Putting Escalation of Commitment in Context: A Multilevel Review and Analysis

Organizations, and the groups and individuals within them, sometimes face the thorny dilemma of whether or not to continue failing courses of action. Escalation of commitment describes the tendency to “carry on” with such questionable endeavors, regardless of whether doing so is likely to result in success. Despite the wide variability between and within organizations, early research on escalation of commitment largely ignored the role of context. Since then, an impressive volume of studies on the context of escalation has accumulated, and we present a fresh take on the literature by reviewing and analyzing this work. Using a multilevel framework, we elucidate how escalation is influenced by factors at the group and organizational levels, as well as by factors external to the organization. Ultimately, we aim to provide a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of escalation to stimulate new avenues of research and offer insights into how decision-makers can respond more effectively to escalation dilemmas.