We live in a world which is highly competitive in all areas of life. As a student, we need to concentrate on many different topics. We are under time pressure to achieve good grades and while writing about the most difficult topics we are still in the process of learning, sometimes of learning in what we are really interested in. As a graduate we need to find the right job, with which we earn enough money to cover all our expenditures, but which will still be satisfying our expectations. Once we found the job, we put a lot of effort in our assigned projects. But what happens, if we discover, that all our previous decisions about where to study, what to study and where to work, have been wrong and that in the long term, our job will not be satisfying us? .
Then we face a dilemma about which path to go. Most people will not have the courage to choose another path than continuing with what they are doing. But it is not only about courage, we have invested our whole life, all our efforts, many nights of studying, and sometimes overcame the biggest obstacles to be in the position we are. This investment counts and even when we are facing a dilemma, we still chose to continue with our daily lives and not to quit. .
The same is true for every other project we work on as managers; when a decision-maker in a company discovers that the previous selected course of action is failing and the expected return of investment is not guaranteed, he is facing a dilemma: Should he change the course of action or even worse, quit? Or should he continue with his chosen path and hope for the best? Researches have found a tendency of decision makers to "escalate commitment" to the previously chosen plan of actions, even when evidence suggests that continuing with this course is irresponsible and might lead to a high loss of investment (Bazerman and Moore, 2009).
These phenomena present the "escalation of commitment": The continued commitment and allocation of resources to a course of action that is failing in the hope of recouping losses.