineering Economics
Software Engineering Economics
The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Softw
The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Softw
Fit, failure, and the house of horrors: toward a configurational theory of IS project failure
ICIS '97 Proceedings of the eighteenth international conference on Information systems
De-escalating information technology projects: lessons from the Denver International Airport
MIS Quarterly - Special issue on Intensive research in information systems: using qualitative, interpretive, and case methods to study information technology—third installment
ACM SIGCPR Computer Personnel
Software Project Duration and Effort: An Empirical Study
Information Technology and Management
De-escalation of commitment in software projects: who matters? what matters?
Information and Management
Beyond models of national culture in information systems research
Advanced topics in global information management
Cross-cultural differences and information systems developer values
Decision Support Systems
Journal of Management Information Systems
Software cost estimation using economic production models
Journal of Management Information Systems
Team performance and information system implementation
Information Systems Frontiers
Individual characteristics and the intention to continue project escalation
Computers in Human Behavior
International Journal of Business Information Systems
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Information technology (IT) projects can fail for any number of reasons, and can result in considerable financial losses for the organizations that undertake them. One pattern of failure that has been observed but seldom studied is the runaway project that takes on a life of its own. Such projects exhibit characteristics that are consistent with the broader phenomenon known as escalating commitment to a failing course of action. Several theories have been offered to explain this phenomenon, including self-justification theory and the so-called sunk cost effect which can be explained by prospect theory. This paper discusses the results of a series of experiments designed to test whether the phenomenon of escalating commitment could be observed in an IT context. Multiple experiments conducted within and across cultures suggest that a high level of sunk cost may influence decision makers to escalate their commitment to an IT project In addition to discussing this and other findings from an ongoing stream of research, the paper focuses on the challenges faced in carrying out the experiments.