Question

One of the biases is called an “Escalation of Commitment.” Write a two page informative essay that describes escalation of commitment and the impact that it has within an organization. Use an example to illustrate escalation of commitment. You may use an example from your own personal experience or you may write about an example of escalation of commitment that you have learned about by reading a case study, magazine, or newspaper article.

The following URL provides an overview of the history of a now bankrupt retail chain in the United States called Steve and Barry’s University Sportswear. (http://steveandberrys.com/) As you read the article, you can see how the managers of this organization were caught in a problem of escalation of commitment. Their decision to locate their stores within financially distressed malls obviously was not working, yet they continued to do this financing each store with incentives from their mall property owners, which only served to drive the company deeper in debt to the point that the company failed in bankruptcy and liquidation.

Answer 1