As project management scholars, we should not automatically assume that theories borrowed from other fields will produce desirable results when applied to the project management domain. To illustrate this, I focus on the problem of project escalation and discuss how three theories that have been widely touted as producing good outcomes in other fields may produce undesirable consequences when applied to the project escalation context. I argue that when good theories backfire, this creates an opportunity for project management scholars to expose the boundary conditions of such theories.
BrocknerJ. (1992). The escalation of commitment to a failing course of action: Toward theoretical progress. Academy of Management Review, 17(1), 39–61. https://doi.org/10.2307/258647
2.
ButtonS. B.MathieuJ. E.ZajacD. M. (1996). Goal orientation in organizational research: A conceptual and empirical foundation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 67(1), 26–48. https://doi.org/10.1006/obhd.1996.0063
3.
ChangJ. Y. T.JiangJ. J.KleinG.WangE. T. G. (2019). Enterprise system programs: Goal setting and cooperation in the integration team. Information & Management, 56(6), 1–12.
4.
DweckC. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.
5.
FichmanR. G.KeilM.TiwanaA. (2005). Beyond valuation: “options thinking” in IT project management. California Management Review, 47(2), 74–96. https://doi.org/10.2307/41166296
6.
KeilM. (1995). Pulling the plug: Software project management and the problem of project escalation. MIS Quarterly, 19(4), 421–447.
KeilM.MannJ.RaiA. (2000). Why software projects escalate: An empirical analysis and test of four theoretical models. MIS Quarterly, 24(4), 631–664. https://doi.org/10.2307/3250950
9.
KeilM.RaiA.MannJ. C.ZhangG. P. (2003). Why software projects escalate: The importance of project management constructs. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 50(3), 251–261. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2003.817312
LeeJ. S.KeilM.KasiV. (2012). The effect of an initial budget and schedule goal on software project escalation. Journal of Management Information Systems, 29(1), 53–78. https://doi.org/10.2753/MIS0742-1222290102
13.
LeeJ. S.KeilM.WongK. F. E. (2015). The effect of goal difficulty on escalation of commitment. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 28(2), 114–129. https://doi.org/10.1002/bdm.1835
14.
LeeJ. S.KeilM.WongK. F. E. (2021). When a growth mindset can backfire and cause escalation of commitment to a troubled information technology project. Information Systems Journal, 31(1), 7–32. https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12287
LockeE. A.LathamG. P. (1990). A theory of goal setting & task performance. Prentice-Hall, Inc.
17.
LockeE. A.LathamG. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705–717. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.57.9.705
NewmanM.SabherwalR. (1996). Determinants of commitment to information systems development: A longitudinal investigation. MIS Quarterly, 20(1), 23–54. https://doi.org/10.2307/249541
21.
OrdóñezL. D.SchweitzerM. E.GalinskyA. D.BazermanM. H. (2009). Goals gone wild: The systematic side effects of over-prescribing goal setting. Academy of Management Perspectives, 23(1), 6–16. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2009.37007999
22.
Perez-FelknerL.NixS.ThomasK. (2015). Perceived mathematical ability under challenge: A longitudinal perspective on sex segregation among STEM degree eields. Frontiers in Psychology, 6(530), 1–19.
23.
RossJ.StawB. M. (1993). Organizational escalation and exit: Lessons from the shoreham nuclear power plant. Academy of Management Journal, 36(4), 701–732.
24.
TiwanaA.KeilM.FichmanR. G. (2006). Information systems project continuation in escalation situations: A real options model. Decision Sciences, 37(3), 357–391. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5414.2006.00131.x
