Improving Decision-Making in Escalation of Commitment Situations. Can Debiasing Be Achieved by Triggering Elaborate Decision-Making Modes?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Kotzian
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment

Decision rules, escalation of commitment and sensitivity to framing in group decision-making

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (7) ◽  
pp. 1649-1668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petru Lucian Curseu ◽  
Sandra G. L. Schruijer ◽  
Oana Catalina Fodor
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Rule ◽  
Group Decision Making ◽  
Group Decision ◽  
Decision Rules ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment ◽  
Group Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Collaborative Decision

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the influence of collaborative and consultative decision rules on groups’ sensitivity to framing effect (FE) and escalation of commitment (EOC). Design/methodology/approach – In an experimental study (using a sample of 233 professionals with project management experience), the authors test the effects of collaborative and consultative decision rules on groups’ sensitivity to EOC and FE. The authors use four group decision-making tasks to evaluate decision consistency across gain/loss framed decision situations and six decision tasks to evaluate EOC for money as well as time as resources previously invested in the initial decisions. Findings – The results show that the collaborative decision rule increases sensitivity to EOC when financial resources are involved and decreases sensitivity to EOC when time is of essence. Moreover, the authors show that the collaborative decision rule decreases sensitivity to FE in group decision making. Research limitations/implications – The results have important implications for group rationality as an emergent group level competence by extending the insights concerning the impact of decision rules on emergent group level cognitive competencies. Due to the experimental nature of the design, the authors can probe the causal relations between the investigated variables, yet the authors cannot generalize the results to other settings. Practical implications – Managers can use the insights of this study in order to optimize the functioning of decision-making groups and to reduce their sensitivity to FEs and EOC. Originality/value – The study extends the research on group rationality and it is one of the few experimental attempts used to understand the role of decision rules on emergent group level rationality.

scholarly journals Attenuating the Escalation of Commitment to a Faltering Project in Decision-Making Groups

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 587-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Wieber ◽  
J. Lukas Thürmer ◽  
Peter M. Gollwitzer
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment

Conclusion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Renshon
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Relationship

This book has examined the importance of status in world politics. It has introduced the status dissatisfaction theory and applied it directly to the realm of international relations. It has tested the theory using a variety of approaches, including network analysis, by investigating the relationship between status dissatisfaction and war, if and how status concerns motivated German decision making during the Weltpolitik era, and the link between heightened status concerns and the escalation of commitment. The book concludes by discussing four broad lessons that can be drawn from the findings as well as the open questions that remain: status is local; there are many paths to status; status concerns are what count and not status itself; and status dissatisfaction leads to escalation and conflict. It also considers the policy implications of the theories of international politics.

Exploring decision-making biases among Iranian entrepreneurs: some novel insights

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pouria Nouri
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Illusion Of Control ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Control Factors ◽  
Qualitative Thematic Analysis ◽  
The Law ◽  
Decision Making Biases

Purpose Decision-making biases play decisive roles not only in entrepreneurs’ decisions but also in the fate of entrepreneurial businesses. While the extant literature in this regard is relatively rich, it has predominantly focused on certain biases like overconfidence and overoptimism at the expense of other possibly influential biases, which could influence entrepreneurial decisions. Thus, to address this serious research gap, this paper aims to explore four of the less-researched biases of escalation of commitment, the illusion of control, confirmation and the belief in the law of small numbers in entrepreneurial decisions. Design/methodology/approach By taking a qualitative approach, the data for this study were collected through face-to-face interviews with 19 Iranian habitual (experienced) entrepreneurs running small businesses and analyzed by a qualitative thematic analysis. Findings According to the results, the environmental uncertainty, the reluctance to lose face and the experiences of previous failures contributed to the escalation of commitment, while disregard for external factors beyond one’s control caused the illusion of control, factors like prior successful businesses in the same sector, looking for resorts to manage uncertainty, along with the decision to exploit opportunities resulted in the confirmation bias, while the expenses of conducting sweeping pilot tests in the market and the reluctance to reveal a business secret to the competitors were the main contributors of the belief in the law of small numbers. Originality/value This study is a pioneer in scrutinizing four less-researched but important biases in entrepreneurs and, thus extending the line of research in this regard.

scholarly journals Mindfulness and decision-making: Sunk-costs or escalation of commitment?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Schmitzer-Torbert
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sunk Costs ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment ◽  
Trait Mindfulness ◽  
Sunk Cost ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
Cognitive Benefits ◽  
Positive Health Outcomes ◽  
The Relationship

Mindfulness is related to a number of positive health outcomes, such as decreased stress, anxiety and improved physical functioning. Recent studies have also identified a range cognitive benefits of mindfulness, including recent studies demonstrating that higher trait mindfulness and brief mindfulness inductions are associated with improved decision-making, and specifically to resistance to the influence of sunk-costs, where higher mindfulness is associated with increased willingness to discontinue a costly, but disadvantageous, course of action. However, some previous studies examining mindfulness and the sunk-cost bias have methodological limitations which make it difficult to determine if mindfulness is specifically related to sensitivity to the sunk-cost bias, or rather than to a general willingness to continue an unprofitable course of action (independent of the level of prior investment). The present study extends previous work by replicating the finding that trait mindfulness is positively related to resistance to the effects of sunk-costs, and also demonstrates that mindfulness is related to reduced escalation of commitment, an individual’s willingness to continue their commitment to a unprofitable course of action through the further investment of resources or time. Overall, trait mindfulness was most consistently related to reduced escalation of commitment, whereas the relationship between trait mindfulness and resistance to the effects of sunk-costs were less consistently observed

scholarly journals The effect of work experience and rigidity on the escalation of commitments in investment decisions

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Ign. Advent Susilojati ◽  
Widi Hidayat ◽  
Ake Wihadanto
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Investment Decision ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
General Point ◽  
Escalation Of Commitment ◽  
Significance Level

<p>Escalation of commitment is a form of cognitive bias that has characteristics where decision-makers tend to increase their commitment to an unfavorable investment. This study aims to prove the demographic factors of decision-makers such as work experience and rigid thinking as determinants of escalation of commitment. This research applies a 2 x 2 factorial experimental research design with a case study as an instrument of investment decision making. The participants of this experiment were regular undergraduate students as a proxy for inexperienced decision-makers and non-regular undergraduate students (executive class) as experienced proxy for decision-makers. Participants were selected using a purposive sampling technique with the adequacy criteria for General Point Average (GPA) above 3.00 and have attended and passed the Financial Management course and Theory of Decision Making course. This research uses two-ways ANOVA with a significance level of 5%. Using total 64 respondents, the results showed that work experience and rigid thinking have a significant effect on the escalation of commitment. This study also proves that the interaction between work experience and the rigidity of the decision-making mindset does not affect the level escalation of commitment.</p>

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