{
  "title": "A struggling project: how do you decide to stop when you have already invested heavily?",
  "url": "https://shr.swiss/blog/management-complexe-quand-arreter-un-projet-deja-couteux-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2026-05-16",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://shr.swiss",
    "address": "184 route de Saint-Julien, 1228 Plan-les-Ouates, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "Past investment can become an argument for continuing, even when prospects deteriorate. Research on escalation of commitment helps distinguish reasoned persistence from the defence of an earlier decision.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Complex Management",
  "place": {
    "name": "Lucerne",
    "region": "Lucerne",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "1. What the literature establishes",
      "point": "Barry Staw (1976, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance) shows, in a resource-allocation experiment, that responsibility for an initial decision can increase reinvestment following negative outcomes."
    },
    {
      "heading": "2. The mechanism: defending the project or justifying oneself",
      "point": "Joel Brockner (1992, Academy of Management Review) examines theoretical explanations of escalation and highlights, among other factors, the role of self-justification."
    },
    {
      "heading": "3. The hasty conclusion: stop as soon as results disappoint",
      "point": "A setback is not automatically a reason to abandon a project: credible future benefits may still exist."
    },
    {
      "heading": "4. The limits of the evidence and of project reviews",
      "point": "The experiment cited uses a simplified allocation situation, and the theoretical article provides no universal threshold for abandonment."
    },
    {
      "heading": "5. A practical check in Lucerne",
      "point": "In Lucerne, where tourism, hospitality, regional financial services and industrial SMEs include many family-run businesses with short decision-making chains, close relationships can make questioning a project personally sensitive."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "Staw",
      "year": "1976",
      "source": "Organizational Behavior and Human Performance"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Brockner",
      "year": "1992",
      "source": "Academy of Management Review"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 432,
  "image": "https://shr.swiss/img/blog-Training-Complex-Management-Lucerne-management-complexe-quand-arreter-un-projet-deja-couteux-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://shr.swiss/blog/management-complexe-quand-arreter-un-projet-deja-couteux",
    "en": "https://shr.swiss/blog/management-complexe-quand-arreter-un-projet-deja-couteux-en",
    "de": "https://shr.swiss/blog/management-complexe-quand-arreter-un-projet-deja-couteux-de",
    "it": "https://shr.swiss/blog/management-complexe-quand-arreter-un-projet-deja-couteux-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://shr.swiss/formation-management-complexe-lucerne",
    "city": "https://shr.swiss/formations-ville/lucerne",
    "blog": "https://shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}