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Abstracts prior to volume 5(1) have been archived!

Issue 5(1), October 2010 -- Paper Abstracts
Girard  (p. 9-22)
Cooper (p. 23-32)
Kunz-Osborne (p. 33-41)
Coulmas-Law (p.42-46)
Stasio (p. 47-56)
Albert-Valette-Florence (p.57-63)
Zhang-Rauch (p. 64-70)
Alam-Yasin (p. 71-78)
Mattare-Monahan-Shah (p. 79-94)
Nonis-Hudson-Hunt (p. 95-106) 



JOURNAL OF APPLIED BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS


A Method for Diagnosing the Causes of Escalating Commitment


Author(s): Steven Coy, Candace TenBrink, Douglas te Duits

Citation: Steven Coy, Candace TenBrink, Douglas te Duits, (2020) "A Method for Diagnosing the Causes of Escalating Commitment," Journal of Applied Business and Economics, Vol. 22, Iss.12,  pp. 44-59

Article Type: Research paper

Publisher: North American Business Press

​Abstract:

Barry Staw’s (1981) model of escalating commitment is a well-known theoretical explanation of the underlying causes of a decision maker’s decision to recommit. This paper explores the diagnostic utility of Staw’s model and proposes an extended version of the model with a step-by-step approach for using it as an analytical tool. The proposed analytical approach is illustrated using two case studies in which escalating commitment is evident. This study repurposes and extends a well-known, but essentially forgotten, theoretical model and demonstrates how the approach can be used as a diagnostic tool when it is applied to different decision making scenarios.