Understanding runaway information technology projects: Results from an international research program based on escalation theory

Journal of Management Information Systems

Volumn 10, Issue 4, 1994, Pages 65-85

  Keil, Mark ^a   Mixon, Richard ^b   Saarinen, Timo ^c   Tuunainen, Virpi ^c  

^a GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b Oxford Books Inc ^*

^c HELSINKI SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS   (Finland)

Author keywords

Escalating commitment; Escalation; Information systems failure; Runaway; Software project management; Sunk cost

Indexed keywords

EID: 71549128988     PISSN: 07421222     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/07421222.1994.11518050     Document Type: Article

References (45)

1. Annual Report of Oy Huber Ab. Vantaa. Finland, October 1989.
2. Annual Report of Oy Huber Ab. Vantaa Finland, October 1990.
3. Abdel-Hamid, T.K. Understanding the '90 percent syndrome' in software project management: a simulation-based case study.Journal of Systems and Software, 8, 4 (1988), 319-330.
4. Abdel-Hamid, T.K. Investigating the cost/schedule trade-off in software development. IEEE Software (January 1990), 97-105.
5. Ashton, R.H., and Kramer, S.S. Students as surrogates in behavioral accounting research: some evidence. Journal of Accounting Research, 18, 1 (1980), 1-15.
6. Betts, M. Feds debate handling of failing IS projects. Computerworld (November 2, 1992), 103.
7. Boehm, B.W. Software Engineering Economics. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1981.
8. Bonoma, T.V. Case research in marketing: opportunities, problems, and a process. Journal of Marketing Research, 22 (1985), 199-208.
9. Brockner, J. The escalation of commitment to a failing course of action: toward theoretical progress. Academy of Management Review, 17, 1 (1992), 39-61.
10. Brockner, J., and Rubin, J.Z. Entrapment in Escalating Conflicts: A Social Psychological Analysis. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1985.
11. Brooks, F.P. The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1975.
12. Charette, R.N. Software Engineering Risk Analysis and Management. New York: Inter-text Publications, 1989.
13. Cringely, R.X. When disaster strikes IS. Forbes ASAP (August 29, 1994), 60-64.
14. DcMarco, T. Controlling Software Projects. New York: Yourdon Press, 1982.
15. Ellis, V. Audit says DMV ignored warning. Los Angeles Times (August 18, 1994), A3-A24.
16. Festinger, L. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson and Company, 1957.
17. Garland, H. Throwing good money after bad: the effect of sunk costs on the decision to escalate commitment to an ongoing project Journal of Applied Psychology, 75, 6 (1990), 728-731.
18. Garland, H.; Sandefur, C.A.; and Rogers, A.C. De-escalation of commitment in oil exploration: when sunk costs and negative feedback coincide. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75, 6 (1990), 721-727.
19. Gibbs, WAV. Software's chronic crisis. Scientific American (September 1994), 86-95.
20. Gordon, M.E.; Slade, L.A.; and Schmitt, N. The "science of the sophomore" revisited: from conjecture to empiricism. Academy of Management Review, 11, 1 (1986), 191-207.
21. Halper, M. AMR sues partners over failed venture. Computerworld (October 5, 1992), 1.
22. Halper, M. Marriott suit damns AMR role inconfirm.Computerworld(October 12 1992), 1.
23. Hofstede, G. Cultural dimensions in management and planning. Asia Pacific Journal of Management (January 1984), 81-99.
24. Hughes, C.T., and Gibson, M.L. Students as surrogates for managers in a decision-making environment: an experimental study. Journal of Management Information Systems, 8, 2 (1991), 153-166.
25. Kahneman, D., and Tversky, A. Prospect theory: an analysis of decisions under risk. Econometrica, 47 (1979), 263-291.
26. Kahneman, D., and Tversky, A. The psychology of preferences. Scientific American, 246 (1982), 160-173.
27. Keil, M. Escalating commitment: a new perspective on information systems failure. Working paper CIS-93-113, Department of Computer Information Systems, Georgia State University. 1993.
28. Keil, M., and Mixon, R. Understanding runaway IT projects: preliminary results from a program of research based on escalation theory. In J.F. Nunamaker, Jr., and R.H. Sprague, Jr. (eds.). Proceedings of Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, vol.3. IEEE Computer Society Press, 1984, pp. 469-478.
29. Kindel, S. The computer that ate the company. Financial World, 161, 7 (March 31, 1992), 96-98.
30. McPartlin, J.P. The collapse of confirm. Information Week (October 19, 1992), 12-19.
31. Northcraft, G.B., and Neale, MA. Opportunity costs and the framing of resource allocation decisions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 37, 3 (1986), 348-356.
32. Orli, R.J. Battling project escalation. Computerworld, 23, 14 (April 3, 1989), 64-66.
33. Ross, J., and Staw, B.M. Expo86: an escalation prototype. Administrative Science Quarterly, 31 (1986), 274-297.
34. Rothfeder, J. It's late, costly, incompetent-but try firing a computer system. Business Week (November 7, 1988), 164-165.
35. Simonson, I., and Staw, B.M. Deescalation strategies: a comparison of techniques for reducing commitment to losing courses of action. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77, 4 (1992), 419-426.
36. Singer, M.S., and Singer, A.E. Is there always escalation of commitment. Psychological Reports, 56, 3 (1985), 816-818.
37. Singer, M.S., and Singer, A.E. Individual differences and the escalation of commitment paradigm. Journal of Social Psychology, 126, 2 (1986), 197-204.
38. Staw, B.M. Knee-deep in the big muddy: a study of escalating commitment to a chosen course of action. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16 (1976), 27-44.
39. Staw, B.M., and Fox, F.V. Escalation: the determinants of commitment to a chosen course of action. Human Relations, 30, 5 (1977), 431-450.
40. Staw, B.M., and Ross, J. Behavior in escalation situations: antecedents, prototypes, and solutions. Research in Organizational Behavior, vol.9. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1987, pp. 39-78.
41. Swieringa, R.J., and Weick, K.E. An assessment of laboratory experiments in accounting. Journal of Accounting Research, 20, supplement (1982), 57-101.
42. Tietoviikko (April 14, 1988).
43. Van Maanen, J. Tales of the Field. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988.
44. Whyte, G. Escalating commitment to a course of action: a reinterpretation. Academy of Management Review, 11, 2 (1986), 311-321.
45. Zmud, R.W.. Management of large software efforts. MIS Quarterly, 4, 2 (1980), 45-55.